Clare Evans asked:


We all have a tendency to put things off for various reasons and believe me, I’ve been the master of this one in the past. Understanding why you procrastinate helps you to do something about it.

How often have you made yourself ‘busy’ just because you’re putting off doing something you’re resisting? Well, here are few things you can do to prevent procrastination.

When you put off a task it can start to develop almost ogre-like proportions before we’ll get round to doing it. The longer you leave it, the harder it becomes. Usually by that time, it’s become urgent or critical rather than just important.

What is the benefit of your procrastination? What is the pay-off you get from putting something off?

It may be the easier route in the short-term but what is the long-term impact? When does procrastination have consequences on your pocket, health or emotional well-being?

If you leave it too long, the task gets to the point where it can no longer be ignored and demands your attention. Now you have to get it done – which somehow, you now find the time or inclination to do, so what was stopping you in the first place?

When the pain of not doing something becomes greater than the pain of doing it, resistance will magically disappear and more often than not we find that it wasn’t so bad as we thought after all.

To help reduce procrastination, try breaking a larger task down into smaller tasks, so it doesn’t seem quite so onerous. For instance, if you need to write a report that you think is going to take days to write – take five minutes just to get a few ideas on paper. Next time – add a bit more, refine it, add a bit more content. Schedule time to come back to it later either in a few hours or the next day or later in the week and complete a bit more. Once you get started it’s surprising how much easier it can be to keep going.

The easiest way I have found to tackle many things is by spending just 5 or 10 minutes on a task. You’ll increase your productivity when you give yourself a time limit and it’s less daunting than needing to spend an hour or more on it and less excuse to procrastinate.

Putting off that pile of filing? Spend 10 minutes tackling the top of the pile or start to reduce the pile by sorting out all the papers that go into the same file or relate to the same subject. Repeat this at regular intervals throughout the day or set aside 10 minutes at the beginning or end of every day to do a little bit more or to keep on top of it.

Just do it! Putting something off like a phone call or an email? Instead of saying to yourself, ‘ I’ll do it in a minute, or I’ll do it later … do it now. Just go for it and get it out of the way and then you can move on and stop worrying. I find this technique works really well. Catch yourself putting something off and just do it.

Sometimes we put things off because something doesn’t ‘feel right’. How many times have you had a decision to make or something that needs doing and by delaying the need disappears? That’s not an excuse to procrastinate, just an indication to look at where the resistance is coming from and why.

When you procrastinate, what are you resisting? The more you resist the harder it becomes, so assuming the task is worthy of your attention in the first place, take action sooner rather than later.

If it’s worth doing – do it now! If it’s not, then just let it go and stop worrying about it.



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Jason Hobbs asked:


The techniques of overcoming procrastination are very important for every individual. This is due to the fact that most of the people have the habit of avoiding the things that are either dreadful, unmanageable, tiring or may cause anxiety. This is a natural phenomenon among the mortals.

In the current times, procrastination has seen an increase in occurrence. The advent of procrastination has lowered the productivity levels of the individuals. On account of this finding of the techniques of overcoming procrastination has increased.

Simple techniques:

1) Trimming the F.A.T:-

Whenever people find some papers coming to their offices or homes, they look at them and decide one of the three actions of F.A.T. This stands for filing, acting and throwing away. The decision regarding the three fundamentals has to be taken promptly.

2) Organize:-

The stress caused by the cluttering has to be removed from the lives of the individuals. The system of the papers has to be managed in an organized manner. A good system of filing is a great way of starting the process of overcoming procrastination.

3) Planned action:-

The distractions in work can be avoided by chalking out a perfect action plan. The plan has to be straightforward and simple in nature. The plan has to be initialized by writing one thing that has to be done, in order to sense productivity. However care has to be taken to keep the things that are manageable in a time span of ten to fifteen minutes.

The tasks that need to be done have to be bifurcated into different sections of the day. The balancing of the time has to be also looked into. The time has to be balanced between creating, doing and planning of the things. Overcoming procrastination can be done by reviewing of the work done throughout the day. The progress in the day helps in accessing the things that need to be changed for good. The next day can then be planned accordingly.

4) Just doing it:-

Completion of the worst job on a priority for removing the hindrance can be a good option for the people. Once this part of the job is done, rest of the job completion becomes easier, thereby enhancing the process of overcoming procrastination.

