Introduction
Procrastination is the thief of time. It steals away hours, days, weeks, months—even years! It can leave you feeling like you’re perpetually playing catch-up. But do not despair! You are not alone in your struggle against procrastination. And there are ways to beat it. This blog post will share some of the most common causes and ways to battle it head on so you can get back on track towards achieving your goals.
What is Procrastination?
Procrastination is a type of avoidance behavior that involves delaying tasks or responsibilities until they are no longer relevant or easy to complete. For example, instead of starting a difficult assignment now, someone might wait until just before the deadline to work on it. There are many different types of procrastination including: academic (tasks related to school), job search (searching for job postings and preparing the resume), personal (cleaning house or working out) and so forth.
Know the reason for your need to procrastinate
The biggest enemy you’ll have against procrastination is denial. You can beat procrastination only if you know the reason behind it. People often have no idea why they don’t want to do something, and they want to ignore it to get things done quickly. They deny that there’s an underlying issue that’s affecting their performance.
This is why it’s always advisable to sit down with someone you trust and talk to. Whether it’s a family member, friend, or colleague, this will give you a better understanding of your patterns. This will enable you to tackle them before they completely destroy your career.
Lack of discipline
Although discipline doesn’t necessarily have to have negative connotations, it can sometimes stop you from achieving your goals.
How to deal with unwanted thoughts
Unwanted thoughts—which range from the sublime to the absurd—can distract you from the task at hand. A great deal of research points to the fact that you are more likely to start tackling a difficult task if you’ve identified the ideal time to do so. Some people have been known to procrastinate for hours simply because they lack the strength to face a particular type of task. Don’t let your head get in the way of what you want to do. Instead, refocus your attention and your energy on what you should be doing now.
What to do when you get the urge to procrastinate
Sometimes you just need to let your mind wander. Perhaps you’re at work. Or you’re on the train. Or you’re in the midst of a project.
Define what success means to you
Before you start going through your list of tasks, write down your own definition of success. How would you define success for yourself? This will help you to focus your tasks and accomplish what you want to do.
Do not procrastinate on your goals.
Finding the time for everything is a struggle for most people. To do this, they try to find a way to cut their working hours without reducing their pay, income or free time. One way to do this is to go on vacation, if you’re fortunate enough to have a paid vacation coming up. But even then, there will be times when your work demands take priority over your social life. So you end up sacrificing your enjoyment of your time off and end up not being able to make time for yourself.
Set small, achievable goals
No matter how huge and overwhelming your goals seem, break them down into smaller, achievable ones. Breaking large goals down gives you a clear path towards achieving them. And since you know what to focus on, you can take one step at a time and keep pushing yourself toward the end goal.
By thinking of it as setting goals in terms of smaller, more achievable ones, you’ll know exactly what to work towards and not be left in the lurch in case you fall behind.
Tell yourself that it will take just one day
The majority of procrastinators fall into the mentality of the Big Ass Of Procrastination. These are the people who put off doing what needs to be done because they know that it will take them several days to do.
Draw up a schedule and stick to it
If your schedule is a to-do list and not a calendar, it can feel really overwhelming, with so much to do in a short amount of time. But there is a happy medium. Use your calendar to set realistic deadlines for yourself, and for the things that you just want to do but don’t need to get everything done at once. You can still finish your tasks and still have fun in the process. Set a goal to get more work done this month than you did last, and look forward to the progress you’re making.
You may also want to consider using personal productivity apps or an online task manager to track your tasks and goals. And don’t forget to reward yourself when you’ve completed a task well.
Join a club or society in your field
This can be a great way to get you out in the field, meet people, and feel that you are part of the community. You don’t have to join every club, but find one that resonates with you and then show up to at least one meeting. Better yet, volunteer to help out at events. It’s much easier to push off a homework assignment for one more month when you know you’ll be interacting with students all evening.
Get inspired! Schedule a short trip to a museum. Hit the library. Check out that map you’ve been carrying around. Find an interesting website and spend time browsing through its archives. Spend a few hours doing whatever is most interesting to you.
Explore new interests in your spare time
Do you ever get the feeling that you have too much on your plate to take on any more projects, assignments, or obligations? You are not alone in this! Your mind works hard in the mornings while you sleep to deal with your stresses and uncertainty. You are always running around, doing something, and forget to switch off.
This can be seriously draining and counterproductive to your performance. In many cases, the only way to enjoy life is to embrace the simple, relaxing activities that enhance the experience. As cheesy as it sounds, try to unwind at least 30 minutes in the evening. With this downtime, commit to taking your time in deciding what to do next. Open a book, get a slice of your favorite snack, or sit on your couch and finish watching a Netflix series.
Keep Your Eye on the Prize
Procrastination starts with your ability to focus. How focused are you? It might seem like your mind has more time for all kinds of thoughts—like where did that missing piece go from your room, what time do my friends come home, how will I be able to get everything done on time, or what am I going to have for dinner.
Of course, we all have times when we’re distracted, like when you’re talking to someone and see a stain on the floor, or you hear the fire alarm and jump up to check it out, or you’re playing a video game and one of the characters appears on the TV screen. But if your mind is constantly going in different directions, you’re not actually as relaxed as you think you are.
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