Willpower helps to deter procrastination. In fact, if you maintain it, willpower will keep you from procrastinating, forever. It is very interesting how the two terms work, and how they work together.
Willpower, simply stated, is the desire to do something. Willpower is felt when you want to start a task. When you want to act, willpower is what is fueling your desire. It is easy to complete a project when you have the willpower to do it. However, in order to finish a task, you must maintain your willpower throughout the entire process. That is because acting on something is near impossible if you don’t want to.
Furthermore, sustained willpower can prevent procrastination from happening at all. Procrastination is when you delay an action for some reason. You may even come up with several justifications as to why you need to delay the project, and then you may confirm that you will do it later. Sometimes, something else takes precedence at the moment. Regardless, the action is postponed because it is not favorable.
You can probably think of many reasons why you cannot do something that you don’t like to do. Oftentimes, the task is delayed longer than ideal. This is simply from not having the willpower to do it because you postponed the task, and in doing so, you also postponed the drive to do it.
However, keeping willpower up will combat procrastination. But, how do you maintain a steady flow of willpower all the time? The answer is, not to lose sight of the prize. By focusing on your destination, and not spending much time thinking about how far you’ve come, you will always have the will to accomplish more. Do not stop short of your goals to congratulate yourself, because your willpower will interpret this brief rest as completion. When that happens, it does not desire to accomplish any more. Willpower must be fed continuously, or else is dies out.
Therefore, in order to maintain willpower, it is best to have a goal to focus on at all times. You may even want to have goals planned out in advance, for when you complete previous goals. Simple goals, like getting the dishes done every day, will maintain the flow of will. Sound tiring? It really isn’t, because if you think about it, most people usually accomplish something every day, and if you have the will to do it, it makes it easier.
If you always have willpower, by focusing on your goals, there will be no opportunities for procrastination. To accomplish your goals, it is therefore best to not look back, but to keep moving forward.
