Procrastination is when you postpone your task for later and do not complete a task you are supposed to. Often the result of this uncompleted task is usually negative because you prevent yourself from achieving set goals.
Procrastination is not a new phenomenon as you may think. It has been around since time immemorial. The Greeks and Romans, for instance, had a word for it: Akrasia.
Procrastination is a challenge even for ambitious people. In this article, we will learn how to stop procrastinating and achieve goals faster.
Signs Of Procrastination:
There are many different signs that you can look for to identify if you are procrastinating.
For example:
You are making excuses for not doing something, such as claiming "I'll start tomorrow" or "I have other important things to do right now"
You start the task only after you have been reminded such as "Hey, haven't you finished the report yet?"
You find creative ways to avoid the task like cooking a meal or going for a walk
You simply have a hard time starting on the task because of laziness
Understanding the signs of procrastination is crucial because only when you realize you are a procrastinator can you take steps to beat it or avoid it.
Root Cause Of Procrastination:
Procrastination is a trap that many people are caught in, and it can be hard to avoid. Some of the common causes of procrastination are:
Fear of failure
Perfectionism
Low self-esteem
Anxiety
Laziness
Once you find out the root cause of procrastination, you can easily tackle it by applying the tips and ways described below.
How To Stop Procrastinating: 15 Easy Ways to Beat Procrastination
Here are 15 easy ways to stop procrastinating:
1) Action <-> Motivation
One common reason for procrastinating is that you are probably not feeling motivated enough to do your task on a particular day. You believe that you can do your best only when you are motivated.
It is a common misconception that motivation leads to action. The fact is that if you start taking action, you will most likely be motivated, which in turn leads to action.
Therefore, stop thinking and start taking action immediately. Chances are you will derive motivation out of your actions and be productive for the rest of the day.
2) Zeigarnik Effect
The Zeigarnik Effect is a psychological phenomenon that occurs when people have an interrupted or incomplete task. It states that people have a much stronger memory of incomplete tasks. As a result, the unfinished work lingers in their mind and makes them want to complete it.
This effect can be used to help stop procrastination easily. For example, tell yourself that you will start your activity now and stop it after 5 minutes.
You will be surprised that once you begin your task and do it for 5 minutes, you will want to continue and finish it. What an easy way to get going!
3) Take breaks but not for too long
Sometimes we have too much on our plates and can't do everything all at once. Setting breaks between tasks is essential as it helps restore your energy levels. It also helps avoid procrastination.
Remember to take a break often, but not for too long. Otherwise, it would be difficult to gain your momentum back.
4) Set short-term goals
One of the reasons for your procrastination is that your goals are not small enough. You are probably procrastinating because your goals are too huge to accomplish, thus causing anxiety. Set smaller goals to achieve instant gratification and to keep you going.
Creating short-term goals will help you see what needs to be done to reach your long-term goal. It can also help you move past feeling like you are not good enough or that the task at hand is too hard to handle.
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5) Reward yourself even for small success
Another easy way to overcome procrastination is to celebrate small successes along the way. Reward yourself with something even as simple as a coffee or a chocolate. This will keep your motivation high, prevent burnout, and will keep you focused on achieving your goal.
6) Make use of planners
The use of planners cannot be overstated. Using a planner is one of the best ways to track your progress and remind yourself of the timelines for the next task.
7) Remember your purpose
When you feel overwhelmed or uninspired to perform the day's task and want to procrastinate, try to remember your purpose.
For example, if you are a small business owner who procrastinates due to an overload of responsibilities, remind yourself of why you started this small business.
Remembering your purpose will help you sail through challenges and prevent procrastination.
8) Stop trying to be perfect
One of the main reasons for procrastination is perfectionism. Sometimes you don't even want to start a project if you think the outcome of it might not be perfect.
In such circumstances, remind yourself that progress is better than being perfect. Initially, your work might not be your best, but sticking to your goals and growing as you go will surely lead to success.
9) Get rid of Imposter Syndrome
Comparing yourself to your competitors and feeling that you are not good enough is yet another cause for procrastination. Here are 5 Amazing Tips To Overcome Imposter Syndrome and march toward success.
10) Read inspirational text
Reading inspirational texts and books will help you bring back your motivation levels and avoid procrastinating.
Always keep some inspirational quotes in your work area. A quickglance at them might be the only thing you would need to stop procrastinating.
11) Don't give yourself too much time to finish a task
Going by Parkinson's law, work takes as much time as you give it. It is common knowledge that we all procrastinate if we have too much time on our hands to finish a task. Hence, by setting the right timelines, procrastination can be avoided easily.
12) Change your environment
One of the most effective ways to beat procrastination is by changing your environment. This could be anything from moving to a different room in your house, working at a coffee shop instead of home, or even going to a library.
The point is that you need to change your surroundings and give yourself a new space with new stimuli to get work done.
13) Monitor your habits
Monitoring your habits is an excellent way to understand yourself and find out why you procrastinate often.
What habits prevent you from completing your task? Is there a particular time of the day at which you always postpone your activities? Do you spend too much time on social media? Or, are you simply lazy?
Once you figure out the issues with your habits, you can easily tackle them and be productive.
14) Turn down the noise in your life
Distraction is another cause of procrastination. There are many reasons why we get distracted in our lives.
We, as humans, have a limited attention span and can only focus on one thing for so long before we need to take a break.
To reduce distractions in your life, it is important to be aware of the things that distract you the most. For example, if you notice that you're getting distracted by your phone every few minutes then it's time to put it away while you're working on something else.
15) Get rid of distractions from technology & social media
The internet is a great source of knowledge, but it can also be a big distraction. It is possible to waste hours on social media websites or watching videos on YouTube. This will lead to procrastination because you are not working on your project and hence not getting closer to your deadline.
One way of getting rid of distractions from technology and social media websites is by using the Freedom app. The app blocks access to all these sites for a certain period or until you decide that you are done with your work for the day.
Books on how to stop procrastinating:
What better than books to help you avoid procrastination? Apart from the above-mentioned tips, the following books can guide you on how to stop procrastinating:
Disclaimer:
The above-mentioned links are affiliate links and I may earn a tiny commission from them at no cost to you when you make a purchase from them. Regardless, I only recommend products I believe will tremendously help side hustlers and small business owners. Hope it helps you.
Final Thoughts On How To Stop Procrastinating:
Procrastination is a common problem that many people face. However, it is possible to overcome this and start taking action right away.
All you need to do is:
Identify the signs of procrastinating
Find out the root cause
Avoid it by implementing the 15 ways described in this article
I hope this article provides you with insights on how to stop procrastinating and also avoid it for a more productive and successful life!
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