Beating your procrastination
We have all had that day, week or even month where we genuinely did nothing. We had so much we could do, so much we should do and so much we had to do but guess what? We did none of it. That is what I like to call a procrastination period. Ya not very creative but that’s not the point.
We all hate feeling like this. There is so much work to do and it’s getting difficult. You start to get stressed because the deadline is fast approaching and your boss/teacher is going to get mad at you. You get so stressed and fed up that you just call quits. You put it all down and just stop working. But not just for an hour. For days, weeks, months. Seems kinda dramatic but it’s true in a lot of cases.
Let’s try a different scenario. You just graduated from university with a Bachelor of Science degree. It’s time to move on with your life. Time for the next chapter. But, it’s summer time now so you just want to have a good time. So you say to yourself “oh I’ll just have a fun easy week and will get to work on finding a job in a week”. Well, let's just say that's how the procrastination starts.
Not saying this is for everyone but it is a big thing and it is pretty common. Procrastination is a big thing. In fact, researchers even compare procrastination to alcohol and drug abuse. It’s serious.
“You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.”
- Abraham Lincoln
A lot of people also actually deny the fact that they are procrastinating so I’m just going to quickly prove to you (maybe not all of you but some) that you are in fact procrastinating.
Signs of procrastination:
- Always making excuses not to do something.
- You find yourself saying “It can wait” in a lot of situations.
- You're denying the fact that right now that you are procrastinating doing your work by reading this article on procrastination.
Yeah, let’s just say a lot of us have experienced procrastination in our lives at some point and if you haven’t your either super good at staying on task and getting things done or you will in the future.
For me personally, I hate procrastinating but sometimes it's so hard to break out of it. I think that overcoming it is actually super hard so I wanted to give out some tips that have personally worked for me.
Asking for help and using your resources
Recently I’ve learned the importance of people in your life and they are such a valuable resource. More specifically how it’s important to ask people and let people help you.
Use this valuable resource to your advantage. Get people you trust to keep you accountable for things.
If your boss wants something done by Monday morning use your team to help make sure you get it done. Not by doing it for you but making sure that you do it.
It's super important to remember that having people do your work for you isn’t helping you at all. It just makes you think that you will always find someone to do it for you. Make sure that you get people who will help by making sure you do it otherwise it’s useless.
Avoiding the slope — eliminate distractions
One thing that a lot of procrastinators have in common is the slope. It’s basically how you complete tasks.
In the beginning, your productivity levels are good. Then they go up a little bit. But then comes the slope. Your productivity goes down and down and down. By the end of the task, your productivity levels are basically nonexistent and the task hasn’t been completed because you were working and just when your productivity levels were at an all-time high, you thought to yourself. “Let me check my phone”. And that’s where you went wrong.
The main trigger to this slope distraction. It all goes downhill the moment you check your phone or take an unnecessary break.
To get rid of this slope you need to eliminate your distractions.
- Put your phone in another room. This is a given but it’s so common for people to overlook it, then get easily distracted by it. Remember that people get paid to distract you with your phone. Don’t give in.
- Make sure your working in a productive space. Not your bedroom since it’s where you sleep, eat and relax. That’s not the vibes you want when your working.
- Find something to do that is productive during a break. Breaks are important because it can be hard to work for a long period of time. But, you need to be careful with what you do on your break. Using your phone and watching tv aren’t the best things to do since they lower your productivity and your mindset changes. Try taking a walk, making a healthy snack or just lying on the floor doing nothing but thinking. These things will keep your mindset the same but can give you a nice break.
In the end, try and limit distractions as much as you can.
