At some point in our lives, we deal with procrastination. For some of this, it’s a daily struggle. You know what needs to be done, but for some reason, you allow yourself to get distracted and end up waiting until the very last minute to get the job done. This brings on unnecessary stress and pressure, and there’s no guarantee you will have enough time.
There are two main types of procrastination: active and passive. You either semi-choose to procrastinate because you think you work better under pressure or you get sucked into a rabbit hole of self-doubt and indecision, so you wait until the very last second.
Here are some other common ways we procrastinate.
1. Just start working. One thing you may do is to just force yourself to start and to make the smallest first step possible. After you take a small step, you are more likely to continue. Keep telling yourself you can keep going for another 15 minutes, and you will naturally keep wanting to keep at it.
2. Make sure you don’t have unreasonably big goals and expectations. By reducing the number of decisions, you need to make throughout the tasks become manageable instead of overwhelming. Make a list and cross items off as you do them rewarding yourself each time.
3. Give yourself visual clues. A visual cue is something you can see (a visual reminder) that prompts you to take action. As the visual evidence of your progress mounts, it is natural to become more motivated to continue the habit. Try the paperclip strategy explained here.
4. Change Your Environment. By making your environment more inspiring, you may become more focused. Sometimes simply changing things around and putting your phone in a drawer in another space can help to keep you on task. If you have to, put your phone on do-not-disturb.
5. Create a Detailed Timeline with Specific Deadlines. Sometimes planning the day before helps to eliminate procrastination. When you think about the plan, it can increase your mental energy. Grab a pen and paper and make 1. a master list 2. a monthly list 3. a weekly list.
Task manager tools can help you stay on task and meet deadlines. Check out these apps and choose the one that fits your needs best.
“The only difference between success and failure is the ability to take action.”
-Alexander Graham Bell