easy as 1, 2, 3

Lately, it has really hit me that I have been procrastinating...a lot.  I always start things with good intentions of getting things done, but I always get side-tracked by other things. I have to do research for a paper? I get distracted by Facebook, or emails, or blogs, or college stuff.  I have to practice my speech?  I have to catch  up on my shows.  I want to pack a lunch for the next day? I take a nap instead.
Does anybody else run into this problem?  
A good friend once told me her pastor told her that procrastination was a sin for him. I've never thought of it that way...but really it is.  In the pastor's life, procrastination had him scrambling to get his sermon's written on Saturday night and he didn't have time to really listen to what God was telling him to  preach.  In my life, I get so busy with nonessential and trivial things that I put of schoolwork, practice, and planning to the point that I can't get it done.  So what are we supposed to do?
Eliminate all distractions: turn off the T.V., shut down the computer, remove Facebook as the homepage on our computer, and put the phone in a different room.  Having less stimulus around while trying to finish a paper, project, or study helps people focus in most situations.
Give yourself a goal/reward: tell yourself that after you finish one scholarship application you can spend fifteen minutes on facebook before working on the next one.  Or...after I complete the worksheet for English, I can spend a half an hour reading the new romance novel I checked out of the library.  You get the point.
Make a list AND check it off:  this will give you a confidence boost and a little push to finish the next task on the list.
So...stop making excuses, getting distracted, and wasting time and just get things done. I know I'm going to.