${ line_item.product_title }
At some point in your life, you have undoubtedly indulged in some procrastination. Whether it is school work, a university paper, or that one task that takes too much of your energy at work, procrastinating could be the main issue that prevents you from completing the job successfully.
Let's be honest: most of the time, we are able to complete everything on time. However, the journey itself is too hard mentally, and the final results might not be as good as you wish.
Overcoming procrastination can be complicated, but it is totally doable. If you are searching for some self-control tips, you are already one step closer than the others. People procrastinate, and that is a fact. This is why we have prepared a list of useful tips to help you with overcoming procrastination, keeping your motivation and focus, and reaching the deadlines with no severe casualties or negative thoughts.
If you are struggling with chronic procrastination, you have probably heard from other people that you are just lazy. People who have never faced such issues find it difficult to understand similar conditions and usually equate them to easier terms.
Even though it can be true for most cases, this is not one of them. Laziness is very different from procrastination. I suggest complete indifference to the outcome of your actions, as well as apathy to any task and no desire to do anything.
Procrastination, or Akrasia, on the other hand, is an act that includes an actual active process. You decide to do the other task instead of the one you should stay focused on. Despite your better judgement, you choose more pleasant activities, like scrolling your social media, to avoid potential negative feelings.
On one given day, probably very close to the deadline of your big project, you will overcome the mental blocks and start being productive. Keeping high productivity levels for prolonged periods is contrary to being lazy. When closely comparing these 2 terms, you can clearly see that it has nothing to do with procrastinating.
The most important thing in getting rid of any bad habit is the beginning. Not knowing where to start and what the best options are can be frustrating, delaying the resolution process.
So how do you prevent procrastination habits? We have prepared a quick guide on where to begin your journey to life with more progress and less stress.
If you have a lot of tasks that need to be finished close to one another, it can be a little tricky to identify the procrastination issue. Prioritizing to complete the most urgent and important tasks is one thing, but avoiding that one big task by concentrating on any other possible assignment despite the serious consequences is another. If you start to purposely choose to put off something or shift your focus on delaying a specific thing, you probably are procrastinating.
The actions that signal you started procrastinating:
This can be a usual habit, making it complicated to understand that it is actually a sign of procrastination. Look back at your work day and a task list, and recognize your own patterns. Understanding when the problem is starting is the first step.
Getting to the bottom of why you are procrastinating and what is causing the issue is essential before taking any action steps.
Are you trying to avoid procrastination because of negative emotions or unrealistic expectations, or is it too dull? If something like this is the case, it is good to focus on the positive and pleasant aspects of the task, too. This will help you stay motivated and focus on the enjoyable parts of the job.
If organizing any part of your life is not your strongest side, procrastination might be your best friend. Organized people tend to avoid such problems since they create a strict schedule as well as a to-do list, planning to complete at least one important task a day.
However, it doesn't mean that they can avoid procrastination and anxiety completely. Worrying about the success of your project or a potential failure may lead to seeking comfort in easier tasks that the person is sure about.
If it is hard for you to decide what to do next, or you can not prioritize the tasks correctly, you are very likely to procrastinate. This takes a lot of time before you even start thinking about beginning the project. Since such people are afraid of wrongdoing, they will delay the decision-making process as well.
Bad habits like procrastination won't go away in an instant. It will take time and work to break the pattern and stay productive. It might be hard at first, but you have to think about long-term benefits and your well-being and stay determined to see the progress.
There are several strategies that can help you with procrastination. We will talk about more complex ones later, however, the easier ones include:
To break the pattern of harmful habits that can have a destructive impact on both your mental and physical health, you must have a strategy at hand. It is not only easier to overcome procrastination with a plan but more productive as well.
Some methods might require preparation and determination. But the sense of achievement and hope to get rid of constant anxiety is worth it. We have prepared a list of strategies for you to implement in your daily life if you constantly procrastinate and want to become a better version of yourself.
