7 Ways to Stop Procrastination
It’s a weekend and you’re stuck working late because you couldn’t submit your work on time and you curse yourself for not starting early. The one-word explanation to this is procrastination. We all have to deal with procrastination at some point in time. While procrastinating, you’ll never fully live cause of the constant reminder of the unfinished work. Procrastination can make you feel like a loser and affect your mental health. But it is as solvable as any other issue so let us give you 7 ways to solve this and become less of a procrastinator.
1. Break your work into little steps
Most of the time the reason for procrastination is that you think the task is too big to be done. So break big tasks into small tasks. This helps you see that the task is solvable and doable and you won’t drain your energy and get the task done in due time. Small tasks add up and make one big task. Take small breaks after you complete a task and do something you like.
2. Avoid Multitasking
So now you have broken down the task into small steps but that does not mean you need to do multiple parts at once, the human brain can not perform any more than one task at a time so pick one task at a time and complete it. Moreover, multitasking makes you lose your attention span and you fail to focus on things, so if next time you want to do several tasks then simply prioritise them and start doing them one at a time.
3. Get a companion
Having a companion makes life easier. Your companion can have his/her own set of goals. You should be accountable for each other’s goals and plans and give each other a nudge from time to time to stay on track. I have a close friend whom I talk to about everything and he pushes me whenever I stop working. Seeing him working gives me extra motivation to work. We help each other with some tasks. Needless to say, it’s always better to have someone by your side.
4. Remove distractions from your environment
The gadgets around you that are not playing the role in completing your task are the biggest distraction for you. Most of the time the mobile phone is that device, a couple of minutes turn into an hour and before you know you’ll lose track of time. So try to remove any device that you do not need to complete the next task in line and eventually when you keep practising this you will develop the skill of not getting distracted from your device.
5. Pep talks
Give yourself a pep talk, whenever you feel like you are slipping. Assuring yourself that you can do it will give you a confidence boost. Self-talking will also give you clarity on a situation and how to handle it. Start by saying “Jake, I know it’s been tough and you are tired but you can do it buddy it’s nothing compared to what we can do.
PS: We do it all the time when it comes to writing new articles for you.
6. Use the famous 2 Minute Rule
Whatever the task is just tell yourself that you will just do it for two minutes. Many research has shown that this technique helps people to complete all the tasks and reduce the stress of undone tasks. So next time when you have a list of tasks just pick one task according to the priority and do it for 2 minutes and don’t think about the other things at that time. Once you practice this a few times you will eventually become habitual to doing this unconsciously.
7. Just Start Working
Planning to get things done is good but things won’t get done until you jump into it and make it happen. So stop thinking and planning everything to perfection and start working on your tasks one at a time. Once you make the first step it’s going to get easier for a while. Deceiving your brain, you can also tell yourself that the deadline is before it actually is so that you’ll complete it before the deadline.
So now you know the 7 ways and the only person who can stop you do getting things done is you. So get started and get things done. All the best.
