AuthorNebo D. Lukovich  Procrastination is one of the most delusive and stubborn traits. However, there are undoubtedly, many ways to overcome it. Here are some of the most effective ways in general: 1. Meditate Any mindful meditation technique is ideal for curing procrastination quickly. If you prefer to stick with traditional approaches, there are many varieties of Buddhist or Yoga meditation that may be suitable for you. Keep in mind, though, that some of these methods require the practitioner to stick with all the other practices within that particular system. For this purpose, I would recommend a deeply profound mindful meditation, yet one of the simplest ones. First you relax, using one of the many relaxation techniques. Then you just ask yourself: “What will be my next thought?” Then, just wait for the next thought, being curious and alert. This will easily bring you into ‘Pure consciousness’, a state of Presence. Whenever a distraction comes into your mind and disturbs your Presence, you just accept it wholeheartedly and go back to your question which will return you to the Presence. After some practice, you will be able to enter the state of Pure consciousness without using any questions. The goal is simply to stay in this thoughtless state as long as possible. If you want to have stable and lasting results, it is essential to discipline yourself and have at least one, 15-minute meditation session every day. However, I would recommend creating an everyday habit of meditating twice a day, at least 15 minutes in the morning and the same duration in the evening. These sitting sessions should be scheduled to the same periods of the day, if possible. So, why is meditation so beneficial for curing procrastination? Meditation releases huge “amounts” of inner obstacles to any of your life goals, which will erase your procrastination tendency. What’s more important, the steady meditation practice will give you additional love, health, strength, calmness, creativity and smoothness in your life.   2. Practice mindfulness in everyday life Do not limit your practice to these fixed meditation sessions only; expand your consciousness into your everyday life. Be mindful. Be aware. You can be in the same state of Pure consciousness almost all the time during the day. Mindfulness dissolves your inner conflicts softly and almost imperceptibly. In the long run, meditation sittings and mindfulness are really the best cure for your procrastination. And whenever you are in that state of Presence, you will be at perfect harmony with the world; your body will move lightly and flawlessly; your mind will function impeccably whenever needed, and all your actions will be done in the most effective way. 3. Replace bad habits, create good ones If applicable, it’s a good idea to make a habit out of your desired action. While being in the state of Presence, during your mindful periods of the day, try to entice yourself to do your desired action. While doing that, employ the so-called “habit loop”[1]. Every habit has three components: a cue (trigger), routine and reward. A cue is anything that triggers the habitual routine. If the routine brings a concrete reward to the person, it will probably be repeated. In that case, it would continue to repeat and reaffirm itself due to some sort of reward at the end. The reward is usually an inner state of contentment or relief that comes through the routine itself, but can also be an external pleasant event or thing. The trick to changing bad habits is just is to change the routine, and to leave the same cue and reward. But in this case, you have to designate a trigger and a cue that would be appropriate for your action to become a habit. While being in the state of Presence, trigger yourself with the designated cue and do what you have to do. Finally, treat yourself with the same reward. Repeat this procedure as many times as possible, until your desired action becomes an easy and involuntary act to you. [1]Duhigg, Charles. The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do, and How to Change. Random House, Kindle Edition, 2012  4. Change your limiting beliefs Beliefs are our little truths about everything. They give a shape to our life. They are usually supported by underlying emotions, so they become very strong mental habits. Beliefs are often manifested as recurring thoughts (normally together with emotions) on a particular subject. Make a list of your negative beliefs. If you are not sure whether you have a particular belief or not, just say it aloud to yourself and try to feel it. If you have an emotional feedback, either pleasant or unpleasant, you definitely have that belief! After creating your own list of negative beliefs, modify it by adding an opposite, positive belief next to each negative one in order to make pairs of opposite beliefs. Once you have done that, you apply the technique called “Dissolving the Temporary I Plus” (DTI+)[1] on each pair of beliefs from the list. Perhaps you will have to pass through it several times, but negative beliefs will be replaced with fitting positive ones in the end of the process. One of the most important beliefs is certainly about procrastination. For example, you have a belief “I always procrastinate.” You replace it with: “I easily do what should be done immediately.” [1] For more information, check out: Dissolving the Temporary I Plus 5. Have enough rest Never underestimate the importance of good rest. As common person needs in average 8 hours of sleep, plus relaxation and meditation time every day, it boils down to 9-10 hours of some sort of resting day time. If you don’t have enough resting time, your work on anything will be less effective and spoiled with sleepiness. Not only that – your hidden and suppressed subconscious structures will surface more easily. That’s not bad per se, but those elements of your personality will usually be surfacing unexpectedly, when you need them the least.  6. Get motivation from books, talks or movies This will fuel up your energy. Without this, when you get to the low point, when you get stuck with a challenge that seems unsolvable, you will give up. 7. Get support from closest friends Talk with your friends about this problem. Ask them to support you whenever you get stuck in the mud of procrastination. They should react quickly and decisively every time they notice your delay or reluctance. 