There is a common habit practiced by the majority of individuals. I refer to it as the “I will do it later syndrome” and it is generally referred to as procrastination.
Procrastination is being aware of the task at hand but choosing to postpone and carry out the task at die minutes or close to the deadline which mostly leads to the task being poorly done.
Procrastination does a lot more bad than good. Procrastination;
- Disorganises schedules
- Activates “the deadline mode”. Here, your brain is under the pressure of workloads and placed on impromptu to carry out the work meant to take some days under a few minutes to do research, put things in order and so on while battling with deadlines, you may make series of mistakes when carrying out a task.
- Procrastination affects your income due to the inability to meet deadlines, which might lead to a query or a job being terminated if not done on time and loss of the stipulated reward or payment in the process.
- Procrastination affects your well-being i.e. the intake of food is also affected in the sense that the time meant to take in food is used to keep up with deadlines.
- Opportunities may slip off one’s fingers, and one may miss life-changing events.
Procrastination can be a challenging habit to overcome, but with determination to change, some right steps to take, and incorporating discipline while taking those steps, you can reduce its impact on your productivity. Here are some tips to help you put an end to procrastination;
1. Define your goals for a certain period: Get a piece of paper or a journal or better still a notepad app on your phone, clearly outline what you want to achieve for the day, the week, or the month. Put down the tasks you have to get done and set an ultimatum to get them done. Outline what and what not to do when carrying out the tasks.
2. Set a reminder: A marked calendar, a to-do list with time intervals, and a labeled phone reminder placed on an alarm to remind you of a pending task can go a long way in getting your tasks done.
3. Create a Schedule: Create a to-do list for all the tasks at hand, opt for setting each task to each day of the week i.e. writing 1500 articles on Monday, doing laundry on Tuesday, rearranging the room on Wednesday, and so on. Also, set a particular time of the day to get the tasks done.
4. Prioritize Important tasks: Make sure to downsize your to-do list to the paramount tasks, remove the unproductive ones away from the to-do list, the hard tasks that are likely to take a lot of time to be completed should be done first, followed by least hard then the easiest.
5. Eradicate Distraction: To not procrastinate while carrying out your tasks, focus and do away with any form of attractive and tempting distraction such as;
- Mindless scrolling on social media platforms.
- Noise in the form of songs that you might be tempted to abandon your task and dance to, the source of noise might be your family or friends calling your name now and then. Find a solace away from noise or better still, carry out your task when the activities around you are lessened.
- Another source of distraction is the hustle and bustle of other people around you. What to do is ignore and try hard to concentrate.
- The source of distraction might be wall geckos or cockroaches fighting or mating, just shake your head and get back to work.
6. Books: Reading books that edify personal growth and teach how to break habits has a very big influence on you and can help provide you with more tips on how to tackle the habit of procrastinating.
Solid books like;
- Brian Tracy’s Eat That Frog: 21 Great ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time
- Neil Fiore’s The Now Habit
- James Clear’s Atomic Habits
Most importantly, the determination and zeal towards changing this habit and cultivating discipline contribute a lot to finally eradicating procrastination.
Remember, procrastination has no benefit and you can not overcome it if your mind is not set on breaking through from it.