Setting of the time limit for the completion of the job for stopping the creeping in of procrastination is very important. Hence, just getting on with the job instead of planning can also be tried. Alternating of the good and bad tasks can also be enjoyable.

Conclusion:

As can be seen now, there are various ways by which the people can engage in the process to overcome procrastination. Overcoming procrastination permanently can be done by understanding the problem in the first place.



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Michael Porteous asked:


Avoiding procrastination can be like procrastinating about procrastination! When we procrastinate we avoid doing something for a variety of reasons from the mundane to the extreme in the end the task is put of till another time that may never come.

A few reasons we procrastinate:

* Fear of failure – Why try when you might fail!

* Fear of success – I can’t handle the responsibility of success!

* Poor time management skills – I just can’t find time to do anything!

* Lack of direction in life – I don’t know where to put my efforts!

* Lack of priorities – Smoking pot is so much more important than studying!

* laziness – I just can’t be bothered …

Some of these procrastination reasons are easier to deal with than others but one quick way to avoid procrastination is to realize when you are about to procrastinate or when you are procrastinating and do something about it. This does not mean doing the thing you are trying to avoid maybe but a good step to get you more productive is instead of wasting time on something trivial to instead find something else to do very quickly and literally avoid procrastinating by finding something productive to do an anti-procrastination action … confused? Well next time you start to surf the net when you need to do the MASSIVE pile of dishes you just do not want to do get up quickly and go and sort your sock drawer, or maybe do a set of push ups or maybe order your inbox. These actions might seem like more time wasters but if they are actually something that needs to be done no matter how minor it is a small win compared to doing something that achieves nothing!

You can also build on this if you find yourself doing minor things as an excuse to avoid doing something unpleasant find something easy but important to do and do it now! Eventually you will find you build a habit that makes it easier to get things done on time with good time management. This is an incremental process but try it and see what a difference it makes!



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Jason Hobbs asked:


Most of the people are faced with the question of how to stop procrastination and start accomplishing tasks? The decision of stopping procrastination rests with the individuals. Once the decision is taken, drafting of plan for attaining success is very necessary. To abide by the plan is also essential for stopping procrastination.

Some practical steps are required to be followed, while eradicating the problems of procrastination from its roots. Once the answer to the question how to stop procrastination is found the entire life pattern of the individuals will change on a permanent basis. The answer enhances the true potential of the individuals and facilitates new motivation, dedication and energy in solving the problems faced in the life span.

Reasons for procrastination:

There are different reasons for the procrastination habits of people. These reasons range from the fear of success or failure or just plain laziness. By identifying the reasons of procrastinations, a proper plan can be developed for its eradication. This plan needs to center around how to stop procrastination. The plan will help the individuals in getting motivated thus, giving them a better life.

Self confidence is the major factor for motivation. Fear of rejections, fear of failures and the feeling of being undeserving or unworthy are the common reasons for procrastination. Taking positive steps in building the self confidence enhances the chances of getting motivated. The act of procrastination in itself is a reason for lack of self confidence among the individuals. This gives rise to the feelings of stress, anxiety and guilt which leads to unfulfilled dreams and goals. This increases the need of discovering the methods on how to stop procrastination.

Evaluation of Stopping Procrastination:

Pain and pleasure are the two important things that motivate people in particular. To List the pleasures that may be expected by accomplishing the set goals is necessary. In addition, the listing of the drawbacks of procrastination in regards to the set goals has also to be done. Some amount of soul searching and evaluation of the individual lives is quiet essential. Overcoming irrational frights, phobias, not keeping rewards in mind and staying focused helps in finding how to stop procrastination. These are critical steps in raising the self confidence of the individuals.

If the individuals dislike themselves due to lack of courage for pursuing their goals, then they are setting themselves for failure in life. The breaking of old habits and nurturing of self confidence are the vital activities that have the potential of bringing people on the path to success.

Procrastination is very hard to break and takes time for its eradication. But if the exact causes of it are understood, it becomes easier for finding how to stop procrastination.



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Malaika Baxa asked:


Ok, so there is this trick about tomorrow.  It never really comes.  Now that seems like a silly thing to say.  Of course tomorrow will come, and when it’s over we will be one day older, hopefully one day wiser.    But the way we use the idea of tomorrow when we procrastinate does not really exist. 

There is no tomorrow in which today’s tasks will some how be less scary or difficult.   So why do so many of us believe in this idea of tomorrow as some  magical place where we will with minimal effort sail through tasks which today fill us with such anxiety we can not even bring ourselves to start? 

