It’s a problem that many of us have faced at least once in our lives. Students, teachers, employees, bosses, parents, and children; all have gone through it and for some, it may still be persisting. It’s the problem of procrastination. With a literal meaning of “postponing or delaying needlessly what one should be doing”, it comes natural to most of us. But being one of the most natural of problems doesn’t make it the one of the most tolerable ones, as a delay in one task often starts a chain of pending tasks that are dependent on the previous one being completed. And mere laziness is not the core of this problem, but represents a different set of perspectives like—a perception that the task is unpleasant or underwhelming, fear of the unknown, fear of change, striving for perfectionism, fear of failure, disorganization, lacking decision making capabilities and so on. Whatever your reason is, things don’t have to be delayed and the work can be completed on time. Below have been mentioned some points that will help you overcome the problem of procrastination. Go through them with patience and complete the entire reading.
Overcoming Procrastination
Focus on Start
One of the main reasons that most of us, at many times in life have fallen into procrastination is because our mind immediately goes towards the outcome before we even start to work on what’s in hand. The whole thing seems awfully long, tiring, and mind sucking. But if rather than picturing the whole thing, you can just focus on the start of it and then continue further, doing it will be much easier and not so painful. Depending on how long the task will take, proceed bit by bit; take your time in between, and cross the finish line with joy.
Don’t Pressurize
One sure shot way of losing out on the energy and the will to complete the task is by putting too much pressure on yourself and feeling like a victim stuck with no choice but to do it. Remember, you do have the choice, to either do it or reject it. Instead of believing that you 'have' to do the task, think you 'choose' to complete the task. By using the expression of choice, you will free yourself from the feeling of having to do it, and will do it rather cheerfully with much effort.
Avoid Monotony
One way of starting the task and then taking forever to complete it is by making it monotonous. Even the simplest and interesting of tasks can be made to feel like the task of Gods itself: arduous and herculean. Thinking about how long you have to work for it or how boring it is, is one way to lose the appetite to work. To break this monotony, you can either break the task into parts or do two things at a time (listening to music or talking to a friend and doing the work). Setting rewards for yourself at the end of it all or looking forward to some fun activity can get the job done pretty neatly.
Get Help
Sometimes to complete a task, all it requires is some supervision over you. If you’re aware of the fact that you perform better when someone is observing your each and every work related move, get help from a close friend or a person who can help you with the project by just sitting there and giving you the stick every time you let out a yawn. You can even let him aid you in the task so that it finishes quickly and then later reward your friend with a treat or dessert.
Discipline
Even if you are highly motivated to perform the task, lack of discipline can easily put you off track and make you lose grip on the proceedings. Remember, even a one day’s delay can make coming back to the task all the more difficult and effortful. If you set a proper time management routine depending on the duration of the task, and stick to it no matter what, it will not take longer to complete the task than what you might have estimated. And if ever you feel that it’s getting out of hand, you can always go back to the above two points. However, make sure that such situation never arises, because the weaker you’ll be with the disciplinary routine, more tempting it will seem to procrastinate.
Be Human
One definite way of getting out of procrastination is by getting out of the mindset to strive for perfectionism first. It’s only human to err; keep that in mind when you start to work on the task. A task completed on time with sincerity and near perfection is always better than the task that was delayed and was worked upon as if to achieve God-like perfection. By doing so, you are bound to put too much pressure on yourself. So, give yourself a break and perform to the best of your abilities.
Starting a task with these points in mind will help you overcome the habit or problem of procrastination and will earn you the title of being reliable and successful.
