Procrastination: What why and how to overcome it in 2024! Before getting to the topic we need to understand what’s procrastination. how does it arise? how did we fall into this problem? And why?
Procrastination: what?
Procrastination is the habit of postponing, or not doing the work we’re supposed to do which seems stressful or challenging for no good reason, and still, we do know the negative consequences of this habit.
And it’s different from being lazy.
Procrastination: Why is it happening?
This issue can be linked to anxiety, low self-esteem, depression, fear of failure, or fear of not being satisfied with the results of the work. But it’s never as painful as we make it out to be.
It can even be linked with physical illness. The person who procrastinates is likely to have high levels of anxiety even if they might have poor impulse control. In simple words, it’s just a negative thinking process and a risk to mental health.
Why is it bad?
It’s compounding like if we keep postponing or delaying the work we are supposed to do every day, it might lead to pending the whole work just before the deadline and even that can make you worry more.
One of the papers I read states that it’s just resistance, we can never see it or touch it but we can feel it. So, it’s an everyday battle because we tend to delay the work we must do. After all, we assume that it’s difficult and we like to do the more relaxed and enjoyable work like watching movies, playing video games sleeping, etc.
It might seem to relax temporarily but in the long run, it affects us a lot. So we need to break the cycle of procrastination to stop these negative habits which distract us from being more productive in our daily lives. The more we postpone the more it seems harder to start or more challenging. Whatever the reason for your procrastination, the results will be the same that’s become more anxious, and depressed, and it even affects your body.
Here are some techniques you can use to decrease your procrastination.
1. Try to complete the one you like first.
As a human we can be happy with small wins, the most challenging part of doing work is starting so if you see the most difficult one first and you can’t finish it. It’ll surely make you more delayed about doing the work but if you see and complete what you’re familiar with, will surely make you happy and make you want to keep going to the next task by releasing dopamine.
2. Breaking down the tasks into smaller ones.
Why would I break it down into smaller tasks as I have to complete all the work? Yes, you gotta break down the tasks because if you look at them and see them as a whole problem. It’ll create a sense of fear and anxiety about the task you have to do.
So by breaking it into pieces, you can complete the tasks one by one making it easier for you to understand that it’s not as hard as you think.
3. Make mistakes
What are you? are you a robot or a human? even if the robots make mistakes, why would you chase to be perfect?
It’s very common for all of us to make mistakes here and there before we know the way. And some of us learn from it and some of us never learn and keep making the same mistakes again and again. So it’s okay if you are making a mistake along the journey as long as you learn something from it.
4. Decide
Deciding to follow a certain routine and rule for yourself is very important for us to break the cycle of procrastination. We all have 24 hrs a day and some of us complete the work before even we start work. It’s because of the decision to take priority one from your daily tasks.
5. Make it enjoyable
We, humans, might think we have already grown and matured but there’s always a child inside our system like being happy for the things that we can do, the pleasure that we find when we solve the difficult maths problem. So try to make your work more enjoyable. And it’ll be better if you choose your interested work.
6. Use techniques
There is a technique called the Pomodoro technique. It’s just a way of taking a break between work after a certain period of work. You created a timer for every 25 minutes and after 25 minutes, you need to take a break for about 5 minutes and then do the same process again. This way it’ll help you to become more focused again, and make you energetic
7. Use the flow
We know that sometimes, some words just come to our minds out of nowhere, and sometimes when we try to write nothing comes. So this is it, creating a flow is all you need to stop procrastination. You can do this by doing the work you already know and creating the flow after creating the flow, all you need is just to change the work you need to do. Sometimes it’s easy to see the flow after doing the work for 30 minutes
8. Create a deadline
We all come across that if we have a deadline during exams or homework, we finish one that has a particular deadline than the one that doesn’t have a deadline. It’s easy if we create the deadline way back before the actual deadline.
9. Remove the distractions
The book ‘Atomic Habits” which was written by James Clear states that addiction or habits are the result of cues in our surroundings. So if you keep distracting from the tasks you are supposed to do.
Just remove the things that distract you like your mobile, video games, or whatever that you spend in your leisure time.
10. It’s a discipline
Whether you like it or not, it’s never about motivation, but an everyday battle.
Being consistent about your work is what makes you disciplined whether you like it or not. You just do what you have to do is what we need to do to break our cycle of procrastination. Just like going on a weight loss journey where we have to do the exercise even if we don’t want to because we have goals.
Action- Inspiration – Motivation/.
If you want to read more on the weight loss exercises in 2024, read this blog
Conclusion:
Since procrastination is not just a mere habit but a big chunk of human behaviour and lives, we shouldn’t take it very lightly. It will take time to overcome that but it’s still possible to give it up. So just re-read the articles once more and overcome the flaw in your routine. Remember it’ll take your strength, hard work dedication, and discipline.
