‘I will do it later,’ said every procrastinator who ever lived. I am a chronic procrastinator. If there were Awards for procrastinating, I would win. Research shows that 20% of adults are chronic procrastinators. They put everything off until the last minute. Some people argue that they love the last minute rush; they love to scramble to meet deadlines. Others do it because they do not want to deal with the issue at hand. Whatever the case, procrastination can be a very unhealthy habit one should quit.
Change Your Environment
When you have been working for long hours on end without getting results, you can easily get frustrated. This can prompt you to push forward the work to a later hour or date. Sometimes all we need is a little rest and change of environment. Different environments may produce different levels of productivity. Additionally, one environment can only inspire you for a short while. So if you feel stuck, simply switch rooms or areas instead of shrugging off the work.
Eliminate Procrastination Potholes
Now there are things that simply encourage our procrastination habits. These things include the use of the mobile phone, hanging out with friends, watching movies or series etc. These activities happen to conveniently show up in our path when we are evaluating on whether to procrastinate or not. They entice you, make it that much easier to push forward what you were doing. So turn off that phone for a while, disable notification updates on your computer and concentrate.
Reward Yourself
While this may not be ideal in the long run, the system of ‘achieve- reward’ is pretty effective for a short while. Break down your task into smaller activities then schedule them. This will not only make you feel less overwhelmed by your work but it will push you to finish your activities quickly. This will help get you into a groove of following through on your commitments, however, if overused, it can affect the quality of your work. You may find you are hurriedly doing your work just so you can reward yourself.
Figure out your triggers
People procrastinate for different reasons. It could be out of boredom, laziness, or even feeling overwhelmed. The truth is, pushing the activity further does not make it any better. In reality, it only gets harder to do. You will always feel tired or bored. Also procrastinating does not make the workload any lighter. Find out why you procrastinate and work on that. Once you figure out what makes you tick, then you can figure out how to keep it at bay.
Face your fears
We often push things because we are afraid to tackle them. We are afraid of the consequences or afraid of the information will acquire. So we procrastinate things until we have no option. Look at it like this, no matter how long you take to attend to the matter, it will not become any easier nor will the time that will have elapsed lessen the consequences. There is a chance the consequences will be worse.
Just do it
At the end of the day, it boils down to you. Sometimes you have to close your eyes and just do it. Do not overthink it, just do it. Push yourself to do what you feel need to push forward. Now that you know that you are a procrastinator, it is easy to identify when you are actively feeding that animal. Make it a point to avoid procrastinating. Over time, your body will adapt just as it does every other routine.