8. Do Samyama Samyama is an ancient contemplative practice stemming from Hindu tradition. Being a combination of meditation and concentration, Samyama first brings a practitioner to the state of pure consciousness, then, to an inner union with the object of concentration. It can also be very successfully used for the purpose of attaining goals. The Samyama procedure suitable for the goal achievement and overcoming procrastination is essentially the following: Enter the state of Presence, using some of previously mentioned techniques. While dwelling in that pure consciousness, gently bring into your focus a simple idea which symbolizes your goal, your desire. Don’t lose yourself into that thought, you need to keep the awareness of Presence all the while you are focusing on the idea related to your goal. After several seconds of focusing on that idea, turn back to the pure consciousness. Repeat this as many times as possible. That’s it; you’re done! The whole idea of this practice is: whatever mind content (thought, emotion and sensation) is being consciously experienced while residing in Presence, the best aspect of that content will be seeded in one's life. If the content is harmful, it will diminish. If the content is beneficial, it will temporarily disappear in pure consciousness, but that pure consciousness will sow its seed in one’s life in the most beneficial and effective way. 9. Deal with distracting thoughts immediately Each time you intend to take the concrete action, and you are distracted by a negative thought or emotion or even an outside event, you immediately have to erase or transform that thought, emotion or event within your mind. To do that, you might use one the techniques of Reintegration or other psychological procedures. If you are consistent in this, you will surely and pretty quickly erase and overcome all inner obstacles to your concrete action and, ultimately, to your goal. You will also easily overcome your procrastination. 10. Do regular journaling Compared to all other tips for overcoming procrastination, this is something that is not of the highest priority. Nevertheless, it would be very wise to create a habit of journaling. That simply means to write down everything that comes to your mind, preferably once a day. While doing that, you have to be relaxed and totally honest to yourself. This practice will gradually peel off many layers of negative thoughts, emotions and other inner obstacles. You have to be persistent in this work. However, keep in mind that if you force yourself too much in any of these practices, the results will not be as expected. Don’t push too hard – you should be overcoming your inner barriers and harmonizing your parts of personality softly, in the most natural yet efficient way. Good luck with your new life! :-) 
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AuthorNebo D. Lukovich  The present moment is the only moment in your life that you actually have.
Think about this: when you were experiencing anything in your past, you were experiencing it in the Now. Likewise, in the future, any event in your life you will be experiencing also in the Now. You will always be in the Now. Although there are many different opinions whether our past and future are real or not, our normal way of living is definitely anchored only to this moment. Even if we could travel back to the past and re-experience some event, we would also experience it in the Now. The same stands for some imaginary time-traveling future experience. But, in order to really answer this question, we must define the expression “living in the present” in the first place. To live in the Now means to live consciously, to fully experience ourselves and our surroundings without redundant thoughts and other distractions. One could say that deep sleep is also a thoughtless state. That’s true, but it cannot be regarded as the living in the Now, because it is not a conscious state. One could also say that while we are immersed in unnecessary thinking, we are in the Now too, because we are experiencing those thoughts in the present moment. But that is also not a fully conscious state, as we are identified with those thoughts, so it’s not really being in the Now. When we are in the Now, we are either in a thoughtless state, abiding in Pure consciousness or Presence, or we are consciously thinking or doing something (but only that which is really needed for that moment). That thinking or doing is not redundant, but fully conscious and purposeful. Also, if we are lost in our thoughts, we are identified with them. We are not conscious ofthem. We are lost in imaginary past or future. That unnecessary wandering drains huge amounts of energy out of us. It distracts us from an action (or non-action) appropriate for the situation in which we are at that very moment. The perfect response to every situation stems only from the state of Presence. That response can be pro-active or non-active, but either way it is the most appropriate response at that moment. Living in the present gradually liberates us from all unnecessary burden and allows us to live in the most efficient, yet peaceful way. AuthorNebo D. Lukovich  I had been trying for many years to anchor myself in the present by utilizing many methods originating from various spiritual traditions, but ultimately, to no avail. After a temporary success, there would always emerge a setback, and I would find myself at the beginning of the road again. Or it seemed so. Anyway, it was obvious that my strategy was not well-grounded.
I have learned the lesson the hard way. After many attempts and consequent failures, I have finally concluded that I must take a comprehensive approach: meditation, mindfulness and extensive inner work, concurrently. That was the cornerstone. Why should we take a wide-ranging approach to our personal transformation? Many inner structures in our psyche are opposing our life in the Now. Occasionally, due to their apparently cunning behavior, we could even say that they have some sort of consciousness or mind. As I said before, in many periods of my life I temporarily succeeded to anchor myself in the here and now, but it seemed that each time some unexpected event, person or inner issue expelled me out quickly from this blissful state. Therefore, if we don’t take into account those structures, we will always be getting back to the same old troubles and behaviors. We must face them, not through fighting, but through accepting, transforming and re-integrating them into our personality. Consequently, to get into a relatively stable state of abiding in the here and now, we should deal with these subconscious structures of our personality. Otherwise, they will continuously be preventing us in our efforts to be mindful. How to achieve this?
