How to beat procrastination

What if you could stop that voice constantly telling you to postpone your work for tomorrow. Imagine if there was a way to do your work without worrying about the due date that is about to come.

It is Wednesday afternoon, and you are rushing to finish your 8 pm deadline. The clock is ticking and you are asking yourself why you didn’t start this sooner. How could you possibly put yourself in this situation? What went wrong? Why can’t you keep your focus?

It has come the time of the day where you spend hours scrolling through social media, promising yourself that “it’s just one more episode” and spending an excessive amount of time “planning and preparing” for your next steps, but never really getting to them.

Sounds familiar? Don’t worry you are not alone.

Procrastination is a trap that most of us fall for. In fact, according to Bloomsburg, 95% of people have suffered from some kind of procrastination. Although it might seem comforting to know that this affects so many people, wouldn’t it be better to know that there are ways to beat this monster that is holding you back. Well stick around to read about the top 3 tricks into becoming a better version of yourself, a version who isn’t trapped by the most famous enemy, procrastination.

One of the most common misconceptions about procrastination is that it is commonly compared to laziness, but instead it is VERY different. Procrastination is the active process of choosing to do something else instead of a task, most likely an unpleasant task, which you should be doing. Laziness on the other hand, in the unwillingness to act or inactivity. Both can have many severe consequences however even the tiniest amount of procrastination may lead to the feeling of guilt and being ashamed of ourselves. It may also lead to reduced productivity in the long run, ultimately becoming an obstacle when reaching our goals. It is very important to diminish procrastination as soon as possible, as if done for a long period of time, it may result in demotivation, depression or even job-loss.

By a simple change of habits, it is possible to overcome this horrible situation.

Recognize that you are procrastinating

It is important to know whether you are procrastinating or not in order to work on improving. Here are some indicators to find out whether you are procrastinating or simply being lazy. Procrastinators tend to:

• Fill their day with low priority tasks

• Leave important tasks in your TO-DO list for a very long time (even though they are important)

• Spending hours deciding what to do first

• Start an important task, and take a break shortly after

• Doing tasks that other people ask you to do, instead of focusing what is already in your TO-DO list

• Wait for the “right mood” or “right time” to start a task

If you have related to any of the above, don’t worry we have all been in the same boat. If you are still having trouble deciding whether you are a procrastinator or not, try taking this quiz.

Work out WHY you are procrastinating

Finding the root of the problem is always essential for closure and resolutions.

If you believe that you are procrastinating due to finding a particular task boring or unpleasant, it is important to get it out of the way as soon as possible. By doing this, you will quickly be able to get back to tasks you find more enjoyable.

Poor organization may also be a problem for most. It is proven that organized people are less likely to procrastinate and become more successful in the future. Tools such as TO-DO lists and schedules have shown to help people keep an organized routine throughout their week.

Being afraid of failing a subject or a project may also lead to postponing tasks for the last minute. This might become an issue even for the most organized students. Perfectionists and the fear of lack of success are also surprisingly common factors to this time eating monster.

Lastly, poor decision making may be the root of your procrastination, simply because the person does not know what to do, and ends up choosing the less important task. In order to improve this, making a priority list the prior day is important, as then you will not have to make important decisions on the spot.

Begin to adopt anti-procrastination methods into your routine

Procrastination may quickly become a habit - a pattern in you daily behaviour. This means that unfortunately, it will not be broken over night. Below I will show some methods that can slowly be implemented into your routine.

If you have procrastinated in the past, or have a relapse throughout the way, it is critical that you do not blame yourself. Many studies show that self-forgiveness are great ways to stay positive about your goal, therefore increasing your chances of quitting procrastination.

Remember why you are doing this, and stick to your task. Try not to procrastinate on your procrastination journey. Write down all of the tasks that have to be completed the day before, and stick to them. Focus on doing, and not avoiding.

Have a study budy. Trust me, having someone there with you, will make you work harder. When looking at someone being productive, you most likely will want to join, and become more motivated in your task. The peer pressure defitivenly works!

Turning off your social media. The most important, yet my gosh is it hard. Although it might seem extremely cliché, minimizing distractions will be the most effective way to simply get your work done, and don’t forget to start with the most unpleasant task first.

Here are some apps to help you with these impossible tasks.

• Zero willpower

• 1-3-5 list

• Evernote

• Momentum

Phew, I was finally able to quit procrastinating and get this article done. You didn’t really think that I didn't suffer with it too did you? But by following these tips and tricks, I was able to finish my task, and you may bet on it that so will you!