Ever wondered how to cure procrastination? Well look no further! This post provides practical tips and advice for dealing with one of the most common habits around…
Procrastination is a habit that keeps us back from what we should be doing, usually because of a distraction that is more favourable or more comfortable.
In our recent post that discusses 10 things you should give up, one of the things we mentioned was the reoccurring practise of procrastination. Some of the behaviours of chronic procrastinators include:
- Putting things off to a later date or till the last minute
- Carrying out less urgent tasks before urgent ones
- Getting distracted before or whilst doing something
- Facing things only when they’re unavoidable
- Claiming that you haven’t got time to do something
- Waiting for the right time or mood to do something
- Not completing tasks at all
Does this sound like you? The best way to sum up the behaviours above is to say that procrastinators like avoiding things that require action – this isn’t just your everyday tasks but also your larger goals too. Although there can be a number of reasons why people have this unpleasant habit, most of the time it comes down to laziness, fear and self-doubt. It’s a shame really. Time is priceless, yet we tend to waste it.
“Time is more value than money. You can get more money, but you cannot get more time.” – Jim Rohn
An Example
Fear comes in many forms when it comes to procrastination, and it can have a direct correlation to self-doubt. Below is an example of our friend Tony’s client. His client’s fear for his goal led him to deviate away from achieving it. When you read the story below, you’ll see that the client was reluctant to leave his comfort zone; he resisted change. He also created negative thoughts by overthinking. These are very common traits in chronic procrastinators.
The story with Tony’s client began when he first came to see Tony with his goal. It was something he really wanted; he wanted to start his own business. This business would need his fulltime commitment which meant that he would have to leave his current job. However, he feared what he couldn’t understand, which was how he would make a viable income with his business idea. He lacked self-belief which came from doubting his own potential, and he didn’t want to feel uncomfortable by compromising his current lifestyle. He constantly told himself that he was being unrealistic and therefore didn’t even begin to pursue his business.
Once Tony was finally able to gain some momentum going forward with his client, the client then suddenly convinced himself that he didn’t have enough information to start his business; he simply needed to do more research which required more time. He believed this because again, he feared failure. When starting a business, doing things such as market research is crucial, so his intentions were respectable. In many circumstances, it’s fine to do this, but you need to distinguish whether you’re simply finding an excuse to kill time, or because you genuinely need more clarity in your head. You should also reassess whether you really believe in what you seek to do. In this case, the client was not only eager to start his own business, he also believed it would help the world – sadly he just lacked confidence. It’s important to mention here, that if your intuition tells you that something feels right, or that something really excites you, go with it! Trust yourself and your abilities, and the Universe will work in your favour. Failure is never final, it’s only feedback. And we need feedback to grow and progress.
“Lack of confidence, sometimes alternating with unrealistic dreams of heroic success, often leads to procrastination, and many studies suggest that procrastinators are self-handicappers: rather than risk failure, they prefer to create conditions that make success impossible, a reflex that of course creates a vicious cycle.” – James Surowiecki
Going back to the story, after spending months of doing research, the client then concluded that his idea was pointless and wrote it off completely. He had managed to talk himself out of it. This came as a shock to Tony because the client had demonstrated something that seemed like it had great potential. Nevertheless, this wasn’t the end. Time went by and the client was dismissed from his job through redundancy. Instead of going back to work, he was adamant to revisit his business idea by investing his redundancy money into it. This time however, he had no option but to make it a success so that he can have a means to live on. Like all examples and stories we tell, this one has a positive ending too. His business eventually became a success, even though he had several setbacks during the process. With a bit of extra money to work with and no other option, the client finally took action on his business idea. If he hadn’t been made redundant and received money he did, he probably still wouldn’t have started his business. The client now realises that he procrastinated a lot, and the quote below sums up exactly what he thinks about getting his business started…
“A year from now you may wish you had started today.” – Karen Lamb
Smaller Examples
Procrastination doesn’t just occur with big goals or life-changing events, it occurs with everyday activities and tasks. In fact it’s more common with these and a lot of us don’t even realise we’re doing it. For example, some people sit down to do high-priority work and then almost immediately decide to go and make a cup of coffee before they begin.
