Procrastination is a not so beautiful trap that almost everyone falls into it. Almost everyone loves to procrastinate. Many people often confuse procrastination with laziness. Whereas the fact is, that both these terms are totally different.
Procrastination is a process in which you choose to do something else in place of the task that you know you should be doing.
Where in, laziness is completely different from it. It means being apathetic and inactive, so basically not willing to work or act at all. Procrastination is ignoring the important task and doing something else that pleases you.
While people love to procrastinate they never know the unhealthy benefits of it. It leads to stress, sleep issues, and poorer performances. Procrastination makes you feel guilty at some point of your life. Procrastinators are more likely to fall into the trap of regret than the non-procrastinators.
So, how to overcome procrastination? If you are also struggling with procrastination, here are some tips that can make you overcome it:
• Get Rid of Catastrophizing
Catastrophizing is one of the biggest reasons why people procrastinate. People often view their important task as tough, boring, painful, etc. It makes them feel painful to complete the underlying task.
But people should understand that hard work and challenges are not that painful and boring. People should be of a mind that even if it is difficult, I have to complete it.
• Focus on Why Should You Complete Your Task
Procrastinators always avoid their work in order to gain some short-term benefits. But they forget to assume its long-term consequences such as stress. People should focus on why should they complete their task immediately and what are the benefits of it?
• Set your Calendar
Assigned works you think you would do whenever you will get time never gets completed on time. You need to schedule your plans and projects. You need to block everything else when you are at your work. Pretend as it is one f the most important meeting of your life.
• Be Pragmatic
Be practical and try to establish your schedule in order to set up yourself for success. Never make you schedule too hectic for those things that you have put off for months. Take out the time to do these things in between your free hours.
• Chunk it
People tend to procrastinate when the task seems overbearing. So what to do in those times? Simply chunk your task. Divide your task into smaller pieces. For example, if you are preparing a presentation, make an outline and then follow it from time to time.
• Stop Making Excuses
People make several excuses to get rid of their work. But this needs to be stopped urgently. Be honest to yourself at least. Self-realization is important.
• Get a Partner
Set deadlines for your tasks. After deciding your final deadline, find a partner who will help you to keep accountable. It could be anyone, coach or boss. In this process, you communicate with the person and give him/her your words to complete the task on time. The mere idea of not keeping your words can eliminate procrastination.
• Make Your Environment Positive
Your surrounding can also hinder your productivity. Try to stay away from your social media sites while you are on your work.
While working, turn off your phone and do not go the web until and unless you have not fulfilled your promise.
• Honour Good Behaviour
Put a reward for the completion of your task. When you will not allow yourself to enjoy your social media platform, you will automatically focus more on your task. Instead, to making them a distraction, use them as a weapon to complete the tasks.
• Pardon Yourself
Start forgiving yourself for the past. Do not always think about thoughts like ‘I should have done it earlier’ or ‘I can do nothing on time.’ Instead, start learning from your past and think to make your present better.
• Drop the Perfectionism
Stop the idea of perfection. The idea of perfection holds you from completing your assignment.
So, these are some tips to overcome procrastination. Adopt these tips and you will surely find a difference.