How to Conquer Your Procrastination

Do you keep postponing your work, saying, “I will do it tomorrow?”. We often feel less motivated to work on specific chores. We face procrastination many times in life.

Instead of working on a task right now, are you waiting for the right mood? If this sounds like you, then stop finding new excuses, try to understand your procrastination.

Sometimes we struggle with delaying or avoiding a few tasks that are important to us. Don\’t confuse this with laziness. Procrastination is much more than just laziness or negligence. Let us understand more about this procrastination and what steps you can take to overcome this.

What is Procrastination?

Procrastination is nothing but difficulty in convincing yourself to do things you are supposed to do. During procrastination, instead of working on relevant, essential tasks, you spend time performing trivial activities. Procrastination limits you from accomplishing your goals.

Procrastination might result in various adverse effects. According to peer-review articles published in 2013, procrastination is the failure of not exerting the self-control necessary for any task engagement. By procrastinating, you focus on temporary mood repair, but it brings adverse effects on your future purposes.

Why Conquer Procrastination?

\’Waiting is a trap. There will always be reasons to wait… The truth is, there are only two things in life, reasons, and results, and reasons simply don\’t count.\’
– Robert Anthony

Procrastination acts like a barrier that blocks you from making the right decision and achieving your dream. When you procrastinate, you waste time that could have been invested in working on the task. If you can win this fierce enemy, you will be able to achieve more and, in doing so, fully utilize the potential that life has to offer.

Sometimes many possibilities are under your reach, but you fail to grasp them. You know exactly what you need to do, but procrastination is taking over your mind. Feelings of disappointment and guilt emerging from missed opportunities might result in grief. Some research studies have also linked procrastination to poor emotional and physical well-being.

Procrastination brings self-blaming thoughts, anxiety, and stress. For all these reasons, overcoming procrastination is one of the fundamental skills you need to learn to lead a fruitful life.

Why do we Procrastinate?

What is the reason that makes your mind procrastinate? According to psychologists, time inconsistency is one of the main reasons for procrastination.

When you are planning to achieve something like writing a novel or losing weight, you are setting goals for the future. You focus on those long-term results, but you need to plan and work now for achieving that. There are no immediate rewards for the present self to get motivated to take action. If you don\’t put a time frame and plan of action, you may end up procrastinating it. Don\’t try to hide your procrastination in the name of laziness. Try and find the real reason for not choosing to work on a particular task.

How to Overcome Procrastination?

Your brain can function like an astonishing machine. If you master the skill of training your brain, then you can get the most out of it.

Learning just self-discipline or time management will not work.

To defeat procrastination, you need to take charge of your mind and your life. To achieve success, you are longing for; you need to push yourself to take action. Most importantly, to succeed in anything you wish for, you need to start.

7 Tips to Overcome Procrastination

The fundamental step to overcome your procrastination is to recognize it and accept it. Stop blaming yourself or others for this weakness, and take responsibility and also, take action. Understanding the root of your problem can only take you to the solution.

1. Understand the Root Cause

To enforce a practical solution, you first need to find out the root cause of your procrastination. There can be many reasons; we all have different reasons for the procrastination of various tasks.

For example, you want to exercise every morning, but in the morning, you lack motivation. Set up your morning exercise place the previous day, hang your workout clothes visibly, get up, see them, and get motivated. Write a motivational note to yourself and stick it to your mirror; it can help you feel motivated. These steps sound simple, but they make a big difference, try them.

2. Organizing Complex Tasks

When you have a complex, big task to complete, you may find it hard. Thoughts like from where to start and how to achieve might make you procrastinate. If you are feeling overwhelmed with it, divide your task into small chunks.

For instance, you need to complete reading a book, but the thought of completing a big book is making you procrastinate. To overcome this, you can start reading five pages every day. Spending a few minutes a day to read five pages will make it look more manageable. This will give you a start, and soon you will realize you just needed that, a start. You will pick up speed and finish reading the book well before your planned schedule.

3. Do One Thing at a Time

Multitasking or trying to accomplish many things together can make you less productive. When you have several things running in your head, it becomes hard to focus, and you end up procrastinating your work. Pen down all your tasks and arrange them priority wise. Writing them down makes you feel lighter, and you will be able to focus better on your present work. Also, listing down your tasks makes you aware of the thoughts, which are making you procrastinate certain chores.

Creating a distraction-free environment can help you concentrate better. Out of sight is out of mind, applies here. The internet opens the door for so many distractions. The social media platforms that we are active in becoming the biggest distraction in our day-to-day lives.

According to psychological research studies, your mind takes an average of 23 minutes to get back to the task post-distraction. So, every minute break you took for social media is putting you back with 20 minutes from completing your task.

Assign a certain amount of time for work and your social media usage. This will keep you focussed, helping you to make the most of the time available.

4. Accountability- a Key to Success

Accountability means keeping a check, and being accountable means telling others about what you are doing or planning to do. That way, you will have a slight compulsion towards that task. Most of the time, we don\’t want others to think wrong about ourselves or let them down by not doing something we have committed to.

It may sound uncomfortable, but sometimes, you need to announce to overcome your procrastination. When you go public with your plans and goals, you tend to work hard to achieve that. You can also choose someone in your family or friends to tell your ideas, which makes you accountable.

For example, if you are thinking of developing a habit of going for a morning jog, tell your friends and family about your plan. Also, tell them when you are starting this new routine. This makes you get up and take that run to prove how you can stick to your plans. Making yourself accountable gives you the most needed push to complete a task.

Structure your plan of action and declare your intentions to overcome your procrastination.

5. Celebrate Your Accomplishments

Celebrate every small task you complete, reward yourself for your achievements. Rewards are tempting and can be a great motivational tool to conquer your procrastination. Rewards can be anything like watching your favorite Netflix series or ordering a favorite meal. These rewards help you to push yourself through any painful task.

5. Track Your Progress

Tracking your progress helps you to discover how you are overcoming the hurdles; you feel inspired to do better. It gives you an opportunity to analyze which tasks are harder and where you need to improve. Try to master those difficulties and take some steps to make it easier. Keeping a record can hugely benefit you to overcome procrastination.

By achieving everything you need to do, you find yourself progressing fast. It will be a well-planned route to achieve success, be it in personal life or professional.

7. Develop a Habit

By applying the strategies mentioned above, you can live a procrastination-free life. It takes time to build any habit; some say it takes 21 days, and some say it takes longer. The more days you consistently do the new behavior, the closer you are to making it your habit.

There are many habit-building apps available that can help you track your progress. An app can only help, and you\’ll still need to use some willpower to achieve your goals.

When you overcome your procrastination by building some habits, it reduces your stress and enhances the quality of life. You get things done on time and successfully fulfill your own expectations.

Final Words

You need to put some effort into experiencing the benefits of procrastination-free life or getting things done on time. No strategies or methods can help you if you don\’t believe in them and work on them.

Conquering procrastination allows you to take charge of your life, builds self-confidence, and brings happiness. You will be able to tap into your most productive potential and achieve more than you have planned. When you have a procrastination-free life, you will have positive expectations towards the future, which creates joy and peace in your mind.

I hope my words have motivated you to overcome your procrastination. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.