What is PROCRASTINATION?
Have you always assumed that you work best under pressure? Think again. You just might be procrastinating.
What is procrastination?
Procrastination is the avoidance of doing a task that needs to be accomplished. It is the practice of doing more pleasurable things in place of less pleasurable ones, or carrying out less urgent tasks instead of more urgent ones, thus putting off impending tasks to a later time.
Procrastination isn’t about performing well with the little time left–it’s about putting off tasks that you don’t truly want to do. But what if you really need to do them? You need to stop this habit.
3 Ways to Stop Procrastinating
1. Change the way you view the task. What makes you averse to the task? Do you not want to go to the gym because working out is hard? Think about the glow you feel afterwards. Do you hate working for a certain client, so you’re putting off working on their project? Think of the freedom you’ll feel once it’s done. Also, breaking big tasks into smaller steps is an easy way to make it feel less overwheling. By alleviating the pressure associated with a specific task, you can get it out of the way earlier, literally freeing up both your time and mind.
2. Set a timer. When there’s a task you don’t want to do, commit to doing it for a particular amount of time, such as 30 minutes or an hour. If you are not done, then walk away from it for a while when time’s up. That should refresh you to finish it, give you time to think, or just break the monotony.
3. Don’t beat yourself up. If you didn’t do a task well or if you hated something you had to do, don’t get down on yourself. If you do, you’ll always associate that negative feeling with the task, which will make it harder to accomplish in the future.
The more averse you are to a task, the more you’ll try to put it off. Change the way you see the task at hand in order to get it done and over with. You will be thankful.
