Here's the reason why most of us procrastinate; we do so because we seldom set appointments. For example, I may decide to go to the gym without setting an appointment. If three years go by and I never step foot in a gym, I'll feel incredibly guilty but I still won't have a set mental date to go to the gym, so I may never go.

What if I decided to go to the gym on the 1st of November? Now I have an appointment, and as long as I ensure that the particular date is one on which I'm available for this activity, I'm far more likely to get it done.

Merely saying you will do something can work, but if you notice a trend where a number of activities get put off over and over again, you may be forgetting to set appointments. When you don't set appointments, mental alarm bells do not go off because there's no reference point. If you just decide to paint your house and do so without an appointment, if 30 years pass by and it's not painted, as far as you're concerned you have not breached any contracts. You said you would paint the house, and you'll paint it. Subconsciously, you are just buying yourself more time to put it off.

Setting appointments for yourself will cure any tendencies to procrastinate which you may have. Just try it and see how well it works. Even students can benefit from this. Saying you'll study and not setting an appointment provides false comfort. Then the night before the finals, you crack open a book and *study*.

Setting an appointment like 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. every evening is a far better way to approach studying. You now have a mental reference point and alarm bells will go off by 8:05 if you don't start by then.

The same applies to business people who intend to expand their businesses, or even start a new business. Do you have a specific date - an appointment to open that second store? Do you have a date to open the first? If you have no dates or appointments, then you probably aren't working toward anything.

Obviously, you can't set timetables if items such as finance aren't in place, but if all the essential items are available it's now time to set goals and put timetables in place.

Whatever you intend to do be it charitable or for personal profit, setting appointments will make you far more likely to complete tasks in good time.

Finance is not always the factor holding us back; mental blocks can have an even stronger effect. Some millionaires put off vacations for years. Of course they can afford it, but the lack of an appointment prevents any real decisions toward that objective from being made. If appointments are set and health permits, you are far more likely to begin and complete the tasks you set for yourself.

Setting appointments will also instill personal discipline and eventually you won't even need to set appointments as fulfilling obligations will come to you naturally.