PUT AN END TO PROCRASTINATION
On the road to success are so many road blocks and procrastination is one of them. Almost everyone procrastinates at one time or the other. However, doing it consistently becomes a major problem.
Procrastination goes beyond being lazy as so many people would argue. Most procrastinators don't stay idle, rather they keep avoiding the most important task.
WHAT IS PROCRASTINATION?
Procrastination is "self-regulation failure whereby, you know what you ought to do and you’re not able to bring yourself to do it. It’s that gap between intention and action.”
procrastination is really a self-inflicted wound that gradually chips away at the most valuable resource in the world: time. by Timothy Pychyl of Carleton University.
Procrastination is a triumph of short-term rewards over long-term needs.
Procrastination is a harmful habit that prevents people from achieving greater success in life.
Regularly putting off an important task for unimportant ones is a major sign of procrastination.
In summary, procrastination is the gap you create between intention and action.
Now you've known what procrastination is, you might want to exempt yourself from it, before you do that, take this procrastinator self-test put together by mindtools team.
Do you find yourself doing any of these?
- Filling your day with low priority tasks from your To Do List.
- Reading e-mails several times without starting work on them or deciding what you’re going to do with them.
- Sitting down to start a high-priority task, and almost immediately going off to make a cup of coffee.
- Leaving an item on your To Do list for a long time, even though you know it's important.
- Regularly saying "Yes" to unimportant tasks that others ask you to do, and filling your time with these instead of getting on with the important tasks already on your list.
- Waiting for the “right mood” or the “right time” to tackle the important task at hand.
Were you guilty of any?
WHAT MAKES PEOPLE PROCRASTINATE?
Most of us know the harmful effects of procrastination, but it seems a powerful force is preventing us from performing our important duties or completing them. Therefore, it is important to know the real reasons behind that harmful habit.
From observations, the major culprits behind procrastination are;
Fear, Laziness and Perfectionism.
Pamela Wiegartz PhD. In the Age of Anxiety, explains this further.
If you are wondering about the reasons behind your procrastination, take a look at the quiz below and see if anything sounds familiar.
Ask yourself:
1. When faced with a task, do you think of all the ways it could go wrong?
2. Do you picture how important people in your life might react if you failed?
3. Do you believe it's better to not try at all than to try your best and fail?
4. Are you overwhelmed by the possibility of new responsibilities if you are successful?
5. Do you subscribe to the idea "If I do well, then others will expect more of me"?
6. Do you feel your success will lead to other people finding out the "real you"?
7. Do you believe that if you're going to do something, you should try to do it perfectly?
8. Do you find it difficult to persist when things aren't going just right?
9. Would you rather avoid doing something than do it imperfectly?
She went further to explain what could be the reasons for such acts and feelings.
How you answered may tell you a lot about why you procrastinate. A "yes" response to questions 1 through 3 may mean a fear of failure is behind your procrastination. The thought of putting in an effort but still failing makes you anxious, so you choose to avoid and procrastinating instead. In this way, when your project fails you can rationalize that it wasn't a true test of your abilities anyway-if only you'd had more time.
On the flip side, a "yes" to questions 4 through 6, may mean you fear success, not failure. Procrastination protects you from the higher expectations and greater responsibilities that may come with succeeding. Like those who procrastinate because they fear failure, you keep yourself safe from facing your true limits by avoiding challenges and putting things off.
If you identified with questions 7 through 9, perfectionism may underlie your avoidance. Because you believe that things should be done perfectly, the result is that nothing gets done at all. When faced with a task, you become overwhelmed and frustrated-paralyzed by impossible standards.
While the reasons for procrastination may vary, the results are often the same-a seemingly endless cycle of anxiety, avoidance, and shame. Nothing gets done, and you can't enjoy anything with that guilt hanging over your head. Maybe you play golf instead of working on your presentation, but the image of your glowering boss nags at you during the entire game anyway. You can never really relax because there is always something else you should be doing. Procrastination doesn't work because avoidance doesn't erase anxiety-it just delays it.
https://www.psychologytoday.com
HOW TO STOP PROCRASTINATING
First, acknowledge it is a habit you built over a time, so don't think you can drop it off overnight. A regular application of some tips here will help you stop it within a short period.
Set a Goal.
Working aimlessly makes it easy to quit. Set up a goal that you must achieve
Stop Thinking and Start Acting.
"To think too long about doing a thing often becomes its undoing.” by Eva Young
A bit of planning can certainly help you to achieve what you want to achieve. A lot of planning and thinking tends to have the opposite effect.
You think and think and try to come up with “the perfect plan”. A plan where you don’t have to make mistakes, where you will never be rejected, where there will be no pain or difficulties. Such a thing does of course not exist. But as long as you work on that plan you can protect yourself.
www.depression.about.com
Don't wait to figure out everything before you take the first step.
Fix Deadlines
This will help you cut the time you spend on irrelevant tasks because you know you must finish your work at a scheduled time.
Quit Being a Perfectionist
Perfectionism often prevents people from achieving so many things in life. They are always waiting for perfect time. They want to be sure of everything even before they start. In as much as planning is good, they spend too much time planning, thinking and may end up not doing anything. This is the reason why most perfectionists end up living a mediocre life.
Break it into Little Pieces
When a task is too complicated or complex, people try to avoid it. Break it into smaller segments and start doing it.
Give yourself punishment for skipping any important task
Learn to be your own disciplinarian. Punish yourself each time you skip doing an important task.
If I had waited to be a perfect writer before I started blogging on Steemit, I will not know the potentials embedded in me.
If you have overcome procrastination through other methods, please share it in the comment section.
I'll share 20% of the liquid payouts for this post among all those who will make a constructive comment here.
image source: imgur.com
Resource Materials: mindtools.com, psychologytoday.com, depression.about.com