But we all engage in this type of day dreaming, we imagine ourselves eagerly cleaning every nook and cranny of our house smiling all the while, spending four hours at the gym we haven’t been inside for months, easily balancing our budget though we haven’t looked at our bank statement for weeks.  Though we know nothing has or probably will happen between today and tomorrow to significantly change the way we feel about these tasks. We some how rationalize that tomorrow for no apparent reason we will jump out of bed bubbling over with enthusiasm to tackle these tasks.

How is it that our minds manage to trick us into believing in this fantasy tomorrow again and again? We fall for it even though we know from experience our task will be more difficult the longer we procrastinate.

Inevitably, we must at some point clean our house, exercise our bodies, and manage our finances, but often we put these things off to the very last moment.  We justify  our procrastination by imaging that at some point in the near future our drive to complete these tasks will do such a 180 that we will merrily over compensate for what we failed to do today.  The problem is that day never comes.

It is true that you can wait till the day when your back is up against the wall and you hurriedly attempt to get done what you should have started many yesterdays ago.  If you are lucky you produce something of acceptable quality – if you’re lucky.  If you’re not so lucky, that last day may include the bank repossessing your house, a diagnosis of diabetes or something even worse.

When we think of procrastination the obvious scenarios pop into our minds.  “This report at work was a little late” or “I meant to go over those bills today but I just don’t feel like it.  I’ll do it tomorrow”.  These are the small things that come into our minds when we think about the negative consequences of procrastination.  But this small seemingly insignificant habit of putting things off one more day or one more month can affect our health, relationships and financial futures in ways most people don’t realize.

For example, what is the cost of procrastinating when it comes to putting our finances in order?  A wise man once said, “Ignorance is expensive indeed”.   Do you know the rate of interest you pay on your credit cards? Have you shopped around for the ones with the lowest interest rates or ones that give you the most sensible money saving rewards for your situation?  Is the yield on your savings account competitive with other banks and financial institutions?  Is your bank or credit union federally insured by the NCUA (National Credit Union Administration) or the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation)? 

Today more than ever we are seeing the consequences of financial ignorance.  Many people would not immediately link financial irresponsibility to procrastination.  But what is procrastination but understanding we should take action to do, to know or to change a current situation but fear stops us in our tracks.  And what type of information do we fear more than the truth about our finances?  Many people would rather have their appendix removed than sit down and take an honest look at their finances.   We know we should learn more about money and take better care of our finances but we put it off till tomorrow.  We’re still ok, right?

We see something similar happening with obesity.  We know what we should eat, we know how much we should exercise but we are scared to change.  We are scared no matter how hard we try we will never achieve that ideal weight; we will never become that confident beautiful person we imagine we might be if we could over come our fear and stop procrastinating.  Health issues are also one of the last things that may come to mind when the word procrastination is mentioned.  But at the heart of many peoples daily struggle with health or weight gain is procrastination.  It’s the idea that tomorrow we will go on a diet.  Tomorrow we will take the time to prepare nutritious food and stop eating unhealthy snacks.   Tomorrow we will go to the gym and do cardio and resistance training until it hurts.   Tomorrow we will have the will, desire, and strength to make the changes we could be making today. 

Hopefully what you have taken from this short essay is a better understanding of the many ways procrastination can adversely affect your daily life. The question remains, now that we know how harmful procrastination can be, what can we do to stop ourselves from procrastinating?  

I think a common misconception that people have is that we can not do things in fear or discomfort , we can not with shaking hands or tight throats do a financial inventory of our household, we can not dredge through an exhausting work-out or eat a meal that is less than appetizing until our tastes change.  And yes, cravings and tastes are learned and will change with time. 

In this country we abhor discomfort and pain and that’s not always a bad thing, but it creates a misconception.  And that misconception is that emotion must come before action and that everything that is good for us and important should feel good as we are doing it.  In reality it is action that is taken in spite of emotion that has the power to set us free and unlock our greatest potential.  In truth we are more than capable of acting in fear and discomfort and I believe that some of the world’s greatest accomplishments were acted out under such circumstances.  It is after we have gone through the uncomfortable process of changing our habits and facing our fears that we feel the joy, pleasure, and contentment that comes with taking action. 

Sure we could wait until tomorrow to start unlocking this potential, but then, there is that trick about tomorrow…



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