Overcoming Procrastination

Procrastination is something that everyone’s experienced at some point in their lives.

Whether putting off work until the last minute, delaying exercise, or avoiding difficult conversations, procrastination negatively impacts your life and those that count on you. But, while procrastination can literally ruin your life, don’t worry. With some effort and a bit of discipline, overcoming procrastination and developing habits that lead to success is possible.

Know Why You Procrastinate

Like most bad habits and even good habits, it’s essential to understand why you do it in the first place. For example, procrastination often stems from a variety of reasons, including fear of failure, a lack of motivation, or simply feeling overwhelmed by whatever it is you need to do.

Moreover, procrastination might be a habit, with the brain conditioned to put off work until the last minute, causing you to engage in a loop of procrastination and last-minute work.

Identify the Reasons Behind Procrastination

To address procrastination, it's essential to identify the underlying reasons why you procrastinate. Are you afraid of failure? Do you fear success? Do you feel like an imposter? Do you lack motivation? Are you overwhelmed by the task at hand? Once you have identified the cause of your procrastination, you’ll need to take steps to address it.

Create a Plan

Once you've identified the reasons behind your procrastination, it's time to create a plan to overcome it. Depending on the reasons for your procrastination, you’ll craft a plan that crushes it. For example, if motivation is your issue, one effective strategy is to break down the task into smaller, more manageable pieces. This makes the task seem less daunting and provides a sense of accomplishment as each smaller task is completed making you feel more motivated.

Set Deadlines

Setting clear deadlines creates a sense of urgency that motivates you to get the task done. Also, setting specific goals ensures you focus on what needs to be done and avoid getting off the path by side tasks that don’t advance your goal.

Cultivate Discipline

To cultivate discipline, commit yourself to follow through on your plan and avoid distractions. Then, get to work. Put in the effort, even when it's difficult. Remember, if your plans aren’t made well enough, you can change them anytime to make them work better instead of giving up. But it’s essential you at least try the plan you created.

Create a Routine

Setting a consistent schedule trains your brain to expect certain tasks at specific times, making it easier to stay focused and motivated. Additionally, by eliminating distractions such as social media and email during designated work times, you’ll stay on track since you’re avoiding anything keeping you from completing the task.

Address Psychological Factors

Procrastination is sometimes caused by psychological factors such as anxiety, depression, or perfectionism too. If you suspect that these issues are contributing to your procrastination, it may be helpful to seek the assistance of a therapist or mental health professional to address underlying problems.

Procrastination is a challenging habit to break, but it is possible to overcome it with some effort and discipline. You just need to be willing to figure out why you’re doing it and address those issues while taking massive action towards progressing on your goals.

How to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done

Procrastination is defined as the action of delaying or postponing something. Sometimes that means being late, sometimes it means being on time but not doing a very good job. Usually, when someone is procrastinating, they’ll find every excuse not to do what needs to be done, often busying themselves with other activities to avoid guilt.

1. Get Organized—Sometimes, people put things off simply because they’re overwhelmed, and everything just seems like too much. When you get organized you can eliminate busywork and focus more on what really needs to be done.

2. Develop Clear Goals—Everything you do should relate to your goals. When you write goals, make sure you can measure them by being very specific about what success looks like.

3. Create Step-By-Step Actions—Once you’ve created a goal, break it down into components with step by step actions that lead you to the result that you desire. The small steps that help you get there should not be overwhelming.

4. Create a Schedule with Deadlines—From the steps, put them in your calendar with time limits and deadlines. Make sure that you do give yourself enough time, but don’t give yourself too much time.



5. Eliminate Distractions—No one can multitask. You’d be shocked to learn how many hours you waste in a day trying to do more than one thing at a time. Studies show that multitasking wastes about 40 percent more time than focusing.

6. Systemize and Automate—Some tasks that you do regularly can be automated. All tasks should be systemized so that you do them the same way each time. It’ll make you faster and help you avoid trying to get out of it.

7. Form Habits—Just like people have bad habits, people can have good habits. Turn the things you need to do into habits by doing them at the same time, in the same way, so that you look forward to it.

8. Celebrate Success—When you meet a goal or even part of a goal, take the time to celebrate it. Reward yourself or others who were involved in fulfilling the goal.

9. Let Go of Perfection—While you do want to do things to the best of your ability, no one is ever going to be perfect. Often the perfection you’re shooting for just doesn’t exist. Let it go and get done.

10. Follow Your Schedule—Once you set up a schedule, follow it for a long time before changing it. You can check your metrics to find out if it’s working and adjust but try not to deviate from your schedule too much.

Stop Overthinking and Learn to Take Action

Taking action is the most important thing you can do to accomplish your goals. While planning is a crucial first step, it should never be your primary focus. As without action, you have nothing.

Take Control and Identify Your Resistance

To take control, you must figure out what is holding you back. Overthinking or procrastination are not the causes. They are the result of your resistance.

