No matter how perfect your organizational system, there will be times when you fixate on a project that you suddenly feel must be done right now , even though it’s actually not critical at all.

This is almost always procrastination in disguise.

Tonight, I should be writing a number of reports for clients, or working on my upcoming 31 Days to GTD Mastery series for the blog. Instead, I decided I absolutely had to add all of the 500+ personal development blogs at Priscilla Palmer’s list to my ever-growing (439 and counting) list of RSS feeds.

By the time I got to the letter D, I was bored to tears, but I have a hard time letting go of a project once I’ve started it.

Then, I had a bright idea: I’d outsource my procrastination. I wrote up an RFP in about 20 seconds, posted it, got a bid for $50, and poof, all done.

This way, I satiate my current desire to have this project completed, but I free myself up to work for paying clients. It easily would have taken me three or four hours to add all those RSS feeds myself, and I earn more than $12.50/hour doing other work. I just made money AND took care of my procrastination project at once!

Now, David Allen of GTD fame does suggest that we all keep a healthy number of non-critical things that do have to be done eventually on our Next Action lists so that when we do, inevitably, procrastinate, we at least get something done instead of zoning out in front of the TV.

This is a great idea. However, there’s a difference between “change the light bulb in the front hall,” which is a good five-minute widget to crank when you just don’t feel like working, and “create a personal library of LOLcats and make a screensaver,” which is not a good way to spend your time.

The next time you decide you just HAVE to take on a mundane project, ask yourself: can I outsource this?

This link has made the rounds already, but I just can’t stop watching Blaise soar into Notre Dame cathedral through a poster.

Check out this amazing technology by clicking here.

Today, Twitter launched its new tracking feature, where you can receive immediate notification when someone’s tweet contains a particular keyword of your choosing.

You can use this new feature to find and contact other Twitterers who can benefit from your product, service, or blog posts.

First, you’ll want to make sure your Twitter profile has your URL listed and your blurb clearly outlines your area of expertise.

Now, you’ll want to track keywords related to your product or service. For example, if I run a digital photography site, I’d track keywords like “camera” or “pictures” and see what kinds of messages pop up.

Start with lots of keywords and then pare down the list as you learn which are providing valuable leads and which only bog down your incoming SMS list.

Remember to use conversational keywords. Tweets are informal by nature. Think about how you’d tweet on your topic, and enter keywords accordingly.

Now, you’ll be notified each time someone’s tweet contains your keyword.

The key is to use this information *constructively*. Interact with the posters. If someone says they “just bought a digital camera,” send them a message offering help learning a trick or two. If they say they’re “taking pictures tomorrow” ask what sort of pictures they’re taking or where they are. You can then offer more specific information in response. As you prove yourself to be a valuable resource, you gain trust and in turn will gain readership and new business.

To use Twitter’s tracking feature:

SMS (40404) or IM the following to Twitter: track keyword

(Replace keyword with your own keyword.)

Please do not use this strategy to spam people. That’s just not cool.

“It was in a bathtub in New York, reading Italian words aloud from a dictionary, that I first started mending my soul. My life had gone to bits and I was so unrecognizable to myself that I probably couldn’t have picked me out of a police lineup. But I felt a glimmer of happiness when I started studying Italian, and when you sense a faint potentiality for happiness after such dark times you must grab onto the ankles of that happiness and not let go until it drags you face-first out of the dirty–this is not selfishness, but obligation. You were given life; it is your duty (and also your entitlement as a human being) to find something beautiful within life, no matter how slight.”

–”Eat, Pray, Love” by Elizabeth Gilbert

Both Google News and Google Alerts let you keep track of the latest news by keywords.

A lot of people simply stick their favorite keywords into Google Alerts and ignore that feature in Google News. However, there’s a better way.

Use Google Alerts for keywords that you really want to keep track of on a constant basis. Since the alerts are emailed to you, you can always file the emails away under a “To Read” tag and catch up when you have time later without fearing you’ll miss anything.

However, there may be topics that interest you, but you don’t necessarily need to read every story that’s published about them. These keywords are better entered as Google News keywords, so you can peruse the latest stories when you launch Google News, but you won’t miss them if you don’t have the time — and your important alerts won’t be lost in the shuffle.

For example, I keep Google News alerts on general topics like “animal welfare” and “reproductive rights” but I keep Google Alerts on “assault weapons ban” and “misandry” because I want to be able to act on/respond to articles on the latter topics more often than the former.

The best gauge for whether something should be in Google News or Google Alerts is to set everything up as a Google Alert on a daily basis first. If a topic starts to come up so often that it annoys you, move it to once a week. If you’re still not reading your alerts, move it to Google News.

It seems like everywhere I turn lately, I hear people start a sentence with “I need X,” with X invariably being something that they do not in fact need at all – they simply want it.

The tragedy of this situation is that by assigning all of these trivial non-needs (hereafter referred to as “needs”) the importance of a genuine need, we lose the ability to focus on what’s most critical in order to propel us to what we really want.

