Procrastination is a common problem and it happens to the best of us. Procrastination is the act of delaying tasks that need to be completed at a certain time. We all do to it to some extent. For most people, minor procrastination is not a great concern. There are, however, situations where procrastination can become a serious problem and hinder us from accomplishing our goals
Procrastination is a common experience and many of its effects are obvious and understood easily, but some are more subtle. If you can identify the effects, it can help you to recognise when procrastinating is interfering with your goals Procrastination results are often detrimental to goals, produce stress and raise anxiety. The focus of this page is how not to procrastinate.
How To Not Procrastinate
Get organised
The most effective way to stop procrastinating is to use time and project management strategies such as schedules, goal setting, and other techniques to get tasks accomplished in a timely manner. In order to be more organised, you need to clarify what needs to be done, how it can be done, and when you can complete it.
Contemplating these questions will assist you to manage your time appropriately by helping you to be more focused and organised. Essentially, you need to monitor your progress frequently, ensuring that you improve your approaches by figuring out which strategies work best for you.
Put aside distractions
Distractions are time-killers and are the primary reason why do you procrastinate so much. It is too easy to just play a video game a little while longer, check out social media, or finish watching a movie when you are avoiding a task. Putting aside distractions is one of the primary functions of setting priorities.
It is important to exercise self-discipline so that you can focus your attention on one thing. Additionally, you can develop good study habits by delaying short term pleasure and by paying more attention to completing those tasks that are more significant.
Reward yourself
Rewarding yourself for the completion of tasks or meeting goals is a good way to fight procrastination. An example of this would be rewarding yourself with watching a movie you would enjoy after you have finished the things you need to do, rather than using the movie to keep yourself from getting things done.
Furthermore, completing a task successfully and getting the feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment can be considered a reward in itself. Since you have invested a lot of effort for a good purpose and you have sacrificed your comfort, you can reward yourself. This can not only motivate you but also enhance your self-efficacy beliefs in undertaking other tasks confidently in the future.
Be accountable—tell someone else
A strong motivational tool is to hold ourselves accountable by telling someone else we are going to do something and when we are going to do it. This may not seem like it would be very effective, but on a psychological level, we feel more compelled to do something if we tell someone else.
It may be related to our need for approval from others, or it might just serve to set a level of commitment. Either way, it can help us stay on task and stop procrastinating —especially if we take our accountability to another person seriously enough to warrant contacting that person and apologising for not doing what we said we were going to do.
Be on the lookout for signs of procrastination and combat it actively when you see it. If you do, you can reap the benefits of having less stress, higher self-esteem and greater achievement during your academic journey.