With mindfulness and meditation, we will be transforming ourselves from within, subtly changing our personality and its various parts. Whatever comes into our field of perception, we will reintegrate it through our Pure Consciousness or Presence, which has a divinely transformative effect. With the reintegration work, we will be changing ourselves outside, by using the various mental and emotional techniques for subconscious parts’ integration into our being. Mindfulness An excellent method to develop the practice of everyday mindfulness is to set up triggers for it. These triggers will actually be various situations or activities that you are usually engaged in during the day, so every time the condition occurs, it will trigger you to become mindful or fully conscious of yourself and the present moment. For example, your triggers could be: walking along a familiar path, cleaning teeth, opening or closing the door, sitting down or getting up from a chair, arriving at a specific location or even thinking a particular thought. You can actually make anything a trigger. Repeat these triggers as many times as possible, every time shifting your focus from the trigger to the present moment, until each trigger becomes habitual “launcher” of your mindfulness. Generally, you should try to be aware (i.e., mindful) of every motion of your body, sensation, texture, sound, taste, and smell. From time to time pause and direct attention to your sense of self. Sustain that state of self-awareness during every activity. You will enjoy every task; you will become light and, in a strange way, even transparent. Anything that distracts you, or pulls you out of mindfulness, you should accept as such, and not react to it at all (unless you are threatened somehow). Then continue with the activity, being fully conscious of it and yourself simultaneously. Every conscious moment in the Now will gradually accumulate and make your whole life easier and abate or even prevent challenges. Mindfulness dissolves your inner conflicts softly and almost imperceptibly. And whenever you are in that state of Presence, you will be at perfect harmony with the world; your body will move lightly and flawlessly; your mind will function impeccably whenever needed, and all your actions will be done in the most effective way. Meditation Without regular meditation sittings, your mindfulness can quickly lose its foundation. So it is very recommended to practice them concurrently. You have countless varieties of meditation at your disposal. You can choose one of the modern types of “pure awareness” or “body awareness” meditations, for example like those presented by Eckhart Tolle. But, you can also stick to traditional approaches, like many Buddhist or Yoga meditations; some of them can indeed be suitable for you. Keep in mind, though, that some of these traditional methods require the practitioner to stick with all other practices within that particular system. One example of “pure awareness” meditation technique is the following: First, you relax, using one of the many relaxation techniques. Then ask yourself: “What will be my next thought?” Then just wait for the next thought, being curious and alert. This will easily bring you into Pure consciousness, a state of Presence. Whenever something comes into your mind and disturbs your Presence, accept it wholeheartedly and go back to your question which will return you to the Presence. After some practice, you will be able to enter the state of Pure consciousness without using any questions. The goal is merely to stay in this thoughtless state as long as possible. It is essential to discipline yourself and have at least one, 15-minute meditation session every day. However, I would recommend creating an everyday habit of meditating twice a day, at least 15 minutes in the morning and the same duration in the evening. These sitting sessions should be scheduled for the same periods of the day, if possible. Meditation will release huge “amounts” of inner obstacles to any of your life goals, and will gradually erase all your negative tendencies, including laziness. What’s more important, the steady meditation practice will give you extra love, health, strength, calmness, creativity, and smoothness in your life. Reintegration of inner parts If we really intend to achieve permanent results in our personal transformation, the work on our subconscious structures must be comprehensive and continual, always accompanied with meditation and mindfulness. There are countless approaches to this subject also. The mainstream psychology is one of them. It is scientifically approved and confirmed, and consequently pretty safe. But it’s also very slow. On the other hand, there are many alternative methodologies, which could be much more efficient and faster but burdened with higher risk. It’s up to you to choose. However, I will offer here one of these alternative approaches to personal transformation, the Reintegration System, which is a methodology rooted in psychology and holographic model of reality, which has proven to many people as being systematic, yet the extremely effective method of human development. Here is the list of our personality’s aspects that we should deal with in accordance with the Reintegration System’s methodology:
These aspects are parts of our personality that merely need the most of our attention in our inner work. You may find that some of these parts are actually sub-sets of other, more general ones. We could classify, for example, our desires, fears, and guilt under the umbrella of ‘emotions’, or we might instead assume that emotions are only part of traumatic memories; beliefs can be habitual thoughts backed by emotions, etc. Each could be right or wrong, depending on your point of view, but for our purposes they are listed according to practical reasons. So, what to do with all these elements of personality? In short, we should always face them, accept them wholeheartedly, and finally, transform and reintegrate them entirely into our being, using an appropriate technique. We should never fight them! All these aspects have deeply hidden genuinely positive intentions for us, but those intentions have been gradually distorted into apparently negative behavior during extended periods of time, because of numerous misconceptions, limited perception, and challenging environment. A lot more on this you can find at www.re-integration.com, or in “Inner Peace, Outer Success” and other Reintegration books. Additional note on inner work For some people, though, this three-fold work is not necessary for achieving the lasting bliss. Indeed, some relatively rare individuals have mysterious inherent abilities and preconditions for attaining the permanent happiness or Enlightenment with little or no effort at all. They have done most of their inner work probably in other incarnations. However, we must not rely on such hopes. The determined, persistent, yet profoundly joyful effort, is definitely recommended as our final choice. |
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