It’s common with exercise too. Some people will say that they’re going to go to the gym today, but then today becomes tomorrow, until it eventually becomes next week, or even longer! What stops them? It’s often laziness; some people would rather watch movies instead for example. We should add that this is the opposite intent of fitness! On the other hand, some people will take a look at themselves and say, “Well I’m not exactly out of shape.” This prevents them from having any drive, until their habits get so bad that they dislike the way they look and feel. This then urges them to change their appearance as soon as possible; the art of putting something off until it’s unavoidable.
When you need to hoover your home, you can easily get distracted by another task, such as listening to music and dancing away to it. When checking and replying to emails, you might end up browsing the internet and watching videos instead. When making a blog post you might end up speaking to a friend on the phone for hours and then claim that you have no time to make the post! These are just some typical examples.
Tips
Here are some general tips when dealing with procrastination. Even though they are probably more applicable to short-term achievements, they still provide a good framework to help you get started:
1. Identify that you procrastinate
As simple as this sounds, so many people still can’t figure out that they have this habit. Use the criteria in the bullet points at the beginning of this post to identify if you’re a serial procrastinator.
2. Work out why you procrastinate
This is often easier said than done. Sometimes you need time in silence to really discover what the underlying reasons are, and sometimes it helps if you talk it through with someone else; conversations are great for self-reflection and often unveil underlying issues. It’s also good to get another perspective, especially from someone who has good intentions for you and someone that you trust.
When it comes to the why aspect of things, it’s usually because of the way you and your thoughts are (internal reasons), or because of the task itself (external reason) – some tasks are perceived to be unappealing and this causes us to be put off. Other times, the task can seem so big that it becomes overwhelming. This often causes doubt, and instead, we seek to focus on smaller things that we think are more achievable or enjoyable – avoiding the priority.
3. Write out what needs to be done and break it down
If the reasons why you procrastinate are internal, then this step might be difficult because it requires a shift in your mindset. Of course, we have plenty of material on this site to help you with this. Reading material around your mental blocks or hiring a mentor can help you remove them. Nevertheless, you can still write out what you wish to achieve – in fact our guide to writing out your goals can be of great benefit here, by influencing your subconscious thoughts. This is a longer process and should be used for low priority goals, or longer term goals.
Whether tasks are big or small, you can break them down into even smaller ones and set a deadline for each one. This is especially beneficial for the overwhelming tasks and the ones that we overcomplicate. You should also seek to prioritise them so that you’re focusing on the most important sub-tasks first, so you can get them out of the way. The trick here is to make things seem much smaller than they are. All success is a sum of small efforts. So if you still see yourself procrastinating, keep breaking the tasks down. Once you start to enjoy accomplishing one or two of the small tasks, you’re more likely to finish the rest of them.
4. Complete the tasks
“Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task” – William James
Yes, we are stating the obvious here! But now that you have tasks and deadlines, you need to complete them! Of course, this is the hardest part so here are some smaller tips to help you finish the job:
- Get rid of every distraction possible, even if this means changing environment.
- Give yourself an incentive for completing the task. E.g. you can meet with friends later.
- Add in breaks where you do something enjoyable, but make sure they are a fixed duration.
- Think about how good you will feel after you have done it.
- Get creative – add things to help make the task more appealing such as music.
- Get some help if required.
- Talk to someone who has recently accomplished the task at hand for inspiration.
- Give yourself a consequence for not completing the task. E.g. if you don’t go to the gym you can’t watch TV for the entire week.
- Announce your intentions to the world so that you add pressure to yourself. Avoiding the embarrassment of failure is a great way to motivate yourself.
If you have any useful tips for dealing with procrastination, we’d love to hear from you! Just leave a comment below.
Author: Vex King
I am the founder and owner of the Bon Vita lifestyle brand. I could give myself a title and call myself a lifestyle entrepreneur, personal mentor, writer, designer, innovator, CEO, or anything else I see as fitting. However no title can define me as an individual. I’m just an optimist, a visionary, a philanthropist and jack of many trades. I’m using my positive influence to redefine the creative industries using Good Vibes Only #GVO so that people can fulfil their dreams, purposefully, and enjoy The Good Life #TGL. My daily words of intent are to make people… Think, look & feel GOOD!
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