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What kind of a word is procrastination? I used to wonder! Such a strong word for a negative attitude of humans. But it has got its uniqueness. It is not lazy, but there is laziness. It is not boredom, but there is boredom in it.
Procrastination is not just a replacement for "delaying things." It is more than that. An inner feeling, we regret at the very moment when we experience it. Strange! Isn't it? But that's the power of procrastination on influencing human productivity.
Pandemic has set the stage outside, so have we set our stage inside our homes and it is widely common to have procrastinated thoughts all day. But humans are the smartest beings on earth, who can solve anything. We have solutions for the problems we create. That's amazing!
Here are 4 steps for you to overcome procrastination or the habit of postponing things -
1. Define Your Current Emotion
One of the major thoughts that keep revolving in your mind is the uncertainty of the underlying reason why you are procrastinating things. The simple answer to resolve this is finding it instead of wondering about it.
Just determine your present thoughts, emotions and feelings. Don’t try masking it. Let it be how it is. Psychologists call this labelling of emotions. In a way, it is naming your emotions to understand your current state.
Half of your problem gets resolved at this stage when you recognise your current emotion. As soon as you understand your feeling or emotion or whatever you would like to call it- whether it is sad, anger or lethargic, etc. start taking up your task in that emotion without trying to change that.
Most of the time we procrastinate by thinking that a perfect time would arrive but factually, it is you who create that perfect time by adjusting to your present emotional state.
2. Breakdown Your Tasks
Some other time you may be procrastinating your work because of the voluminous picture of the work in your mind, which demotivates to take up right away. Or maybe it is not interesting enough for you to start working and accomplishing it.
In this case, all you must do is- split it. Breakdown your tasks into micro tasks and name them if you want. Now the whole mindset shifts from wholeness to more of a microscopic way of looking at things.
Micro tasks are easier to complete, and you can set the duration and deadline for each task. This makes you feel more confident about your work and eliminates the habit of procrastinating. Stick to the schedule and you get things done.
3. Track Your Accomplishments
The fuel of persistence is your past victories. All accomplishments whether its large, medium, small or of any sizes- is victory. To feed your mind about the accomplishments, you need to mark it.
Having a gratitude journal is an amazing way to keep yourself motivated and help you gain confidence in your subsequent tasks. You urge to accomplish your next task. It’s a form of reverse procrastination.
To become such reverse procrastinators or simply productive, just track your completions, accomplishments and learnings after each task. You can even make a note of your top three accomplishments and how did you do that at the end of each day. Do this and procrastination will say goodbye forever.
4. Take Frequent Breaks
Now that if everything is on track for a day or two, don’t think procrastination won’t return to you. They do. They love you the same amount you hate it. Persistence of not postponing things is important and therefore taking breaks is vital.
Keep taking 5 to 10 minutes short breaks every hour or so. Use these breaks to water your indoor plants, clean your stuff in the room, arrange those desktop icons or do some stretching. You can even think about a new wallpaper for your desktop and smartphone and browse them.
Having a right balance of productivity and relaxation can help you overcome procrastination sustainably.
Bonus Tip -
Kick your laziness, boredom and lethargic attitude by simply interpreting any article you read, a statement you heard, a picture you saw or something you experienced. Write them down or create a mental map.
Every time you get that feeling of procrastination, turn on the ignition key that is your interpretations on things and there you go. You are back to work. Visualising your accomplishment list or gratitude journal can shift the gears to push yourself to do more without postponement.
Written by – Arun S.
Edited by – Ivanova
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