How
to Shake Off Procrastination
Everyone is a chronic procrastinator in their own way. Some are mild procrastinators that somehow overcome this behavior, while others are just plain vulnerable to it that it affects their progress in everything that they do. Even so, let’s face it. No one is safe from the urge to put things off. From small tasks like taking out the trash, doing the dishes at home to bigger ones like creating presentations for work or doing a project for school. Luckily, there are ways to overcome the impulse of procrastinating. There are easy ways to actually help stop procrastination.
First, get organized. This might sound simple and most people are already organized enough to some extent with how they manage their work or tasks, but it’s more than just organizing tasks. It’s also organizing yourself and how you actually do the work. Make a to-do list for yourself. Again, it sounds easy enough. But making the right to-do list and accomplishing the tasks on it is the challenge. Make sure that the tasks you write on your to-do list are tasks that you intend to finish. Avoid actually listing every single task that you have to do and create a long list for yourself. You just end up overwhelming yourself with the number of tasks on the list. Begin with the immediate tasks that need to be done first, and list at least five. That way, when you look at your list, you won’t be dazed with the number of tasks. Lesser tasks on your to-do list mean more motivation for you to get the job done. Then once you’re finished with your list, you can begin making a new one containing the remaining tasks that you still have. Also, try starting on the tougher tasks first. That way, you’ll be done with the hard work early and all that’s left to do are the easy ones. One more thing that you could do along with creating a to-do list is to accomplish it within a specific time frame. Giving each task a time frame may actually help you get the job done. For example, you list five tasks and then you give them a time frame of fifteen minutes each. Knowing the time frame that you’ve set will push you to forget procrastinating and work on it immediately. A lot of people will postpone doing their tasks thinking that they will always have enough time later to do the work but then ending up losing time and rushing their work. Remember, later is not always better.
Second, motivate yourself. Sometimes what people need to work is a little motivation and there are tons of ways to do it. You can give yourself a break. Every once in a while, you deserve to just sit back and rest. Relax for a while and just forget about doing your work, so long as you still have time to do it. Read a book, watch some TV or just enjoy a hot cup of tea. This will help you regenerate and motivate you to work harder on your task. There’s nothing wrong with taking a break from working once in a while, so long as you keep it short enough to get you back the energy you need and not long enough that you run out sufficient time to actually finish your work.
When you actually think about it, procrastination is just a way for people to stall their work and putting it off for another time, thereby making their tasks harder to accomplish and diminishing the quality of their outputs. Which is why in getting better with your goals, it is important to steer clear of procrastination. Try to organize and motivate yourself so that you will be able to maximize your time and be able to produce quality work that you will be happy with. Shake off procrastination and embrace a better working habit.
