Ten ways to keep procrastination at bay

If you have never waited until the last minute to complete a task that you could have easily done in good time, then you are more disciplined than 99 per cent of the human race. Humans are prone to employ delay tactics, as we tend to expand the time needed to do a task to accommodate for the time available. But success was never achieved by dilly-dallying. In fact, most successful people don’t procrastinate. Nailantei Norari lists a few tips on how you can beat the hesitation. Set goals If you do not have a goal to work towards, you tend to flit through life unbothered about tasks that need to be done and their timelines. It is important to set clear goals, as they give life a sense of direction and purpose. By clearly outlining what needs to be done and why it needs to be done and by when, you are giving your life structure and a sense of direction which is a necessary prerequisite to fight procrastination. Remember your ‘why’ Visualise where you want to be whenever what you need to do to get there seems hard or undoable. Do you want to end up in the C-suite? Visualise that and use that momentum to finish up the dreary reports. Do you want abs and the feeling of wearing a cropped top? Visualise that and use that imagery to get out of the house. Remind yourself of what needs to be done and why it needs to be done, then use that clarity to dig in and work. Keep a priority list Often times, procrastination is when one does non-priority tasks at the expense of priority tasks. One will watch several TV series for instance, instead of watching the training video they were assigned to watch at work. Or one will do something due in a week’s time while completely ignoring something that is due that same day. To avoid this, have a priority list ranking things that need to be done from those of the highest priority to those of little to none. Then start off with the high priority ones and don’t touch the others till these time-barred and core tasks are done. Practice good daily habits When motivation fails, habits will show up and rescue the day. It is therefore important to have a daily routine whether you are working from home or at the office. Have a set time to wake up, work out and do certain tasks every day without fail. Commit to these tasks, so that it becomes second nature to you. Incorporate into your life habits that replenish you, such as meditation. These habits will ensure that you are healthy and fit enough to do what needs to be done. Remember that a man low on sleep and energy is more likely to procrastinate than one functioning at full capacity. Get to the emotional root People often procrastinate because of emotional reasons such as the fear of failure, the fear of success or the need for perfection. It is important to identify the emotional root of procrastination as one can then conclusively deal with the root cause, which will invariably lessen the dilly-dallying. Once one has dealt with the emotions, the resistance to starting and finishing tasks will be less. Reward yourself Conditioned behaviour comes about through a reward and punishment system. Every time you feel like you want to procrastinate, promise yourself a reward after the task is done or promise to take away something if the task is incomplete by a set time. The reward could be your favourite meal or movie. This will give you something to look forward to after the task is done and will invariably boost your morale. Break up a task Half the time, procrastination happens when one deems the task in front of them as too big. It is therefore prudent to break up the task in smaller more palatable tasks, as this will help spur the mind in to action. Put firm deadlines on the smaller tasks and start on them. You can even have mini-rewards after every small task accomplished and have a bigger reward once the entire undertaking is done. Change your environment If you find yourself procrastinating, take a close look at your environment and see if it is conducive to work. Are there too many distractions that keep diverting your energy from the core task? Is your desk cluttered hence draining your creative energy? Are you bored from working in the same space and therefore need a change of environment? Change your environment and move to a new space that inspires you to get the job done. Find your happy place and leverage that for productivity. Get an accountability partner When self-policing fails, it is important to have someone who will readily take up the mantle. So, get a buddy, or a life coach who will keep you accountable and focused to the set goals. Whether on a fitness journey, better financial health journey or just any other journey where procrastination is bound to set in, share your goals with someone who will keep you accountable. Ensure that you empower them to call you out and push you to action when your morale fails. Do it anyway If you work only when you feel like it, you will achieve very little. It is therefore imperative that you muscle through the resistance and do what needs to be done even when you do not want to. If it is a paper that is due in a week’s time and you have committed to do a page a day, commit to doing that page a day whether you feel like it or not. Over time, the resistance reduces as your brain learns that what needs to be done will be done, anyway.

Ten ways to keep procrastination at bay

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Ten ways to keep procrastination at bay

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