4 Key Ways To Stop Procrastination

We’re all guilty of doing it, more often than we’d like to admit. Procrastination may not be just about turning in our work project at the last minute. It may also be putting off important life decisions - it’s endless.

And if we don’t start learning how to stop putting things off, we’ll have to deal with procrastination our whole life which may have a negative effect on our relationships, career, and personal health.

The thought process behind procrastination is that we believe there’s always tomorrow, so why not just steer clear of the stress and anxiety and just put it off until later. So, this is the first thing we need to tackle. It won’t be easy but try to figure out what the stress factor is behind our procrastination. It could be fear of failure, fear of confrontation, fear of not being perfect.

We are our own worst critic.

We judge our flaws and imperfections was too harshly. Yet studies show that when we forgive ourselves for putting things off or not getting things done as perfectly as we would’ve liked, can actually help fend off procrastination. And most importantly, have realistic goals before we give ourselves a hard time.

Sometimes we tend to bite off more than we can choose, then we go off the deep end because the end result wasn’t anywhere what we had envisioned.

Follow 4 Key Ways To Stop Procrastination once and for all.

1. Turn burdensome tasks into habits.

We all have enough willpower to get about 3 or 4 tasks done each day. Habits use other parts of our brain rather than the prefrontal cortex which is associated with rational thinking. So, when we train ourselves to do something out of habit, rather than look at it as a mundane task, we think about it less which means we’re using less willpower and we won’t fall into the procrastination rut.

Things like brushing our teeth or making our bed have all become daily habits which we automatically perform without even considering putting them off. Why not turn healthy eating, daily exercise, or turning in reports ahead of time into daily habits as well?

After that it becomes easier, but we still have to keep ourselves motivated and inspired. Procrastination is all about taking that dreaded first step. So why not ease into it with the knowledge that after a certain amount of time, or once we’ve finished X, we can watch videos on YouTube or go get a cup of coffee. Make it pleasant for ourselves because the reward is the part that the brain assimilates to gauge our enjoyment level. If we’re happy, then our brain slowly turns this task into a habit which we look forward to, instead of something we dread on a daily basis.

2. Break work tasks into chunks.

Instead of cleaning out the entire garage, do the right side first, take a break, then do the left side, take a break, then finish off the rest. At work, big tasks may seem daunting when we look at them as a whole. The answer? Break it down into smaller tasks. Make an outline of the entire project, and then divide it up into smaller tasks.

Working in 30-minute increments also helps break down tasks into smaller chunks which are manageable and not so intimidating. After the 30 minutes, take a break and assess our work. Seeing how much we’ve accomplished will give us that boost of confidence we need to keep at it.

3. Remove distractions.

Checking our email every 5 minutes isn’t doing us any good. So, once we’ve committed to doing the job, limit distractions by putting our away. We can find apps that help us stay on track, but some will say that’s completely missing the point.

The important thing is that we set up a certain time for checking emails or our social media, and once we’ve started our task, we avoid the urge to take a sneak peek.

Another serious distraction is multi-tasking. Even though it may seem that we’re being productive, the truth is it’s a complete waste of time and energy. Think about it, it takes our brain about 20 minutes to completely focus on one task and give it 100%, and then we bring in another task which means we decrease our focus level by half, bring in a third task and the focus drops even lower. So even though we’re working more, our end results will be below average.

4. Work during our peak hours.

We all have certain times during the day when we’re most alert. Some of us are morning people, some are night owls, and some have more energy during the afternoon hours. Find out what our peak hours are and tackle our most difficult tasks then. We’ll be more of a powerhouse then with our brain working at its maximum capacity.

Procrastination is different from being lazy because when we procrastinate, we delay doing something for a more pleasurable task. So why not turn that mundane task we’re dreading into something more fun and enjoyable, and kill off the urge to procrastinate?

Stop procrastination, and start being productive.

To our success:

Shui Hyen