I came across this article by David Bohl and love it. Why continue procrastinating when you can get a Virtual Assistant? Virtual Assistants have the ability to help you get done the “big” and “small” things you keep putting off.

Enjoy!

Becki ___________________________________________

Structured Procrastination

You probably know what procrastination is, but have you heard about “structured procrastination”? This definition, from Stanford philosophy professor John Perry, casts structured procrastination as something even “productive” people tend to do:

“The list of tasks one has in mind will be ordered by importance. Tasks that seem most urgent and important are on top. But there are also worthwhile tasks to perform lower down on the list. Doing these tasks becomes a way of not doing the things higher up on the list. With this sort of appropriate task structure, the procrastinator becomes a useful citizen. Indeed, the procrastinator can even acquire, as I have, a reputation for getting a lot done.”

Of course, the problem is that it’s still procrastination, and you’re still not doing the things that really need to be done.

I’m not convinced that putting things off, even in a structured and seemingly positive way, is really the best way to live.

I believe that productivity and “getting a lot done” are overrated, in fact.

I don’t think it matters if we get all of the small, less important tasks done in one day, if we leave the most important things because we’d rather not do them.

Of course there are always things we’d rather not do. That’s why we procrastinate.

But finding a better way to procrastinate is not the answer.

The answer is doing the things that need to be done.

That may sound a little simplistic, but I think this as an area where we can really simplify the issues.

The first issue is, there are things to do.

The second issue is, we don’t want to do them.

The only solution that really works is to find the most important things, designate them as the most important things (”first things first”), and then do them.

I have never heard anyone talk about how great they felt that they managed to juggle their schedule so that the really important things were all at the bottom, but they had accomplished everything else on their schedule.

What I have heard people talk about is how satisfied they were that they had taken care of some important matter, something they had not wanted to do, but that it was now done and they could focus on other things.

Structuring procrastination doesn’t get the major tasks of our lives done.

Only doing those tasks gets them done, and only doing them gives us the satisfaction of having done them. No matter how much time we spend trying to balance our lives, if we’re constantly avoiding doing the things that really matter, we’re not going to feel balanced or comfortable.

While putting things off may feel good at the time, it always makes us feel worse in the long run.

To end your own procrastination and get the important things done,

• Learn to tell what’s important and what’s just urgent and beckoning your attention.
• Make a list of the most important things you need to do.
• Do at least one of those things each day.

About the Author
Lifestyle Mentor, Personal Coach, Author, Educator, and Entrepreneur, David B. Bohl is the creator of Slow Down FAST. To learn more about this step-by-step strategy for Living YOUR Life YOUR way, and to sign up for his 9 FREE Tips for Finding Happiness in a Fast-Paced World, free teleseminars, free Special Report, free bi-monthly ezine and more, go to: http://www.SlowDownFAST.com

Turn on the TV or the radio, or pick up any newspaper or magazine, and you’ll fall prey to a form of systematic and repeated societal conditioning posing in one corner as promotional marketing (commercial advertising and infomercials) and popular culture in the other (in the case of morning “news” shows and Hollywood tabloid programs). You’ll be told what you should look like – what to wear, what to eat, and what to use on your body for personal hygiene and attraction. You’ll be instructed on what to drive, where to live, and where to be seen. You’ll be trained on what is expected of you and what to fear.

Taken individually, we all recognize these to be unrealistic, empty promises. When bombarded on every front, however, we begin to believe the notion that we can have everything we want and that we can do everything we want to if only we accomplish what’s expected of us. We become increasingly convinced that we can have our cake and eat it, too. On top of all this, we’re sold on the idea that this is what a balanced life should look like.

But this is a myth. We’ve been sold a bill of goods, and we bought it willingly.

The reality is this: We simply can’t have it all and do it all. We aren’t superheroes. We cannot give ourselves to everything we want to, nor can we give ourselves at all times to each and every part of our lives. We can’t give all of ourselves to our careers (working 9, 10, or more hours a day) and expect to be full of energy and attention in our private lives for our families, our friends, and ourselves.

Many of us go further than that, feeling that we have to contribute our time to virtually everything (further believing what we’ve come to believe is expected of us), trusting that we’re achieving something only when we’re running from one responsibility to the next, only to come up for a breath of air on the weekends. We feel that we have to be valued contributors at work, home, with friends, and in our communities, and all at the same time!

What inevitably happens is that we get so busy doing things that we lose sight of what we’re doing and why we’re doing it. We run from one commitment or obligation to the next attempting to have it all and do it all and we forget to look after our own needs and the needs of those around us. We become so all-consumed by doing things that we fail to experience life itself. We forget that we’re human beings, not human doings.

