Every day, our lives are filled with so much activity. We live in a time where social media, immediate communication, and quick service are expected. The culture encourages us to acquire things to improve ourselves, yet this leaves us unhappy. Every day feels like we have so much to do that if we don’t have a full adventurous schedule, we’re not living life to the fullest.
So, What is Procrastination?
The act of delaying or putting off tasks until the last minute. Studies suggest that more than 50% of adults procrastinate, so if we have been guilty of putting off assignments till the last minute, we’re not the only ones.
Procrastinators, this is a haven, and we are all friends in this!
But, friends, don’t push off the deep end. That is why we need to tackle and overcome procrastination together. So, coming from my past experiences, here are some tips that may help us avoid procrastination:
Get Organised – Let’s organize our tasks so we have an idea of what needs to be addressed. This will also help us keep track of the deadlines and provide a more structured and measured environment in which to work.
Prioritize – Let’s make a to-do list of all our tasks and prioritize our most important or time-sensitive tasks.
Minimize distractions – Lessen our distractions as little as possible. While working, we should try to turn off email and social media and stay away from the television.
Take a Break – Another technique to avoid procrastinating is to take a break from work now and then. A ten-to-fifteen-minute break can do wonders. We should try to listen to music, have an impromptu dance session, or scream into a pillow – anything that will divert our attention away from work and allow us to unwind.
Establish Deadlines – Most of us fall into the “I’ll do it tomorrow or eventually” trap, while in reality, that day never comes. So, we should set a deadline for when we want something to be finished is critical. Let’s aim to complete the projects one or two days ahead of time. If anything unexpected occurs, we’ll still have time to finish them.
Un-schedule – If we’re stuck, we will not follow a rigid timetable that reminds us of everything piled up. We will get overwhelmed and even more stressed out as a result. So, let’s create an unstructured, flexible schedule in which we only fit what is necessary. We should try to note the time we spend working toward our objectives and reward ourselves. This might make us feel less burdened and happier with our work.
Break down your tasks – It’s a good idea to break down large tasks into smaller ones. A variation on this is committing little chunks of time to a significant activity and doing as much as possible in that period with little expectations about what we will accomplish.
Reward yourself – Rewarding ourselves might help us stay motivated to finish a task and avoid procrastination. Rewarding ourselves after completing a task could be as simple as “Once I finish this, I’ll be able to watch an episode of my favorite show.”
If we all have reached the end of this blog, then let’s pat ourselves on the back because we are one step closer to overcoming this obstacle! Just remember that procrastination is okay once in a while, so we shouldn’t pressurize ourselves too much. And anyway, at the end of the day, we are only human, aren’t we?