A common example:

You really want to devote your life to pursuing your passion and derive a comfortable income from doing so. Making this change would require having at least three months’ income set aside.

However, you are living paycheck-to-paycheck in a 9-5 that you don’t like, you have a girlfriend who demands you spend your every free moment with her, and you live in a spacious apartment with nice furniture and a big-screen television in a nice neighborhood where you drive to the grocery store and the drive-thru burger joint almost everyday.

Each day, you express—and indulge—many “needs” throughout the day. You “need” to drive to work. You “need” a coffee at Starbucks. You “need” a newspaper. You “need” a Mountain Dew from the soda machine at work. You “need” to go out for lunch. You “need” to catch the season premiere of Lost tonight with your girl, a couple beers, and take-out Chinese.

Now you need to ask yourself what’s more important:

Being able to wake up each morning and indulge your greatest passion, free of the stress of overdue bills and a temperamental supervisor, or:

• Coffee at Starbucks (instead of brewing it at home, or making tea, or drinking water)?
• Driving to work (instead of taking the bus, or biking, or walking, or car-pooling)?
• Watching TV?
• Eating fast food (instead of eating inexpensive foods at home)?
• Lounging at home with your significant other (instead of working overtime, or a part-time job, or freelance work)?

Don’t confuse convention with need, either. If you’re truly passionate about your goals, you’ll suddenly see that you don’t need a car at all—you can bike, or walk, or run, or bus, or FlexCar around town.

The best part is, by cutting your expenses to the minimum, you’ll be able to live for that much longer on that much less money. If you initially need three months’ expenses set aside in order to take a stab at that new business, and your monthly expenses are cut in half, then you’ll only need one half of your original estimate.

Remember—these short-term sacrifices won’t last forever. Once you’ve put aside the resources you need to take the leap into doing what you really want, you will once again have the resources to splurge on dinners out and a nicer apartment—if those things are even important to you anymore.

Now, I am not advocating living off nothing but ramen and living in a tent in the park. Life just wouldn’t be enjoyable if we only tended our true animalistic needs and ignored all the rest. But there’s a difference between going through life unaware of indulging our wants and CHOOSING which to indulge and which to ignore in pursuit of a higher purpose.

However, when we sacrifice that which we want most for that which we want right this minute, we sacrifice the greatest enjoyment life has to offer for nothing but short-lived satiation.

As you go about your day, stop yourself and ask:

Do I really need to buy or do this? What alternatives do I have?

I challenge you to identify and eliminate five “needs” from your life this week! I’d love to hear what you chose and why, and what greater goal(s) you’re thismuchcloser to achieving as a result!

Head over to the New York Times “Most Emailed Stories” to quickly catch up on the latest news people will be talking about over the water cooler.

Many advocates of getting organized suggest starting small. Pick one room, change one thing, start (or eliminate) one habit.

That’s crap.

I don’t write this blog to coddle you. Baby steps is nothing more than procrastination in disguise.

Now, before you leave in a huff, let me qualify.

Deciding to overhaul your entire life for the better — starting now — doesn’t mean executing this commitment flawlessly everyday. You’ll fail. You’ll have setbacks.

And that’s okay.

It is far superior to cheat on your diet two days a week than to never change your eating plan at all, which is — let’s be honest — really failing seven days a week.

Failure doesn’t last forever. If you succeed five days out of seven, soon you’ll find those small successes snowballing into a success streak, and you may “cheat” only once a month, or not at all.

The only true failure is never trying at all.

So break out the pen and paper and start listing your goals. All of them. Now post that list everywhere — your computer desktop, the front door, the bathroom mirror, the back of your hand. Commit to seeing them all through — starting now.

The solution to the problems in Africa is not to pour more foreign aid into a “broken bowl.” It’s to educate and encourage the African people so they can help *themselves*.

You don’t become wealthy and successful living on the handouts of others.

I’ve shared Andrew Mwenda’s talk with you and I’d also like to strongly encourage you to watch George Ayittey’s TED Talk.

Then ask yourself: are you a hippo or a cheetah?

My first tag! I’m very excited.

Takuin over at Rule of 5 has tagged a few bloggers to participate in the “Ready… Set (Goals) … Go!” challenge, inspired by the upcoming launch date of Grand Theft Auto IV.

The challenge: Set and achieve one goal to accomplish before Grand Theft Auto IV launches on October 16, 2007.

Now, given my recent 101 Goals in 1,001 Days series, you might think I’m going to pick one of my 101 goals, but in an effort to change it up, I’ve chosen something different:

Launch a goal support site at 101goalsin1001days.com with at least 101 unique (and free!) execution plans and at least five (free!) printable worksheets… and commit to help at least 10 individuals plan their own 101 goals.

The clock is ticking … only 25 days to go!

I invite you to join this challenge as well! I’d love to hear about your own short-term, high-impact goal.