Hint: You will become productive in less than 7 days of trying out these techniques.
What is more frustrating than trying to achieve your goals and dreams with a procrastinating mindset?
Well, I have had my fair share of those feelings. Thankfully, I will be sharing my experience with you and some strategies I used to overcome procrastination.
But first, what is procrastination?
According to James Clear, procrastination is the act of delaying or postponing a task or set of tasks. So, whether you refer to it as procrastination or akrasia, or something else, it is the force that prevents you from following through on what you set out to do.
Akrasia is the state of acting against your better judgment. It is when you do one thing even though you know you should do something else. Loosely translated, you could say that akrasia is procrastination or a lack of self-control.
Okay, now you understand what procrastination means. But…
Why do I procrastinate?
Here is the science behind it.
Time inconsistency is a phenomenon discovered by behavioral psychology study that helps to explain why procrastination tends to draw us in despite our best efforts.
The inclination of the human brain to value immediate benefits more highly than future ones is known as time inconsistency.
Imagine having two selves: your present self and your future self. This will help you to better understand this.
Making plans for your Future Self occurs when you create goals for yourself, such as shedding pounds, writing a book, or learning a new language.
You are imagining how you want the rest of your life to turn out.
According to research, thinking about your future self makes it simpler for your brain to understand the importance of choosing decisions that will benefit you in the long run.
The Future Self favors results that will last over time.
Although the Future Self can make plans, only the Present Self can carry them out. When the time to choose arises, you are no longer choosing for your Future Self.
Now since you are in the present, your mind is considering your present self. The Present Self prefers immediate reward above long-term gain, according to researchers.
Therefore, there is a frequent conflict between the Present Self and the Future Self. While the Present Self desires a doughnut, the Future Self wants to be trim and fit.
Sure, everyone understands the importance of eating well now to prevent being overweight in ten years. Consequences like a rise in diabetes or heart failure risk, however, won't manifest for several years.
Similar to how many young individuals are aware of the importance of saving for retirement in their 20s and 30s, the benefits of doing so are decades away. In comparison to saving $100 for yourself when you're 70, it is far simpler for the Present Self to recognize the benefit of purchasing a new pair of shoes. (If you're curious, there are some very plausible evolutionary explanations for why our brain places a higher priority on immediate rewards than on long-term ones.)
This is one of the reasons you could feel inspired to change your life before bed, but when you wake up, you find yourself reverting to old habits. Your brain loves immediate pleasure when it comes to the now, but it values long-term rewards when they are in the future (tomorrow). (today).
Effects of Procrastination that can destroy your life
You are probably unaware that procrastination has an impact on your mental and physical health in addition to your life, productivity, and happiness.
The following are some of the least obvious but most detrimental consequences of procrastination:
Forming Limiting Beliefs
By continuing to put off doing anything, you develop and then reinforce limiting assumptions about who you are and what is achievable in life.
Over time, you start to identify yourself with these views, leading to an increase in your procrastination.
You don't reach your full potential and begin to spiral downward in life when you start to lose faith in who you are and your abilities.
You will continue to doubt yourself, perceive yourself as a failure, and just produce more of what you don't want.
Blowing Opportunities
How many chances have you missed because you didn't seize them when they presented themselves? When procrastination takes its toll, you want to slap yourself in the face.
What you don't comprehend is that you passed up an opportunity that may have changed your life. You are never promised a second opportunity because most possibilities only present themselves once.
Missed opportunities that are less visible include putting off making a presentation or pitch, waiting until the last minute, and not giving it your best.
Opportunities are how the world gives you more, so do yourself a favor and seize them as soon as they come your way.
Questioning Your Objective
When we entertain the idea of goals, of wanting to achieve or improve something, procrastination appears to come on with full force. Despite having a strong desire to change, it seems impossible for you to even start. Perhaps you create a goal for yourself but don't follow through.
Normally, this is devastating and confusing. Why is it so difficult to pursue something that I desire so deeply, you may wonder.
Having Lower Self-Esteem
You might get caught in a vicious spiral like this one. Because we believe we won't be able to complete a task or project correctly due to poor self-esteem, we frequently put things off.
Unfortunately, putting off things simply makes us feel less confident in ourselves and makes us doubt our abilities.
