Procrastination refers to the act of delaying or postponing something that needs to be done, often to a point where it becomes a habitual behavior causing negative consequences. It involves putting off tasks or decisions despite knowing that they need attention, often due to various reasons such as lack of motivation, fear of failure, or feeling overwhelmed.
Procrastination means delaying or postponing something that needs to be done – usually because it’s unpleasant or dull. Procrastination is a trap that many of us fall into. Research suggests that 95 percent of us procrastinate to some degree. By procrastinating, you can damage your performance, harm your reputation, and cause yourself unnecessary anxiety.
People procrastinate for different reasons, including:
- Task aversion: avoid tasks that are unpleasant, boring, or challenging.
- Perfectionism: waiting for the perfect moment or perfect conditions to start a task.
- Fear of failure: anxiety about not being able to meet expectations or perform well.
- Poor time management: underestimating the time required to complete tasks, leading to last-minute rushes.
- Lack of motivation: not feeling motivated enough to start or complete tasks.
Overcoming procrastination often involves understanding the root causes and implementing strategies such as breaking tasks into smaller, manageable steps, setting clear goals and deadlines, creating a conducive work environment, practicing self-discipline, and addressing underlying issues like perfectionism or fear of failure. Developing good habits and routines can also help in combating procrastination and improving productivity.
In this video, I talk about why procrastination happens, explain strategies for overcoming procrastination and prioritise your workload more effectively.
KEY POINTS
✨ Recognise That You’re Procrastinating
You might be putting off a task because you’ve had to re-prioritize your workload. If you’re briefly delaying an important task for a genuinely good reason, then you aren’t necessarily procrastinating. However, if you start to put things off indefinitely, or switch focus because you want to avoid doing something, then you probably are.
✨ Know the Top Reasons for Procrastinating
You need to understand the reasons why you are procrastinating before you can begin to tackle it.
? For instance, are you avoiding a particular task because you find it boring or unpleasant? If so, take steps to get it out of the way quickly, so that you can focus on the aspects of your job that you find more enjoyable.
? Poor organization can lead to procrastination. Organized people successfully overcome it because they use prioritized to-do lists and create effective schedules. These tools help you to organize your tasks by priority and deadline.
? Task Overwhelming: Even if you’re organized, you can still feel Perhaps you have doubts about your ability and are worried about failing, so you put it off and seek comfort in doing work that you know that you’re capable of completing.
? Some people fear success as much as failure. They think that success will lead to them being swamped with requests to take on more tasks.
? Surprisingly, perfectionists are often procrastinators. Often, they’d rather avoid doing a task that they don’t feel they have the skills to do, than do it imperfectly.
? POOR DECISION-MAKING: If you can’t decide what to do, you’ll likely put off taking action in case you do the wrong thing.
✨ Use Strategies to Stop Procrastinating
Procrastination is a habit – a deeply ingrained pattern of behavior. This means that you probably can’t break it overnight. Habits only stop being habits when you avoid practicing them, so try as many of the strategies, below, as possible to give yourself the best possible chance of succeeding.
TIPS:
1. Start small. Break large tasks into smaller chunks, and pick one that you can do now – so that you’re underway almost without realizing it!
2. Finish things. When you spot a task that’s nearly done, put extra effort into getting it over the line. Don’t be tempted to leave lots of jobs almost finished: enjoy the satisfaction of ticking them off your list!
3 If you’re procrastinating because you find a task unpleasant, try to focus on the “long game.” Research shows that impulsive people are more likely to procrastinate because they are focused on short-term gain. Combat this by identifying the long-term benefits of completing the task. For instance, could it affect your annual performance review or end-of-year bonus?
? Another way to make a task more enjoyable is to identify the unpleasant consequences of avoiding it. For instance, what will happen if you don’t complete the work? How might it affect your personal, team or organizational goals?
? At the same time, it can be useful to reframe the task by looking at its meaning and relevance. This will increase its value to you and make your work more worthwhile. It’s also important to acknowledge that we can often overestimate the unpleasantness of a task. So give it a try! You may find that it’s not as bad as you thought, after all!
4 If you procrastinate because you’re disorganized, here are six strategies to help you get organized:
? Keep a to-do list. This will prevent you from “conveniently” forgetting about those unpleasant or overwhelming tasks.
? Prioritize your to-do list. This will enable you to quickly identify the activities that you should focus on, as well as the ones you can ignore.
? Become a master of scheduling and project planning. If you have a big project or multiple projects on the go and you don’t know where to start, these tools can help you to plan your time effectively, and reduce your stress levels.
? Tackle the hardest tasks at your peak times. Do you work better in the morning or the afternoon? Identify when you’re most effective, and do the tasks that you find most difficult at these times.
? Set yourself time-bound goals. Setting yourself specific deadlines to complete tasks will keep you on track to achieve your goals, and will mean that you have no time for procrastination!
5. If you’re prone to delaying projects because you find them overwhelming
Try breaking them down into more manageable chunks. Organize your projects into smaller tasks and focus on starting them, rather than on finishing them.
? Minimize distractions. Turn off your email and social media, and avoid sitting anywhere near a television while you work!
Finally, forgive yourself for procrastinating in the past. Studies show that self-forgiveness can help you to feel more positive about yourself and reduce the likelihood of procrastination in the future.
NOTE:
For some people, procrastination is more than a bad habit; it’s a sign of a serious underlying health issue. For example, ANXIETY, and DEPRESSION are associated with procrastination. It can also be a cause of serious stress and illness. So, if you suffer from chronic or debilitating procrastination, one of these conditions could be to blame, and you should seek the advice of a trained professional.
If you need to talk
Talk with toke
Toke ola-sheu Adele
Counselling Psychologist | Career Consultant | ✨ Skills Training Expert | PUBLIC SPEAKER ✨ Founder @Genderdreamz Institute | ✨ @Genderdreamz Counselling Services
08163411765 (whatsapp only)