As a Confidence Coach, I’ve worked with clients on a lot of different issues surrounding their confidence and self-esteem, but an issue that seems to bother of lot of clients is how to stop procrastinating. Although there are some people who procrastinate about nearly every aspect of their lives, they’re definitely in a minority and most people I see procrastinate over just one or two issues which are stopping them from moving forward.

Although people often laugh at themselves over procrastinating, it's rarely amusing and if it gets out of control it can damage their self-esteem and self-confidence as they fail to achieve the goals and success that they want. So if you’re someone who has struggled to know how to stop procrastinating, read on.

People often ask, is it possible to learn how to stop procrastinating? Of course it is. Actually, I’m a firm believer that it’s not that difficult except for one thing. If you really want to know how to beat procrastination for good then you have to be honest with yourself. If you can’t be honest, then frankly there’s no point in even trying to overcome it, because you will be setting yourself up for failure.

Why are you procrastinating? You know what it is that you’re procrastinating over – so the first thing to do is identify the reasons behind the procrastination. This is the first point at which you have to be honest and it may require digging deep in your own mind to find the real reasons.

I have a friend who regularly complains about her job. For more than 8 years she has been moaning about how awful it is and how stressed it makes her feel. This is undoubtedly true and she has been off sick because of it. However, although she regularly talks about getting a new job and even goes so far as getting application forms and filling them in, she never sends them off. Why not? She says the reason is because she’s too busy with her two kids and that’s it’s not the right time to change jobs. Her children are 21 and 16 and as well as studying have busy and active social lives.

I don’t doubt that my friend’s children do still occupy some of her time, but when I challenged her, they weren’t the real reason why she was procrastinating. She has a fear of change and worries that she hasn't got the skills to work in a new organisation. Now this is the real issue she needs to deal with, not the children. All the time she hides behind the children excuse, there is absolutely no chance of her moving on.

And it is this kind of example which makes me say, if you want to learn how to stop procrastinating, you have to be honest. If you’re not prepared to be honest don’t bother. You may need some help from a trusted friend, a mentor or coach to dig deeper, but you still need to be prepared to challenge your own assumptions.

Do you want to stop procrastinating? This is the second area where you need to be honest with yourself. Do you really want to stop procrastinating? It’s a question that you need to ask yourself and answer it honestly. Because if you’re just making noises about wanting to move forward but actually you’d rather maintain the status quo and stay inside your comfort zone, then acknowledge that to yourself, leave it be and accept that nothing will change.

Are you prepared to make changes? Third step in whether you really want to learn how to stop procrastinating, is to ask yourself whether you’re ready to make changes and try new approaches. You will probably say to yourself, “of course I am”, but that’s not good enough. You need to be prepared to be honest enough to know whether you’re prepared to pick up yourself even if the going gets really tough. If your habits are well entrenched and if the reasons you procrastinate is something like fear then trying to break that habit could be quite uncomfortable. Just make sure you're ready for that.

Can I learn how to stop procrastinating? Yes,you can. Now you’re ready to get going, and look at different strategies you can adopt to stop procrastinating. This is something you can do by yourself or you can work with someone.

The point is that without being honest from the very start you’re wasting your time and you won’t succeed in moving on and achieving the goals and success that you want.

Are you honest with yourself when you try to stop procrastinating?