6 Ways To Stop Procrastination

Procrastination… Well, this is a very familiar phenomenon to all of us. There is a deadline looming but instead of doing your work, you check your social accounts, watch videos or surf on the internet.

Sometimes we wonder why we act like that, what is the cause of this behavior. The answer is fear. At the core of the behavior is that strong and instinctive emotion which tries to protect us from being emotionally hurt. Each time a situation occurs which might threaten to cause pain, injure our pride or shake our sense of self, fear urges us to walk away. It, also, provides a false illusion that ‘one day’ you will feel ready, more confident, ‘one day’ the circumstances will be ideal, ‘one day’ you’ll take the chance when the timing is perfect. However, these are non- realistic convictions which feed our fear and make him grow bigger and bigger. Eventually, we remain stagnant without having made use of our capabilities and with noteworthy consequences on our career, health, relationships and finances. A sacrifice of our happiness.

How can you change that?

Change your work environment. Each environment affects varyingly our productivity. Find a quiet place where you’ll be doing most of your work. This can be a library, a room in your house, a coffee shop.

Remove all the distractions and especially your phone. This is a huge distraction and you know it. You’ll always have the temptation of checking your messages or your instagram. Turn off your notifications or even keep your phone in another room.

Break your task into smaller pieces. Your task seems quite overwhelming for you and that scares you. Break it down into smaller pieces and focus on one piece at a time. If this piece seems difficult, break it down even further. Then you’ll see that your task is so easy. But remember you have to focus only on the particular piece that you are working on and do not thinking of the remaining ones. Once you’ve finished, you can move on.

Devote only 20 minutes. There are times that we are on a rush or we are so busy doing other things that we have no time for our task. In that case you can focus on this task only for 20 minutes a day. Be entirely focused to it only for these 20 minutes and then continue with the other responsibilities. That way you’ll gradually make a progress which will boost your confidence.

Reward your progress. Start rewarding yourself each time you finish with a task. Your reward can be a fun activity with your friends, a nice dinner or a gift for yourself. Something that highlights your effort.

Re- clarify your goals and stop over- complicating things. If you have been procrastinating for a long time, this might reflect a misalignment of what you are doing and what you want to do. Take some time to regroup yourself. Ask yourself: Do I like my job? What would make me happy? What do I want to achieve? What do I have to do to achieve that? Ditch every though that keeps you away from your goals and stop being a perfectionist. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes cause otherwise you are never going to accomplish anything.

Start Today. Act Bravely.