Procrastination is one of the major causes of failure. If one desires to be successful, they need to learn to beat procrastination and become master of their own time.
This piece was specifically written to give you all the procrastination help you might need to come out on top.
Procrastination help
1. Change your attitude;
Procrastination starts in the mind and therefore must be solved in the mind first. Change your attitude, especially towards tasks you don’t like and instead get done with them right away.
2. Create a favorable environment for you to work in.
Choose one that really helps you thrive. Once your feeling your best, then you can easily get done with the task at hand.
3. Evaluate your goals:
Is your desire to achieve your goals in life strong enough? Because your desire to succeed should be your strongest driving force. If your current goals don’t give you motivation, it may be time to set some new ones for yourself.
3. Make a dedicated decision to get it done:
Decision is the direct opposite of procrastination. All you need to do is decide to do whatever you have been putting off for later and procrastination is out of the picture.
NOTHING WORKS UNLESS YOU DO
4.Write it out on a piece of paper.
Grab a book or piece of paper and write out how you feel about putting off those tasks, in detail. How you postpone them, when you postpone them, how you feel about it, and what you think you should do about it.
Write out on a another piece of paper the direct opposite of the first beginning ,” I am so happy and grateful now that …………” . Then throw the first sheet into the dustbin . Let this symbolize your letting go of it all.
Read the second sheet for yourself out loud every day, morning and evening and soon you will get to believe what it says. But don’t just stop at reading it, do what it says. Follow it to the letter.
5. Plan your days:
This will help you break down large tasks into small, easy steps hence helping you get tasks done more effectively. For more about planning your day, week or month, check out my podcast at Abundant Living Series Podcast.
6. Perfection is just an illusion.
Stop pushing yourself too hard to be perfect. Act as soon as you can giving your very best Now and know that is enough.
7. Eliminate distractions:
Be it social media, TV, friends, the radio, or music, just stay away from them all. And remember to work in an environment that is convenient for you.
In other news, I almost failed to finish this article because a nice song was playing in the background and I couldn’t get enough of it. And then I remembered I was writing about procrastination and decided to reward myself with listening to that song after I was done with the article.
8. Find a mentor or partner ;
This needs to be someone you can be accountable to. Someone you respect enough that you wouldn’t want them to see you let yourself down. They become more like an accountable partner. Then commit to checking up on each other to track your progress.
9. Set new goals in line with your life purpose ;
If you have goals that don’t motivate you to work towards them maybe it’s finally time you set some new ones for yourself. And put the old ones off the list for good.
10. Begin a habit of writing down tasks you’ve been procrastinating and be grateful that you have finished them.
Then look at it often and hopefully, it will motivate you to work towards finishing the said tasks.
11. Reward yourself for getting it done.
Take yourself to that nice restaurant, take that vacation, watch that movie, or series, do that which makes you feel good, and proud of yourself for completing that particular task.
Every evening once am successfully done with all the day’s work, I make it a point to reward myself. Sometimes I watch a movie, buy me cake, or sometimes buy myself that outfit I have been looking forward to getting.
The bigger the task, the bigger the reward.
Most times after a hectic year or crazy months, I just take me on a vacation for being hardworking and hitting my targets.
This encourages me to keep doing the same – working hard.
For more information on procrastination especially for research purposes, click here.