We’ll all be better off if we do ourselves a simple favor by disavowing ourselves of the perception that we can achieve everything if only we labor hard enough and long enough. Once we’ve accepted that, we can get on with the business at hand, that of creating a lifestyle for ourselves that is balanced, or if you prefer, choosing the life that we want.

Sounds overly simplistic, you say? On the contrary - in its simplicity lies its beauty. The key is to create a lifestyle we want that doesn’t necessitate the monstrous expenditures of time, energy, and effort that we used trying to fulfill someone else’s ideal of balance. The goal is to choose to define what our lives should look like - a way of life that doesn’t require all of our strength and ability to maintain.
How do we go about designing this new life for ourselves? First, we step back and objectively look at what’s going on in our lives. Second, we define what a balanced life looks like to us. Third, we determine what’s most important to us and find ways to attain those things.

About the Author
Lifestyle Mentor, Personal Coach, Author, Educator, and Entrepreneur, David B. Bohl is the creator of Slow Down FAST. To learn more about this step-by-step strategy for Living YOUR Life YOUR way, and to sign up for his 9 FREE Tips for Finding Happiness in a Fast-Paced World, free teleseminars, free Special Report, free bi-monthly ezine and more, go to: http://www.SlowDownFAST.com

A discussion began on my network forum in which a member posted the very widely accepted belief that “it is better to give than to receive”. Certainly something we think about this time of year when giving goes full throttle - either from a spiritual standpoint or a commercial one.

I thought I would share my thoughts on this timely topic…

Giving and Receiving…yes, a topic relating to our core values.

Note the capital “G” and the capital “R” I used above. I have given importance to both.

Let’s look at a dictionary definition of “better”:

better (adjective) 1: greater than half; 2: improved in health or mental attitude; 3: more attractive, favorable, or commendable; 4: more advantageous or effective; 5: improved in accuracy or performance

For our purposes here, I suppose “better to give than receive” probably refers to numbers 3 and 4: favorable, commendable or more advantageous or effective.

Now let me give you questions to ponder:

~ Is it better to exhale than to inhale?

~ Is it better to be awake or to sleep?

~ Is it better to talk or to listen?

~ Is it better to speak to God/Universe/Creator (affirm/pray) or to listen to God/Universe/Creator (meditate)?

Which of the above are more favorable, commendable, advantageous or effective?

Think about this for a moment or two, before reading on.

Here is a quote that I placed below the title of Tithing Sets You Free, Lesson Five of the Feel Free to Prosper program:

The Law of Giving

The universe operates through dynamic exchange…

giving and receiving are different aspects

of the flow of energy in the universe.

And in our willingness to give that which we seek,

we keep the abundance of the universe circulating in our lives.

~ Deepok Chopra

So, if giving and receiving are both aspects of the flow of energy in the Universe, then how can one be “better” than the other? How can one exist without the other? How can we exhale if we don’t inhale, and vice versa?

I am not a bible scholar and I don’t want to bring religious discussion into this, as spiritual law encompasses all religions and no religion. However, the bible is filled with spiritual law and I am familiar with and quote certain scriptures that pertain to the teachings of these laws.

The biblical scripture does not say, “It is better to give…”

The scripture states, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

blessed (adjective): bringing pleasure, contentment or good fortune

In teaching about tithing, for example, I teach that one gives in order to set the flow of prosperity energy into motion. It is establishing our connection to Universal supply. It is the farmer planting his best seed to create a harvest. It is releasing (giving up) fear in order to create the space in our consciousness to receive.

~ The Universe/God is ready and willing to give us our supply. But if we cannot receive, then where is the blessing?

~ The seeds contain the gift within themselves, but if the soil is depleted and cannot receive, where is the blessing?

~ If our good wants to get through to us, to reach us, but fear is occupying our thoughts and emotions so that here is no room for it, then where is the blessing?

~ If we give to someone, but they do not feel deserving to receive, or are ungrateful, embarrassed or feel obligated, then where is the blessing?

So yes, giving IS a blessing and allows us to become individualized expressions of the Creator itself, however, we must come to a very definite realization that receiving is a very important part of giving. With no receiving, there is no giving.

When there is a gracious receiver, then the giver AND the receiver are blessed. Pleasure, contentment and good fortune are bestowed on both.

And a very good way to learn how to be a gracious receiver and open ourselves up to Universal supply is to learn to give to ourselves.

About the Author
Marilyn Jenett, an accomplished business owner in the corporate arena, founded the Feel Free to Prosper program to mentor and teach others to become aligned with Universal laws and accept their right to prosper. Her students, from around the globe and from all walks of life, are enjoying remarkable success applying her lessons and participating in her private and group telephone sessions and audio programs. For more information, visit her website at http://www.FeelFreetoProsper.com and her network forum at http://prosper-network.ryze.com00.