Procrastination is a problem that people have faced in the past, are facing in the present, and may continue to face in the future. A lot of you reading this article might feel that if you get to know the ways how to overcome procrastination, then 90% of your problems are solved.
However, that’s true, if you’re delaying dealing with your business it’s simply running away from it or in other words “procrastination”. Don’t run away from your problems, when you face them you have already solved most of them. So that’s what procrastination exactly is, “running away”.
Procrastination is generally more painful than doing the work. During procrastination, you are constantly thinking about doing the work but at the same time you’re not doing it and there’s this conflict between your present self and future self.
Your present self wants gratification now and your future self wants goals full filled in the future. This conflict causes internal confusion making you wait till the last day comes and so you wake up just one day before the submission date. Hence it’s better to look for ways to avoid procrastination rather than facing the negative consequences.
What Causes Procrastination?
In the modern definition “procrastination” is an act of postponing or delaying work, despite knowing that this delaying may lead to negative consequences. Procrastination is said to closely relate to “akrasia” a term developed by Greek philosophers. Akrasia means the situation of acting against your own better judgment.
Ignoring The Significance of Time
every second that you are given presently will never be given back to you. It’s your decision if you want to use it wisely or just waste it. You don’t have all the time this universe has to provide.
Humans have a defined life expectancy. Hence it’s better to realize how essential time management is, before figuring out ways how to overcome procrastination.
Indecisiveness
Humans, in general, get very easily confused. We want everything but all at once, all right now. We know we can get everything but we must realize that this can only take place one at a time.
Hence it’s important to decide the first step that is needed to be taken. The indecisiveness in taking the first step causes internal confusion even after infinite options are available making it hard to work on a set decision. Therefore, indecisiveness leads to pop procrastination.
Demographics Factors
- A young person tends to procrastinate more as compared to an old person.
- Women usually procrastinate less as compared to men.
- A person’s nationality, education, upraising, and personality traits also determine the level of procrastination they can indulge in.
Depression, OCD, or ADHD
- Psychological disorders and problems can be major factors in determining a person’s ability to procrastinate. People suffering from depression deal with feelings of helplessness and hopelessness leading to indecisiveness and further procrastination in finishing tasks.
- People suffering from (OCD) Obsessive Compulsive Disorder are perfectionists leading to doubts about doing the task, fear of performing mistakes, leading to indecision, and procrastination.
- ADHD, or attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder. An individual suffering from ADHD may easily get distracted and hence, procrastinate.
Other Reasons
- Not knowing where to start from
- Don’t have enough knowledge of the task to form a working path
- Not caring if it’s done or no
- Believing that you can finish it at the last moment.
- Waiting for the perfect moment.
Proven Ways How To Overcome Procrastination & Being Lazy.
1) Set Clear Goals
The foremost out of all the ways how to deal with Procrastination, you need to be very clear with what you want, when, and how you want it. Since it’s been clear from the above discussion that active decision-making plays a very important role in getting things done. Hence, decide first what needs to be done and formulate a plan of action.
2) Make a To-Do list
Once you’ve formulated a plan of action divide it into a to-do list. Break it into small tasks and start listing them separately. Nothing can be done fully at once. Even Rome wasn’t built in a day. Hence, focus on diving into the task.
3) Baby Steps Are To Be Focused Upon:
Finish things one by one. Take one task out of the to-do list, finish it and move to the next. Do not start with all the tasks at one time it will lead you to nowhere plus cause nuisance and confusion.
4) Be aware of Your Thoughts, Actions, and Behavior, They Might Hinder Your Work:
Recognize all those incidents when you feel that your work could be affected negatively. Work on yourself to polish and improve your working style.
5) Remove Distractions:
It’s very important to keep distraction out of the way as it not only helps in focusing better on the task you’re doing but also provides justice to that piece of work since you’ve provided it your whole attention.
6) Believe in Yourself:
Pat yourself on the back and have a sense of achievement for coming a long way. Be proud of what you’ve done to date, if you can reach such a milestone then you can definitely move forward in life and achieve bigger milestones.
Also Read: How to Improve Your Sleeping Habits
What Can Procrastination Lead To?
- Procrastination is a Bottle-Neck in Achieving Goals
procrastination may make you delay the task completion but then the quality that can be provided by investing a good amount of time doesn’t arise in fewer last-minute tasks. In the case of the students, it may affect their results.
- Negative Side Effects
These are like dealing with stress, and anxiety-causing physical and mental health issues. Affects relationships negatively.
Procrastination is not laziness, in fact, relaxation should not be termed procrastination. When diagnosing procrastination these points must be kept in mind. Procrastination is simply the ability to want to do something, but can’t force yourself to get up and start working upon it due to a psychological barrier.
Moreover, procrastination is dangerous, it’s better to start working on changing this unhealthy habit and focus on the ways how to overcome procrastination. Over time it’s can show the worst times. It can lead to reduced well-being, relationship issues, financial problems, health issues, and most importantly it can also mess up the mental health of an individual.
It can cause anxiety, stress, and self-doubt, these things end up leading to bigger problems in the future since they pile up. Do not wait till tomorrow, work on changing this habit of procrastination today itself. Hence, it’s Now or Never.
Written By: Nehal Sharma