If you procrastinate, this strategy from the book of David Allen might be of help. The idea is to figure out your next action, no matter how small it is, on your way to complete the task.
We are usually overwhelmed by the entire task. It seems too giant and will require long hours of continuous and sometimes monotonous work. So, of course, you procrastinate to avoid all the negative feelings.
What you need to do is to shift focus to smaller and doable tasks. For example, creating a plan, calling a client or your marketing team, or writing the introduction for the school work. These usually take no more than 20 minutes, and they might seem unimportant. However, on a bigger scale, you are close to the finishing line after completing them.
Thinking about a couple of minutes of work is much more enjoyable, isn't it? But if you perceive something as easily doable, you will not only have no mental blocks for doing it, but the motivation levels will be higher.
And this is how it works. With every small step, you will get closer and closer. Plus, you'll have a sense of completing several tasks, and not just an insignificant part of a bigger one.
You might not even be noticing this, but it's mostly likely that you are spending too much time making decisions on unrelated tasks. Should I drink coffee or tea in the morning? Will I go out for lunch with a colleague or take a packed lunch? What should I wear?
Having to make all these small decisions every day will get you tired and unfocused very fast. This will lead to procrastination since you won't have any energy for the critical tasks.
One of the essential things to do if you procrastinate is to lower the amount of decision-making in your daily life. The best way to do this is to implement healthy habits. For example:
These vary from one person to another, but I think you got the idea. Pay attention to such small things for some time and point out the repetitive ones that take a lot of your time and energy. Have a self-talk to better understand how this can be harmful to you and your health and implement some new habits.
Procrastination is a way of avoiding negative feelings in the present and replacing them with pleasant ones despite the potential consequences. So, in order to dodge procrastination, we need to bring the rewards without sacrificing our productivity. The strategy that can help you with that is called temptation bundling.
It comes from a behavioral study at The University of Pennsylvania. Temptation bundling works by compiling 2 actions: one is satisfactory for you in the short run, another one in the long run. To put it simply - the one causing your procrastination and the enjoyable one.
Such combination can include:
Mix the narrative with positive. This way, you will be mainly anticipating the good part and thinking less about the working part. Write a list of your favorite things that can be implemented without taking from the progress, and add them to the ones you've been delaying for too long.
If combining good and bad did not do the trick for you, there is another way. You can bring the consequences of your actions closer. You might not feel it immediately, but the results of your playing will come back to you one way or another. This is mostly relatable for the personal tasks and habits in the logs run, but it is also true for potential health issues when the workload is delayed for too long.
For example, missing the work out of not going through a healthy food diet will only be noticeable in a couple of months. The same goes for the constant sleepless nights you spend on the job project.
At the same time, if you have a personal trainer or decided to work out with a friend, you are less likely to miss out on it and go through with the plans. For many people, additional responsibility for another person can be crucial in completing the triggering task. In case this is not for you, think about other pain points, like money, benefits, or anything else.
This strategy was developed by Raymond Chandler, a novelist, who was having a hard time trying to overcome procrastination when writing his books. Like any other writer, he had a specific amount of words he had to finish typing daily, and sitting down to start writing was very hard. As a result, he created a new approach that became one of the favorite tools for many people.
Every day in the morning, he would reserve 4 hours for only 2 alternatives. He could either write or do nothing at all. He, as a writer, thought that you should not be forced to write and to do it only if it feels like it. So, with good intentions, the method was born.
The explanation is as simple as it could be. You have only 2 alternatives:
This is the time to focus on that one particular thing. No social media, no watching a movie, no talking to friends, or completing some tasks around the house. Either you are working on one particular thing or fall on your bed and lie down.
${ line_item.product_title }
Subtotal: $${ formattedPrice }
Shipping: from (Calculated at checkout)
Total: $${ formattedPrice }
You can apply discounts at checkout
Continue Shopping