How to stop procrastinating

What is procrastination?

Procrastination is simply the act of unnecessarily putting off , delaying or postponing something you should be doing to a later time.

A good example I can give of procrastination is that, if someone has five days to accomplish a project or an assignment, but they needlessly keep postponing it until right before the deadline, despite the fact that they intended to work on it earlier, that is a clear indication that a person is procrastinating.

Why do you procrastinate?

There’s no doubt that almost everyone struggles with procrastination at some instances in their life, and we all want to be able to know how to stop procrastinating. Therefore, in order to be able to overcome our procrastination, it’s crucial to fully understand why we procrastinate. 

Reasons and causes of procrastination may include the following:

• A lack of self-confidence 
• Not clearly setting your goals with a date
• Fearlessness of failing
• Sleeping or sitting in a cozy surface 
• Fear of criticism from others 
• A lack of motivation
• Having negative self-talk

However, note that these are not the only reasons as to why people procrastinate but they represent some of the most common reasons why people procrastinate. Now that you understand procrastination, I am sure you are also able to think of other reasons as to why you procrastinate. You are free to share them with us in the comment section in order for us to discuss them.

The negative effects of procrastination 

Procrastination is not associated with any benefit but, it can negatively affect you in two main ways.

Firstly, procrastination can lower your productivity which slowly but surely can lead to failure and hinder your ability to achieve your goals and dreams. For example, in the workplace, procrastination is associated with shorter periods of employment, lower salary and of course a higher likelihood of being unemployed due to unproductiveness. Similarly, procrastination among students is associated with worse scores in assignments and exams as well as withdrawals of courses which leads to failure.

Secondly, procrastination can also cause you to experience various negative side effects. For example, procrastination can cause you to experience higher level of stress which can lead to depression caused by the feelings of guiltiness because you wasted much of your time and didn’t manage to accomplish your tasks on time. In this regard it can cause you to suffer from a variety of issues that affects your physical and mental health.

How to stop procrastinating?

So far in this article, you learnt what procrastination is, why you procrastinate, the negative effects of procrastination. However, my research on this topic also shows that it’s possible to manage your procrastination problem, and curb your tendency to procrastinate.

There are truly many anti-procrastination techniques that you can easily apply in order to stop procrastinating and indeed go after your dreams and goals relentlessly and with much courage and enthusiasm with the aim to attain your goals and dreams. You can, for example:

• Read or watch something inspirational 
• Set strict deadlines for completing tasks 
• Establish a consistent work routine 
• Break large tasks into smaller manageable tasks
• Set realistic goals
• Remove things that may distract you from your working environment 
• Reward yourself for making progress 

Finally, in case you are sleeping or sitting in your comfortable surface like a cozy bed while in procrastination, change your position, leave your comfort zone within five minutes flat. Do some light exercises like walking or do some light work like cleaning your room or perhaps organizing your office desk, just to change the flame of your mind and from there you will be energetic and ready to give a shot or continue whatever task you want to accomplish in your schedule or your to do list. Practice those techniques and you will be surprised by how productive you will start to be.