Procrastination takes the vigor out of the most brilliant of ideas. If only people, who have such brilliant business ideas, could cure themselves off procrastination and could take action, they would be multimillionaires by now. Years go by, but they remain in square one; only their ideas keep changing!
Come to think of it, procrastination bug bites each of us at some time or the other, in some spheres of our lives or the other. Sometime, this bug creeps into only our personal lives, but our professional lives goes on quite efficiently, and also vice versa! Let us explore a little deeper into how we get into "the trap" and how to get out of it! Chronic procrastination takes you further away from your goals from when you first started, so beware!
What is Procrastination?
In Psychology, "procrastination" refers to the act of replacing high-priority actions with tasks of low priority, and thus putting off important tasks to a later time. In short, it means the person simply delays the completion of the task for no rhyme or reason; it could be sheer laziness or boredom.
Statistics
Procrastination statistics show that procrastination affects over 20% of the population. According to some researchers, procrastination has more than quadrupled in the last 30 years. In 1978, 5% of the population admitted to being chronic procrastinators compared to roughly 26% of the population today (Steele, 2007).
Why Do We Procrastinate?
Everyone "wish" their tasks to be completed fast. No one intentionally procrastinates, it just happens! However, there are some factors that make it "happen."
- Unclear Goals: Some people are clearer about their goals than others. If your goals are not clear and you are confused, then chances are that you will procrastinate about them.
- Lack of Focus: If you lack concentration on important tasks like your work in office or your studies in school or college, you tend to procrastinate. Internet, mobile phones, and other gadgets have a way of distracting you from your goals.
- Fear of Failure: The anxiety to come out with flying colors when you are taking up a new project or a new assignment, or even taking up a new job can lead one to procrastinate. Some worry so much about delivering a perfect product that they wait until every drop of research has been done on that.
- Over/Underestimating Time: Some people miscalculate the time left to finish a task. For example, a college student may think that, "okay I have 4 weeks for the final exams" and keep putting off studying until she reaches maybe the last week, and try to cram up everything in one go, which becomes a daunting task.
- Waiting for the Right Mood: Often people in the creative field say that you need to get into the right mood to deliver something great. This becomes one reason for them to procrastinate. They say they are not in the right mood and waste time. Once you sit and concentrate on the task at hand you get the "right mood" automatically. When you have a task to complete and you don't start it because of "lack of mood", ultimately when the deadline nears, you will be forced to deliver a substandard product or design.
- Lack of Priority: Prioritizing your tasks is very important. Some motivational gurus say that you should segregate your tasks into "can wait," "important," "urgent," etc. categories and that you should not procrastinate on the important tasks, lest they become urgent.
- Overwhelmed/Fatigued: Sometimes, though, feeling overwhelmed by a task or fatigue may become a major "put off" and you procrastinate.
Remedies to Treat Procrastination
Once you have identified the reason you procrastinate, you can go about rectifying this self-defeating trend.
- Switch to Positive Thoughts: Some psychologists believe that procrastination happens because of negative self talk. We allow our minds to get flooded with negative thoughts which get in the way of completing our tasks on time. Therefore, the best way is to replace these thoughts with positive ones. For example, you could say something like, "it's true that there's not much time, but at least I can get started." Give positive affirmations to yourself.
- Improve Time Management Skills: Work on your time management skills. It may be that you are not able to efficiently manage your time and that is why you procrastinate in the first place. May be you are aimlessly going about thinking which to start first, etc. First prioritize your work/tasks according to its level of importance and allocate a particular time for each one of them, so that you can manage your time efficiently.
- Understand the Triggers: Get to know the triggers that distract you from your work or priority. Make a checklist by writing down all the triggers and try eliminating them one by one. For example, if video games or watching television is the biggest distraction for your studies, then taking off the cable connection until your exams are over will be a good idea.
- Split the Task into Shorter Segments: To prevent getting overwhelmed by a task, split the task into segments and allot time for each segment. By taking up one segment at a time, it becomes easier to finish a big task. For example, suppose you have to clean up all your cupboards by the end of the week. Each day, you can plan to complete one cupboard or one portion of the cupboard. This way, you can stay focused until the job is complete.
- Switch Tasks for Short Periods of Time: Work on pleasant or easier tasks in between when you get bored of the bigger task, but make sure you come back to the bigger one once you get a breather! For example, while studying History, to break the monotony, solve some problems in Math, and then come back to your History portions.
- Take Short Breaks: When you are working away at a project, you could take a break and, say, listen to music or spend some time on your exercise bike for 10 minutes or so, but remember to come back to the task at hand (the important one!).
These techniques give you an idea on how you could possibly break through the procrastination barrier to complete your important tasks on time. After completion of each project, apart from the financial and social recognition you get, you are going to grow more confident about yourself, which will be your greatest achievement!
