Genuine Procrastination Solutions
Procrastination is the act of putting off or delaying something you are avoiding for one reason or another. Procrastination is something that we usually do without intending. Everyone procrastinates at least sometimes and many people do it often. Procrastinating can turn into a negative habit. It can cause problems with work, school, and personal life. For example, if one is constantly putting off working on an assignment, it can cause the person to score much lower than they would have otherwise because of all the time lost in not doing their work. Procrastination can be an enemy but there are ways that people can avoid procrastinating and get things done on time or ahead of their schedule.
First, let’s analyze procrastination. There are two types of procrastinators: "active procrastinator" and "passive procrastinator":
- Active Procrastinator – This person is disorganized and often has an avalanche of tasks that piles up around them.
- Passive Procrastinator – He is shy and has a low self-esteem. They often feel like they are not capable of achieving much on their own, so they avoid activities where they will be required to perform tasks on their own.
Each type has one thing in common – procrastination. But the reasons for their procrastination are quite different: the active procrastinator works really well under stress and they prefer doing things at the last moment when they feel most productive, while the passive procrastinator has too much doubt or anxiety, which makes them seek comfort by avoiding the unpleasant activity that they are afraid of.
Procrastination ranges from not doing unpleasant tasks in favor of doing fun things like watching TV, or playing video games. Some people procrastinate by doing other productive tasks, but still avoiding that important one that needs to be done. Sometimes doing other productive things can makes us feel more satisfied with ourselves, but that still leaves us with the big and scary thing that needs to be done, and it still causes stress when we don’t have much time left. Many people do procrastinate and most don't know how to stop because procrastination can give temporary satisfaction.
This article includes general guidelines for avoiding procrastination. It also offers several suggestions for increasing your self-esteem, as well as tips about how to reward yourself for your hard work in a productive and positive manner. It gives several suggestions on how to prevent this bad habit. No matter what kind of procrastinator you are, there are always ways to avoid this bad and sometimes difficult to get rid of habit.
The first step to avoiding procrastination is to wear down that initial resistance that tells you not to get started. This can be accomplished by breaking down a large, daunting project into smaller and more manageable tasks and starting with the most difficult of them. When you begin taking action on an assignment, the resistance to not do it will slowly start to fade away and you will find yourself immersed in your work. For better concentration and results, try to be calm and only try to focus on what is immediately necessary. Worrying about other parts of the project that you are currently not doing will make this step lose its meaning. You would be putting the tasks back together into a bigger task in your head which would make it seem more difficult and less pleasant to do. The goal is to focus completely on what you are doing right now, and concentrate on the action, rather than allowing the brain wander or believe in things like how ‘difficult’ or ‘impossible’ the task is to complete.
Write down your list of tasks and even create a timetable so you can see what needs to be done and by when. Make sure to break down the tasks into small enough chunks so that you don't get overwhelmed, this also helps for forgetful people.
One method for mitigating procrastination is to remove distractions from your workspace. If your room, desk, or area is cluttered with things that can readily distract you from what you are doing, then it will be nearly impossible not to procrastinate. It is an exception of all these objects are required for your work at all times. Try to keep a simple and minimalistic work environment that provides little or no distractions so that you can stay focused on one task at a time until it is completed.
When it is time to begin working, the lure of social media or other online activities can be too much for you to ignore. Before beginning a work task, make sure your phone and laptop are at least fifteen feet away from you, unless you need them for work. This might seem like a small change, but it can make all the difference in terms of how well you work.
To avoid procrastination, one must not only make the most of each day but also of each hour and even each minute. To do this, it becomes necessary to develop a schedule that you can stick to throughout the week. This schedule will allow you to maximize your productivity at any given time during the day and ensure that you are working on the things that need to be done.
Don't wait until tomorrow; do it now. This way, you will not only avoid the hassle of procrastinating but you will also feel good about yourself for staying productive and getting your work done.
One way to stay motivated while completing tasks is to give yourself a sense of completion. This is done by developing a reward system for yourself that will increase your motivation for work. When completing tasks, give yourself small rewards for reaching milestones. After you have finished working on an assignment, use the time you would have wasted procrastinating to enjoy one of the rewards you've given yourself. Make sure that these rewards don’t take too much of your time so that you can then move onto the next task or activity.
Another way you can try to stay focused is by not multitasking. Multitasking might sound like a good idea, but it usually makes us less productive and we tend to lose focus on the important things so much easier. Instead of trying to do several things at once, work one project at a time until it is finished before moving onto another one.
If you are not motivated by your work, try to get yourself excited about it. If you find it unpleasant, look for ways to make it more pleasant. Think about how great it will feel when you have finished the task.
Example: Your goal is to exercise and build muscle, your exercises are boring, sooner or later you start to dread doing them even though you know they are beneficial and would help you reach the result you desire. If they are boring, be creative, find a way to turn them into a pleasant activity that you can’t have enough of. You can play some music in the background, or look for new exercises if you are repeating the same ones again and again, or look for exercises that are more challenging so that your brain is completely focused on them and doesn’t have the time to think about how boring they are. If you do nothing, the boredom would take over and would cause you to not be motivated enough to continue, and when you don’t continue, you won’t receive the results you desire, and if they are important to you, you would be disappointed in yourself and this would lead you to believe that you are not good enough, or that you don’t have the ‘willpower’, which is not true. So make it fun.
Set a time limit for tasks, instead of leaving them open ended. This way, you have the satisfaction of finishing something as soon as you can instead of leaving it until the last minute.
Be realistic with your goals and keep them achievable. This way, you can complete things in a shorter time than expected and be done with the task sooner rather than later.
Learning how to avoid procrastination is a skill. While it might seem like procrastination is doing you a favor by letting you get away with putting something off, in reality, it only makes things more difficult for you. If avoiding procrastination is particularly difficult for you to do, it is okay. Take your time to master this skill.