Academic procrastination was found to be negatively influenced by self-esteem and self-control in a study involving 426 college students.
When we don't feel good about ourselves, we put ourselves last, believe we aren't deserving of achievement, and start to harm ourselves. Your confidence is slowly eaten away by procrastination, but if you do nothing, it might as well be inevitable.
If you identify with this, concentrate on enhancing your sense of self-worth rather than clinging to the idea that you are capable of more. You will only be forced to participate in activities that you are not prepared to do.
How do I stop procrastination?
A deadline is approaching for you. However, you are occupying your time with unrelated activities instead of working, such as reading emails, using social media, watching movies, browsing blogs, and participating in forums. You should be working, but despite knowing it, you're not in the mood.
The phenomenon of procrastination is well known to us all. When we put off accomplishing crucial activities that need to be done now until it is too late, we waste our spare time. And when it is too late, we freak out and regret not starting sooner.
So here is a step by step ways to stop procrastination:
Organize your work into manageable steps.
We postpone because we unconsciously feel that the task is too difficult for us to handle. Divide it into manageable pieces, then concentrate on each component separately.
After breaking the task down, if you find that you are still putting it off, break it down further. Your task will become so simple in due course that you'll be saying to yourself, "Gee, this is so simple that I might as well just do it now!"
For instance, I'm currently working on a new book about how to succeed in life. When taken seriously, writing a book is a huge undertaking that can be overwhelming. However, when I divide it into stages like -
(1) Research
(2) Deciding the topic
(3) Creating the outline
(4) Drafting the content
(5) Writing Chapters #1 to #10,
(6) Revision
(7) etc.
It suddenly appears to be fairly manageable. Then, instead of concentrating on the subsequent phases, I concentrate on the current one and complete it to the best of my ability. I move on to the next one after it is finished.
Make a comprehensive schedule with deadlines.
It's like an encouragement to put off doing your task if you concentrate on just one deadline. That happens because we think we have time and keep delaying things until it is too late.
Your project should be broken down (see tip #1), after which you should make a broad schedule with deadlines for each minor activity.
In this manner, you are aware that each task has a due date. Your deadlines must be realistic; for example, if you don't do this by today, everything you have planned for tomorrow could be in jeopardy. This makes it urgent to take action.
My goals are broken down into monthly, weekly, right down to the daily task lists, and the list is a call to action that I must accomplish by the specified date, or else my goals will be put off.
Eliminate Your Procrastination Pit-Stops
If you find yourself delaying things a lot, it can be because you make it simple to put things off.
Identify your browser bookmarks that take up a lot of your time and put them into a separate folder that is less accessible. In your email client, disable the automatic notification setting. Get rid of the distractions surrounding you.
I know some individuals will get out of the way and cancel or deactivate their Facebook accounts.
I believe it’s a little severe and extreme as tackling procrastination is more about being conscious of our behaviors than counteracting with self-binding ways, but if you feel that’s what’s needed, go for it.
Limit the number of choices you must make
Every choice we make has an energy ramification. If you need to ask yourself, "What do I need to do today?" when you get up in the morning. You're prepared to put off doing something today.
If you approach each new day without having given thought to what you want it to look like ahead of time, then you’ll squander a huge percentage of your energy wondering about what to do and what not to do.
Should I hit the gym today or go tomorrow?
Should I say yes to lunch with Larry from Accounting,
or should I have a short lunch solo so I can go back to the office and finish this presentation?
Should I wear this or wear that?
Eat this or eat that?
All day long, we ask ourselves questions similar to this.
Questions compel us to respond with answers, which compel us to make decisions. You become exhausted and lose all self-control as a result, which causes you to put off doing the things that are most important to you.
Making decisions in advance and/or developing routines in specific areas of your life can help you be more effective and avoid you from using up energy considering whether to do something.
This will help you reduce the number of decisions you need to make throughout the day.
Take Control and Finish the Job!
It all comes down to action in the end. No matter how much planning, scheming, and hypothesizing you do, if you don't act, nothing will change. Sometimes, readers or people will keep whining to me about their circumstances without ever doing anything about it.
the truth-check
I have never heard of someone delaying their achievement, and I don't think that will change very soon. Get a grasp on yourself and do whatever it is you are putting off if you want to finish it.
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