How To Be More Proactive
Brief: Being “Pro” anything is usually a good thing and in this post I’m going to go over how my life changed when I became more Proactive.
“Leaving things too late” and “being unprepared” were slowly becoming my reputation instead of just bad habits. If something didn’t get done until the last second or if I was wildly unprepared, people were no longer surprised and almost expected it out of me. It got so bad that people would actually be surprised and impressed when I WAS prepared or proactive. That was the wake up call for me. My procrastination had gotten to the point that people were expecting me to fail not out of hate but out of my own undeniably irresponsible track record. Clearly, something needed to change. I did some self diagnosing and came up with a few good ways to help myself become more proactive and reliable, here they are!
Top Of Mind, Off The List
One of my biggest problems was forgetting the small things. I would be heading to a baseball game with friends and would forget my water bottle or and extra mitt for a teammate. Small things that are not on the everyday checklist but at one point crossed your mind that you should have. My advice is while those small things are on your mind (“oh I need to bring an extra glove for our new team mate”) get them done. Take 30 seconds and pack that 2nd glove in your bag and you don’t need to worry about it again, its done. The small things can slip through the cracks, so while you have them on your mind, get them checked off the list.
Write It Down
Writing things down helps your brain remember but I like to take it a little further. Put your daily or miscellaneous reminders on sticky notes and stick them to your bathroom mirror. Any place that you will look multiple times a day works like a charm. This will help you remember and you will probably be inspired to get those stickies off your mirror asap.
What’s The Plan?
Planning ahead is like “How to be Proactive 101”. If you organize your month, week, or day in advance it will help you be more prepared for the upcoming events. Try it out for a week, and I guarantee you will feel like you have more free time when you give yourself a general layout of your week. You can make specific time for friends or chores etc. Your life will be more productive and being proactive will increase your mood. Getting the most out of my weeks has definitely helped boost my self esteem and energy levels, both mental and physical.
These are just a few that worked for me and I hope they work for you!
