Delay. What is procrastination? Procrastination (if you don’t already know it) is an act of delaying or postponing something: be it any task or action to be performed. Well, humans don’t make themselves perfect, so we’re all prone to procrastinating frequently. But, I am not here to encourage you, instead, try to help you avoid it by giving you some of the ways to avoid procrastination. Delaying something or putting it off until later or some day can be bad for you in everything from affecting the quality of the work done to the possibility of the task being affected due to unforeseen future events. Therefore, one should not trust tomorrow. Procrastination, despite short-term relief, can cause long-term distress, stress, health, anxiety, and psychological problems. Let’s start with some of the ways to avoid procrastination, so I’ll list them below for you. If you feel like you procrastinate enough, you should try these tips. 1. Schedule yourself, make a timeline.
It is always a good practice to get organized by listing the order of things or tasks that need to be done first and exactly how much time you are going to spend on it, as this will save you time and keep track of time and overall status. Chores. 2. Set a deadline.
Why do we do and complete homework at the end of the day at the eleventh hour? This is because we are under pressure at the time and feel compelled enough to make that priority first. What if you don’t have a due date or due date for the assignment? So are you going to do it after eternity? So set a deadline, even if you don’t have one, and stick to it, it will keep you on track. 3. Avoid all distractions.
As you know, one of the main causes of procrastination is distractions. We drift from the mission because we take into account whatever is going on around us, that’s enough. Clear your mind and think as if nothing is more important than what you already have on your plate to finish. Sit quietly in a room or in a suitable place and stay away from social media, games, TV, or anything else that might be a distraction, including people. 4. Do the hard things first.
Doing the hard stuff first will keep you on task, as it will take longer to complete than other tasks. This way, after completing the hardest and most difficult ones first, you will be confident enough to finish the rest on time and you will. However, if you do the easy things, then you might lose focus and strength (after you’re done with them) for the hard things and eventually delay or put them off. So, the difficult tasks first. 5. Take a break. After finishing with half of the tasks to be done, if you feel exhausted or have lost all concentration, take a short break to distract yourself and refresh yourself with renewed energy. Go out, move around, get some air but remember you’re not done yet, eat something, listen to music and then come back. You will be much better with more energy. 6. Drop the excuses.
“I have to run to it…” or “I need to do this…first” or “I have to have the mindset and frame of mind for it” and so on. Drop these excuses and just DO IT. You may feel the need to be in the right frame of mind and look forward to it, but believe me, this is procrastination every time it starts like this. It will make you wait and wait until you finally feel bad. The right time never comes, believe me. 7. Reward yourself with incentives.
Incentives given to anyone and getting the job done can be helpful. So why not use this tactic on yourself? Let’s say you have a homework to do and you want it done on time, just tell yourself that after you do the homework you can watch an episode of The Big Bang Theory or that new Netflix show, but don’t choke on them or you might check social media, but this should depend on you having finished the work you set out to do. Remember, staying on schedule as mentioned above is the first priority. 8. Tell someone about your goals or objectives.
Telling someone close to you about your tasks or goals can be helpful as it will help you to be consistent and successful at it to make a good impression or be ready if others ask you about the status of your course. 9. Integrate it, break it down.
Sometimes the job at hand is long or requires many steps to complete. In such a situation, procrastination is an easy way in, and we don’t want that. The solution is to break it down into smaller tasks done at intervals, this way you would not think of facing the work head-on but step by step. This strategy helps especially when you have to write a long assignment with many words. 10. Stop Atelophobia (Perfectionism).
Well, this happens to me a lot, personally, I used to feel like everything has to be perfect in order for me to delve into the task I’m supposed to do. And so it leads me to expect the right things and mindset for the task, task done under pressure and at the last minute. This all-or-nothing approach to accomplishing any task is not the right way to go. Nothing is perfect for you to start or complete any job. Don’t wait, just DO IT. I find it helpful to put my hands on the task and get started no matter what and this helps me keep going. There are other ways to avoid procrastination, I’m sure, but I hope you find the ones I’ve shared helpful.