The truth within you that must discover if you want to keep moving forward. Often overthinking is due to fear. Fear of making mistakes, stepping outside of your comfort zone, or simply the unknown. Whatever it may be, don’t avoid it. Recognize it and accept it, then find ways to work with it or around it.

Focus Less on The Problem and More on Solutions

While highlighting the problem is important, it should never be your primary focus. Your main attention should stay on the solutions or actions you take to do better. Identify the exact steps you can take to get where you want to be. Instead of dwelling on the things you can’t control, define the actions you can do to change whatever you want to change.

Learn to Let Go and Forgive

Let go of regrets or pass mistakes and failure. Find the lesson to be learned instead of allowing yourself to stay stagnant.

Stick to Deadlines and Short Time Limits

Planning is an essential step of business and the most successful thing in life. However, it can quickly be your worse enemy if misused. You must establish strict deadlines and time limits to ensure you stay on the path and don’t permit yourself to slack off.

It allows you to stay organized and better focus on each critical thing in your life. Keep daily to-do lists short and to the point and only allow a certain amount of time to make solid decisions or think about your actions. A plan of action steps and deadlines are only an idea.

Try The 2-Minute Rule

The two-minute rule has two ideas attached to it; If it only takes two minutes, get it out of the way, and if you want to start a new habit, start with only two minutes. The idea is that anything can be done in two minutes. It is such a short amount of time that you are unlikely to avoid it.

This little bit of time gives you the momentum or inspiration that you need just to get started. This same concept can be adapted further to prevent you from overthinking or planning too long. Keep your planning two minutes long, and don’t create action steps that take any longer. Then over time, as it gets easier, you can increase the time you need to get it done.

In the end, the best way to end overthinking is to get out there and try new things, experiment more and educate yourself as much as possible. The more knowledge and experiences you can take on, the more confidence you will gain to keep acting instead of staying behind.

 

Strategies to Build and Maintain Motivation

Procrastination and motivation are two closely related concepts. Motivation is the driving force that helps you achieve your goals, while procrastination is the tendency to delay or avoid doing tasks. A lack of motivation leads to procrastination. Thankfully, there are ways to build and maintain motivation in all areas of life once you recognize this cycle.

The Connection Between Procrastination and Motivation

Procrastination results from many things, including fear, anxiety, or lack of interest. However, one common reason for procrastination is the lack of motivation. When you don't have the energy or desire to do something, you may put it off, even if it's essential. Procrastination, in turn, makes you feel guilty, stressed, and even less motivated. It's a vicious cycle that’s hard to break.

Motivation sometimes comes from within, such as when you’re passionate about a goal or task. Sometimes it comes from external sources, like rewards, recognition, or support from others. The main thing to remember is that when you’re motivated, procrastination becomes less likely.

Motivation isn’t a constant state; it ebbs and flows depending on many factors, such as stress, mood, and external events. However, there are ways to build and maintain motivation, even when things get tough.

Here are some motivation-building strategies: 

Set Specific Goals

When you have a clear target, you’re more likely to act and work towards it. Make sure your goals are realistic, measurable, and relevant to your values and interests. For example, instead of a vague goal to "be more creative," set a specific goal to "complete a painting in the next month by spending 30 minutes each day sketching, experimenting with colors, and finalizing the artwork." This way, you have a concrete target and an action plan.

Find Your Why

Understanding why a goal is important to you provides the motivation and drive to keep going. For instance, if you want to run a marathon, your why might be to challenge yourself, improve your health, or raise money for a charity.

Break Tasks Down

Reducing big tasks or long-term goals into smaller, more manageable steps makes the task less daunting and increases your motivation to start. For example, if you need to write a report, break it down into sections, such as "outline," "research," "write an introduction," "write the conclusion," and so on.

Use Positive Self-Talk

Instead of criticizing yourself or focusing on your weaknesses, use positive self-talk to boost your confidence and energy. For example, instead of saying, "I'm never going to finish this," say, "I can and will do this if I take it one step at a time."

Celebrate Your Wins

Acknowledge your progress and give yourself credit for the work you've done. Celebrating your wins boosts your motivation and gives you the energy to keep going. For example, if you finished a challenging project, treat yourself to a nice meal or take a day off to relax and recharge.

When you lack motivation, procrastination will take hold, and when you procrastinate, it further erodes your motivation. However, using the above strategies will build and maintain motivation in all areas of your life. It all starts with being mindful of your thoughts and actions.

 

Tags:  Procrastination, Self-help

 

 

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You may already know that NLP stands for Neuro-Linguistic Programming. The name is derived from three components that most affect our human experience: our neurology, our language, and our programming, or the way in which we have learned to model the world around us. The development of NLP began in the 1970s in California, by Richard Bandler and John Grinder as an innovative approach to psychotherapy, communication, and personal development.

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