FIGHT procrastination: turn thinking into doing

Quora invited me to answer this question:

I'm a thinker. How can I also become a doer?

I am creative, intelligent, innovative and philosophical. But I find it incredibly hard to actually get something done. 

How can I find a balance between doing and thinking? I want to become a doer. 

I am both a thinker and a doer and wouldn’t say that I am more one than the other. However, I also admit that I am weakened by procrastination.  Personally, I find the best way of resisting the temptation of putting off tasks is by creating a TO DO list, using tools like OUTLOOK or other relationship management systems when they are aligned with a customer. 

I adopt my TO DOs with actionable items that are not vague. Take into account that broad task statements are less likely to be completed if you don’t factor that there may be steps to complete the item. Be realistic as to the timelines that it should take to accomplish the almighty check mark on being DONE.




As a thinker, you may want to start off by specifying what your desired outcome is. You can do this by framing the ultimate outcome with bullets on the steps to arrive at the final destination. For example:

I found this to include after I wrote this article/answered question

Complete 2016 taxes (desired outcome)

1. Purchase accordion file and label according to tax filings:

• Income
• Invoices
• Pay statements
• Investments
• Expenses
• Home office (square footage divided by total square footage=percentage of expense

3. Retrieve government forms

• Update mailing address
• Employer forms (received by mail or retrieved by company HR intranet site)
• Benefits (awards, trips, recovered expenses)

4. Organize receipts by allowable expenses

• Home office
• Percentage of square footage x mortgage
• % of insurance
• % of heating
• % of electrical
• Internet
• Home office telephone
• long distance expenses
• monthly fees x percentage of business use

5. Automobile

• Track usage throughout the year:
• Beginning of the year/end of former year auto kilometer/miles
• Business trips

1. Miles/km to client office from starting point

• Purpose of visit/meeting: (i.e. introduction, networking, proposal, presentation)

6. Capital costs

• Computer purchase: financing, payments, cash outlay
• Automobile:  deposit, financing, lease payments

FINISHED, DONE, COMPLETED!

• Identify what it will mean when you have completed the task
• How will you reward yourself when you are finished?
• What reward will you reap when you are done?

Hopefully, as a thinker, you can map out what needs to be done starting with the final destination in mind and then itemize the detailed steps.

Imagine the sense of accomplishment you will have as you tackle and check off those items. You can keep editing as you go along. Keep in mind to be flexible and fluid because it isn’t unusual to have new items  surface as you are drilling down to finish a task. The beauty could be a template to follow for the next year: doing the tasks as you go along and when the time is right!  That would be considered being proactive!