I procrastinate, you procrastinate, we all procrastinate…

Who has never postponed a task at work or at home, throw the first stone!

No stones thrown

Procrastination is the art of putting off or avoiding tasks that require your attention. It’s that experience when you’re aware that you should be accomplishing something, but you end up focusing on everything else.

Why Do We Procrastinate?

1. Lack of Motivation: Sometimes, a task might not be seen as valuable or enjoyable, making it hard to find the motivation to start;

2. Fear of Failure: The fear of not doing a task perfectly or failing can lead to avoid that same task;

3. Too much time: Sometimes we procrastinate because we have too much time to perform a certain task;

4. Task Overwhelm: Large or complex tasks can be overwhelming, leading to avoidance due to not knowing where to start;

5. Instant Gratification: Engaging in enjoyable activities like scrolling through social media or watching videos provides immediate pleasure, making it difficult to switch to a less enjoyable task.

How can we over come it?

• Mind Mapping: Identify the reasons behind your lack of enthusiasm by mapping out your thoughts and feelings about the task. This way you know what to tackle in order to address underlying issues;

• Understand that perfection is a myth: Allow yourself to make mistakes and learn from them. It’s the process that matters;

• Visualize Success: The visualization of the sense of accomplishment and relief you’ll feel when the task is complete can boost motivation;

• Celebrate Progress: Reward yourself for completing tasks or meeting milestones, serving as positive reinforcement;

• Accountability Partners: Share your goals with a friend or family member who can encourage and hold you accountable and can provide motivation;

• Point out your distractors: By knowing what shifts your focus, you will know how to avoid it in an upcoming task;

• Set SMART Goals: Make your goals Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Often we define goals that are way too ambitious this way you’ll have well-defined goals;

• Prioritize and Divide: List tasks in order of importance. Divide larger tasks into smaller, manageable steps;

• Time Blocking: Allocate specific blocks of time to tasks on your schedule. This helps to minimize the “I’ll do it later” mindset.

You can check my article “The Pomodoro Technique: Time Management with Tomatoes” about this popular time management method that aligns with prioritizing and dividing tasks and having specific blocks of time for each task.

Procrastination can be a tough habit to break, but it’s not impossible. By trying to understand what makes us procrastinate and combining it with strategies such as time management methods or others we can find the one that works for us.

Let’s tackle procrastination?💪