Noun; procrastinator - someone who postpones work (especially out of laziness or habitual carelessness)

I’m a Procrastinator. Guilty as charged. As Popeye so eloquently said, “I yam what I yam”. As defined, I don’t feel like I am lazy or careless, but I have been known to postpone work or chores. I feel that we all do sometimes, don’t we?

If you’re a procrastinator like me, you know the issues that can arise from putting things off. Although you may want to get something accomplished, getting the motivation to do so is a different story. The good news is that, with a little organization, you can overcome procrastination. Here are a few tips that I have found helpful.

Make a list of what needs to be done. No one says it’s the final list. You can modify it as you go to keep it current and your priority tasks at the top. The important thing is to get it all out of your head and onto a list. If you can, split larger tasks up into smaller tasks. Splitting them up will allow you to work toward completing the larger task without feeling overwhelmed or rushed. Now, set how long each task will take to complete, and when you would like to get it done. Keep an eye out for times during the day when you can quickly knock out tasks that will only take a few minutes. For instance, change the water bottle on your way to the coffee maker or drop off paperwork on your way out to lunch. You’ll find how quickly your task list shrinks. Also, on busier days, take a midday break to reprioritize your task list so you stay focused on what you want to get done.

By taking time to get a little organized, you’ll be getting things done and overcoming procrastination in no time.

Stay productive,
Moe Lastfogel
moe@retailobserver.com

Our mothers, families, friends, teachers, society and other in uential factors have taught us lessons that will stick with us for a lifetime. As a mother, I do my best to pass on what I’ve learned to my children. What I have found is that most of these lessons have a common underlying theme: a reminder to keep things simple and stay focused on what is most important. When you do this, the decisions you make and direction you take in your life seem to be much easier.

In the spirit of Mother’s Day, here are a few tried and true life lessons from Omer B. Washington that I hope will inspire you to remember some of the important things in life.
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• It takes years to build up trust, and only seconds to destroy it.
• It’s not what you have in your life, but who you have in your life that counts.
• You should never ruin an apology with an excuse.
• We are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.
• Either you control your attitude or it controls you.
• We don’t have to change friends if we understand friends change.
• You shouldn’t be so eager to  nd out a secret. It could change your life
forever.
• Just because someone doesn’t love you the way you want them to
doesn’t mean they don’t love you with all they have.
• Our background and circumstances may have in uenced who we are,
but we are responsible for who we become.
• Two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally
different.
• People will forget what you said, and people will forget what you did,
but people will never forget how you made them feel.

To mothers everywhere,
Eliana Barriga
eliana@retailobserver.com