How Clarity and Confidence can help you overcome procrastination

7 min readMay 24, 2022

Procrastination can be a big problem in many aspects of our lives. It can be challenging to get work done, it can make it hard-tackling chores around the house and when we have so many things that need to be done, procrastination can cause a lot of stress. In this article, I will tell you about two strategies that if used together, will help you overcome procrastination and get more out of your day.

Many people struggle with procrastination, but what if it’s more than just laziness?

Procrastination is a symptom of something deeper. If you’re not sure what to do or where to start with your goals, it’s easy to get caught up in the details and lose sight of the big picture. If this sounds familiar, procrastination may be a sign that you need clarity around your purpose and values. Clarity is essential for confidence. In order to move forward confidently towards our goals, we need clarity around the why behind our actions — why we want them in the first place, why they matter and what we’re willing to sacrifice along the way.

Whether it’s working on an important project or making time for exercise at home after work each day (or both), living a healthy lifestyle requires us to take action towards our desired results each day. However, when we don’t know what those results should look like or how long it will take us to get there, taking action becomes difficult if not impossible!

Clarity and Confidence are often the missing links.

Clarity and confidence are often the missing links. Clarity is about knowing what you want and why you want it. Confidence is about believing that you can achieve it. They’re two separate things, but they go hand in hand: if you don’t know what it is that you want, how can you ever be confident in achieving it? Of course, some people may lack clarity because they feel stuck in a rut or don’t know where to start. Other times, though, we know exactly what we want but feel as though our dreams are out of reach or too difficult for us to achieve on our own (or with limited resources).

When you know what you want to achieve and why it’s easier to go after it.

You’re not alone. Procrastination is a complex problem that usually has many causes and solutions. But first, you need to understand what’s holding you back from moving forward with your goals. Here are some questions to ask yourself:

Do I know my motivation? Why do I want this? What would happen if I didn’t get it? What would happen if I did get it (and why would that be good)?
Do I know my goal? What are the key steps between where I am right now and where I want to be in terms of achieving this goal? Can I break it down into smaller pieces that are easier to tackle one at a time, or will taking action now make things worse later on when it’s harder than ever before?
Do I know my resources: how much money do I have available, how much time do I have available -what skills and tools are available too; what knowledge does someone else have which can support me in getting closer to my goal; who might help me reach my goal faster because they’ve already done something similar before -what opportunities exist for funding or other forms of support etcetera…

Confidence in your abilities and the belief that you can do it helps too.

Confidence is a feeling we have about ourselves. Confidence is not a feeling that we have about our abilities. Confidence is a feeling that we have about our ability to achieve our goals. Confidence isn’t a feeling at all; it’s based on what you believe and how strongly you believe it, which can be influenced by your past experiences and the quality of those experiences.

It’s important to understand that confidence isn’t just an idea in your head — it affects how you behave outside of yourself as well. If you think something will be difficult or scary, then it will likely feel like more of an obstacle than if someone else thought it was easy or fun! This means that if your mind is telling you something like “I’m not good at math,” then this belief may affect how well (or poorly) perform when taking exams later down the road because those thoughts could become self-fulfilling prophecies over time.”

Clarity around your goals is a huge step towards overcoming procrastination but how do you get this?

In order to achieve clarity, it’s important to know what you want to achieve and why. The clearer you are about your goal, the easier it will be for you to reach it. For example, if your goal is “to pay off my debt”, then knowing how much debt there is would be very helpful in terms of calculating where exactly on the journey towards paying off those debts that you are currently at.

Having said that, having a clear picture of what needs to happen before we can achieve our goals can also help us get there faster and more easily because we don’t waste time trying out different things when there’s no point in doing so because they won’t take us anywhere near where we’re trying hard enough (or at all) go

Steps to creating clarity around your goals.

To begin, identify your goal. There are several different ways to do this:

Take a step back from the situation and ask yourself, “What is the goal that I am trying to achieve?”
Ask someone close to you what they think your true goal is, regardless of whether or not they are aware of your current obstacles preventing the achievement of that goal (this will prevent them from giving advice based on their own experiences). This person may not know why the goal is important to you personally — they may just see it as something that needs doing because everyone else thinks so — but having another perspective can help clarify things further when combined with self-reflection and introspection. Remember: clarity comes first; confidence follows!

Identify and become clear about your goal.

Before you can stop procrastinating, you need to know what it is that you want. Set aside some time for this exercise and ask yourself: “What do I want?” Then ask yourself again, but in a different way: “How will I know when I have achieved my goal?”

You may find it helpful to write down your answer to these questions. Doing so will help clarify exactly what you’re trying to achieve and why — and in turn, provide the basis for creating a more realistic plan of action.

With a clearer sense of direction, it’s easier to set milestones along the way (e.g., “I’ll start saving $20 per month once my debt reaches $5k”). These smaller benchmarks will help keep things within reach while giving you something tangible to work toward at each step along the road (i.e., “I’ve saved up enough cash for my trip!”). In addition, defining how long each milestone should take can give an added incentive; if there’s no finish line in sight then there’s nothing stopping us from getting tired or distracted along the way!

Dig deep into precisely why this goal is meaningful for you; Why does it matter? How will your life be better or different once the goal is achieved?

No matter how much you know about the value of your goal, it’s easy to get distracted by other priorities. To help keep yourself on track, dig deep into precisely why this goal is meaningful for you; Why does it matter? How will your life be better or different once the goal is achieved?

Once you have answers to these questions, write them down and review them regularly. This will help keep them fresh in your mind and remind you why achieving this particular goal is important to YOU. It’s also OK if other goals are more important than others; just remember that all of our goals add up over time.

Taking time out every day to reflect on our progress towards our long term vision can also help us stay motivated when we hit bumps along the way. Think about what percentage of complete do I feel like I am with my current projects today? How many months are left until my next big milestone? What resources do I need in order to accomplish this task? These are all questions worth asking so that we can look back after each step forward has been taken!

Ask yourself this simple question — “What do I need to reach my desired outcome?” Then list all of the things that come to mind. This might include training programs, nutrition, time management, team members or coaches. These are your resources.

Ask yourself this simple question — “What do I need to reach my desired outcome?” Then list all of the things that come to mind. If you’re thinking sports this might include training programs, nutrition, time management, team members or coaches. These are your resources.

If you don’t have the resources necessary to achieve a goal then it will be difficult to realize it in reality no matter how clarity and confidence you have. This means you can identify the gaps and start working out how to close them.

Conclusion

We’ve covered some of the main causes and effects of procrastination, and we’ve taken a look at some tips for overcoming it. But I don’t want to close things off with the idea that these are all hard-and-fast rules. In truth, everyone deals with procrastination differently, and there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution for getting rid of it altogether. The best we can do is learn about ourselves and how we work so that we can make decisions that help us reach our goals in life.