People with procrastination issues know how annoying and disruptive it can be to their life. The sad part is most people know they have a problem but still cant seem to fix it. Even procrastinating with small issues can easily lead to big problems down the road. It can cause you to lose money, jobs, relationships or other opportunities in life.
So What is Procrastination?
the act or habit of procrastinating, or putting off or delaying, especially something requiring immediate attention:
From: 1540s, from Middle French. "a putting off from day to day," noun of action from past participle stem of procrastinare "put off till tomorrow, defer, delay," from pro- "forward" + crastinus "belonging to tomorrow," from cras "tomorrow," of unknown origin.
-Dictionary.com
So, literally putting things off until tomorrow. Other definitions mention that this is also commonly done when putting off tasks that don't have some kind of reward in favour of ones that do. The reward could be monetary or not. The flip-side of this is also true: putting off tasks that are distasteful in some way, such as paying a speeding ticket. One more example is a task that can be left for a bit of time or isn't necessary to complete right away. The last example can happen to anyone.
How Can it Affect People?
Procrastinating can be diabolical in a way, where small tasks are forgotten and they quickly turn into something much worse. At that point in time the repercussions are more serious and its also harder to recover from it. I am always reminded of the song "One Thing Leads to Another" by The Fixx. This is the best example of what it does to people even though the song is about lying to people and not procrastination. Many times this happens in work settings where a document or report is to be handed in but someone puts it off and its late. What could happen after that is that the company loses a contract and fires the employee because of it. It may sound like an extreme circumstance but it happens. Deadlines have to be met. After that it could "snowball" from there, trouble at home, cant pay bills, cant pay mortgage. Money problems are the cause of most problems in relationships and what if this time its the last time. This again is an extreme example but I can almost guarantee that senario has happened to someone in the world. Its something that, if you have a problem with procrastinating then you have to get it under control.
How Do You Stop Procrastinating?
There is no magic bullet per se to be able to stop completely. It comes down to changing your habits and discipline. First, the easiest thing you can do is write everything down. Keep a notebook on your desk, on your night-table or next to your computer. Somewhere where its visible. That way you are always looking at it. If you have a problem with that then put everything on your phone and have it remind you a day in advance.
For people in college, university or an office setting where you have to prepare documents here is another trick I've used. In college, when I was assigned a paper, I would go home that night and start right away but I would only type the first paragraph, title it and save. I would then move on to other more pressing papers. Every time I groan that I have to start a paper I open the document and its already started. I re-read what I have already and it would also refresh my memory of what I wanted to write about.
-Break down large tasks into smaller ones. Don't spend too much time on one thing or you will get tired of it and find yourself starting to dread coming back to it.
-After you start on the big tasks move to the smaller ones and get them done right away. You will feel way better if you eliminate 2-3 tasks and remember to also are partly done the bigger ones.
-Always take breaks from big tasks, don't burn yourself out.
-Remember the song "One Thing Leads to Another". Think to yourself, "What will happen if I don't do this? What is the worst case scenario for me?"
-Reward yourself with something, like food or a drink, which is the most common and basic reward.
-After a busy Sunday of driving around, making phone calls and cleaning make yourself an awesome dinner. Pick your favourite foods, find your favourite TV show and relax.
Putting it All Into Practice
All these tips wont make a difference if you don't do them. You have to stay disciplined. Sometimes that means turning down something that you really want to do instead but you have to. Try one or two of these tips and then work from there. When you are bored, think to yourself if there is something you need to do. Its all about discipline and routine. Don't give up if you fail, just keep going and remember the song.
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