You have a deadline in two days, you open the laptop to work…two hours later you are browsing through cat videos adoring those little creatures. Procrastination is when you put all your tasks in the later category, piling it all up and when the deadline starts roaming over your head, it takes you into Panic mode making you regret not doing the work while you had the time. If you are looking for ways to change your work pattern and get motivation to work, then read these 10 tips.
“Procrastination is like a credit card: It’s a lot of fun until you get the bill.” – Christopher Parker
10.. BUILD YOUR FOCUS
It is important to get rid of any distractions around you to get motivation and maintain focus. When you are ready to work, turn your phone to Do not disturb mode, mute all the chats, unplug the TV, save all the links that might interest you during working online and put them in watch later category. It is important to give your undivided attention to work if you want to get the work done on time, because distractions can change your priorities.
9.. MAKE A TO-DO-LIST
List down all the tasks that you have to do. Take a paper divide it into two categories “Long Term” and “Short-term” and List all the tasks you have to do within a month in long-term and the tasks due within a week in short term. This will result in the task being done with the first task will giving you motivation for further work.
8.. BREAKDOWN YOUR TASKS
Further, mark all the tasks in numeric order, prioritizing the task marked 1. This will help you maintain order and you won’t be confused about what to do first and what to do next. It will structure your thoughts, get motivation and you’ll be able to work without disturbance or thoughts making you panic about the other tasks on the list.
7.. SET YOUR PRIORITIES
Write down your first task and under it write all the questions you have regarding your task. What are the things required? How to get them? What time frame do you need to set? What kind of impact would it make? And any such questions to clear your mind and get your head in the game. This might seem like a lot to do but it will actually get motivation for you to work because by now your thoughts would be in the right place.
6.. KEEP CHANGING YOUR ENVIRONMENT
Working in the same environment, within same four walls, facing the same view can make you dull and you can easily lose interest from working and divert your attention to other amusements. To keep yourself focused on work and not feel burdened by it, you must keep on changing your environment. Take your papers or laptop and set it up in a coffee shop or a nearby public space. It will provide you change of view, get motivation for you and you’ll be fresh minded during work.
5.. KEEP YOUR DIET HEALTHY
One thing that you should maintain under any circumstances is your diet. Your diet directly affects your brain. If you eat junk food or don’t eat food on proper time, you’ll feel weak, your body won’t respond actively and your mind will not be fresh. You need to maintain your diet plan to be active, get motivation and energy so you could focus on your tasks and finish them in short time period.
4.. DO THE EASY THING FIRST
One way to get motivation for your work to be done without procrastination is by doing the easier tasks first. They will take lesser time and you’ll feel like you have done more work done. It will also give you more time to think about the difficult tasks.
3.. BRIBE YOURSELF
One best way to get motivation is bribing yourself. You simply set your mind to complete the task or reach a certain level of progress and on reaching that level you’ll treat yourself whatever way you want, have snacks, watch an episode, get coffee, go for a walk or whatever it is that’ll be motivated enough to work.
2.. CREATE ‘ WHAT IF ‘ SCENARIOS
What would happen if you missed the deadline, what could be the worst possible thing that could happen? Imagine it and then imagine how it will affect you in the long term. The fear alone would get you motivated to finish the work on time.
1.. DON’T BURDEN YOURSELF
Don’t think of your work as a burden. If you manage them all on time and stop wasting your time procrastinating, your mind would be relaxed, you could do a specific amount of work and easily have time to be social, eat and have entertainment. To get the motivation you must definitely think that you don’t want to burden yourself at the end and regret not doing your work on time.
source: https://thetechnologypost.com/how-to-turn-procrastination-into-motivation/