If you love pushing your tasks till the last moment and then panicking at the end, you know the hassle of trying to meet deadlines while handling your procrastination. Completing the task is one thing and gathering the effort and energy to begin it is another. If you are a chronic procrastinator, you understand the energy you have to put in to push yourself to complete a task. As you go through this article, you will know why you procrastinate while working and how you can deal with this habit of yours to ease your life.
Why do people procrastinate?
Procrastination begins when you have to complete a given task within the stipulated time, but you continue to delay it till the last moment. You know that if you start this task early, you will be able to complete it on time, but your inner self disagrees. People tend to procrastinate in their work because their desire to delay the task till the last moment outweighs their desire to complete the task. Some of the many reasons why people end up procrastinating include:
1. Lack of proper motivation and self-control. You begin to perform a task when you feel motivated and have a strong reason why you want to perform the task. Lack of motivation often leads to procrastination. You may realize that upon accomplishment of the task, you may get a reward, but the rewards aren’t motivating enough at times.
You may also find yourself distracted through social media and electronic devices, and time management may be an issue for you. You may be addicted to your devices and spend hours scrolling through social media, doing nothing productive.
2. You are delaying the task to ‘feel good’ at the present moment and not bothering about the outcomes. You may sometimes enter an extremely comfortable space, such as sleeping or lying on a bed, and moving from there or making up your mind to work feels difficult. Your mind prefers to stay in a quiet and resting position avoiding all possible work.
3. Your mood, at times, decides whether you wish to begin a particular task or not. Sometimes you may feel too low and end up procrastinating and not completing the task.
You may also avoid work simply because you don’t ‘feel like working.’ This happens when you let your mood take charge and decide if you ‘wish’ to work or not.
4. Overlapping lots of tasks, so you end up completing none. Sometimes you may have bundles of tasks aligned in front of you, so you won’t get the motivation to start. The pile of work seems so demotivating that people end up not beginning to work at all. Overburdening your brain with lots and lots of tasks may be one of the reasons why your brain decides not to work.
How to avoid procrastination
1. Gather motivation
The first and foremost thing that will take you a step closer to an accomplished task is motivation. When you motivate yourself to work hard towards achieving a goal, completing the task becomes more manageable. You may try thinking about the result that you may achieve after the successful completion of the task.
2. Divide the task into small chunks
Sometimes your brain avoids completing some work simply because it is time-consuming and lengthy. To ease the process, divide the task into small chunks. This will ease the process for you and lessen the burden on your brain. Once you see small chunks of tasks in front of you, you may get the motivation to complete the tasks one by one.
3. Reward yourself
Once you complete a specific portion of the work, reward yourself with a small treat, such as a bar of chocolate. This tricks your mind into thinking that it will get rewarded on completion of every bit of the work, and your working efficiency and capacity will be increased.
4. Prioritize your work
You may have multiple tasks in front of you, which may be why your mind is procrastinating. Prioritize your work according to its importance and then focus on completing the more important task first. This way, you will get rid of the most critical tasks first, and then you can plan to complete the remaining work later.
5. Keep all sorts of distractions away
Television, laptop, and mobile phones are the primary cause of distractions that will deviate your mind from the actual task. You may use these to relax in between work, but while you have made up your mind to work on a specific task, try to avoid all these distractions.
Social media is the most crucial factor that deviates your mind and divides your dedication and concentration.
6. Plug in soft, soothing instrumental music
If you can concentrate on your work with music playing, you may play soft instrumental music in the background as you prepare to accomplish your goals. Music helps to calm down your mind and helps you concentrate your focus on the object of importance.
7. Organize your tasks and plan your day
It has been seen that when you plan your day prior, your chances of completing work on time increase many folds. If you have a to-do list in your mind and a proper schedule, you may be able to concentrate better on your work. Don’t overburden your brain with a timetable or schedule that is impossible to follow. Set up realistic goals and tick down the objectives on your to-do list as you approach its end. A completing to-do list with points ticked off provides you with the motivation to work harder and tick off all the work listed.
8. Don’t stress your mind with the additional burden.
When your brain begins to panic about an incomplete task, completing it becomes even trickier. It’s ok if you have procrastinated the entire day and are now deciding to complete the work. Leave stress and any tension regarding the work and its deadlines aside and focus on what can be done next. Don’t make yourself feel bad when you find yourself procrastinating. This will worsen the situation for you. Focus on finding the solution rather than crying about the problem.
Procrastinating till the last minute not only makes the situation difficult for you but also lands you in a situation where you complete a certain amount of work within a few hours that you would have otherwise done in a few days. This results in increased tension to accomplish the deadlines and also compromises the quality of work that you provide.
Procrastinating till the last moment and realizing that time just slipped off your hands makes the situation challenging. You may instead adopt measures that may help in developing motivation and self-confidence within you, so you complete the task available at hand. Remember that ‘early bird gets the worm.’ You may undoubtedly have an advantage over others when you complete a task on time and do not postpone it till the last moment. So stop procrastinating and get in action! Good things are waiting for you.
Article by Riya Vasudeva