The Effects of Procrastination
The cost of procrastination is high. Most procrastinators exhibit the following disadvantages due to their habits:
High levels of stress
Since they are always leaving things until the last minute they work under unnecessary time pressure and anxiety that could have been easily avoided. They tell themselves that they work best under pressure, but this is just a justification for waiting until you can no longer put it off.
Less successful
They watch themselves get older without accomplishing anything that they want. They spend a lot of time on things that don’t really matter to them. They tell themselves that when the time is right they will make their move and they end up waiting their entire lives.
Less self confidence
They have a poor relationship with themselves as they fail to control their time and often feel guilty about it. They can no longer convince themselves that they will change and it becomes harder for them to change.
Less admired among others
Their undependability lowers trust among others. People quickly find more reliable sources and they lose out on important opportunities and friendships.
Less competent
They lose out to others in their professions as more motivated people take the opportunities available. They are given less responsibility and less important work.
Understanding Procrastination
Procrastination is the postponement of an important task that should be done now. Procrastination is a habit and like other habits must be replaced with new habits, this will take time and commitment. Since you learned how to become a procrastinator you can learn how to act instead.
The first step is to find the cause of your procrastination and then to work on that. You may have multiple causes and need to address all of these at the same time. There is no one solution to fix procrastination, we procrastinate for different reasons. Some causes can have multiple solutions.
Common Causes of Procrastination and their Solutions
Cause: Task is too complex
Our minds will put off overly complex or hard jobs and unconsciously find easier things to do. Our minds shut down when they are overwhelmed.
Solution: Begin with a clear list of what exactly needs to be done
You cannot even begin to do that which you do not understand. Break everything down to single manageable independent tasks. Separate everything that needs to be done and what is not necessary. Be extremely clear about what needs to done. Order tasks in priority so that the most important tasks get finished first.
For instance “Clean garage” isn’t very good because it’s daunting and doesn’t even explain when the garage is clean. Break it up into smaller tasks like “Collect jars and put them back in their place”, “Rack all unused bikes”, “Put all tools back in their case”, “Put ad for couch on craigslist”, etc.
Creating a list will clear your mind of things that you have to do instantly lowering your stress. You now know where to look and can relax knowing that you won’t forget anything. You can easily see your progress as you check off items from that list. You will also save time by always knowing what is next.
Cause: Task is unpleasant
We obviously don’t like doing things that we find unpleasant. This makes sense from an evolutionary sense so that we don’t waste energy when it is not needed back when food was scarce. This leads to a bit of a predicament in the modern world however since unpleasant tasks are what gets us ahead in life.
Solution: Reward yourself with a little treat after each completed task
You will find that you can effectively motivate yourself through the most unpleasant tasks if you know that something good is waiting for you immediately after you finish. What works best is something small that leaves you wanting more. Beware that you can easily overdue it and have it sabotage your day.
You can try a small bite of chocolate. A couple of pages of a relaxing entertaining novel. Five minutes playing a really fun video game. Try finding something that will drive you and have you looking forward towards accomplishing your task so that you can treat yourself to your reward. Make it special. For example if you go the chocolate route, get some of the imported expensive kind and keep it in a nice wooden box lined with plush purple velvet in view.
Associations are powerful, so only do this reward after completing a task. Only use that particular chocolate, book, video game or whatever you’ve decided after completing a task and never at any other time. This is your special reward for taking action only; don’t dilute it by doing it at other times.
You have to be disciplined about this. Even if you try hard but don’t finish, you don’t get the reward. Keep the reward small and it will keep you wanting more. Try it, it’s very powerful.
Solution: Begin working immediately
Like staring down from the high dive board in high school, the longer you contemplate whether to do it or not, the harder it gets to do it.
It is much easier to get started immediately, finish and then get started on the next task immediately. The more you accomplish, the more motivated you become. Use that motivation when it is at its highest to start your next task.
If you really don’t feel like doing a task, just start it and tell yourself that you can quit after 10 minutes. Just show up and give your best effort for 10 minutes. If after 10 minutes you still don’t feel like working on it still, go ahead and stop. Most of the time however you will actually want to keep working and finish. Try it.
Solution: Focus on the outcome, not the process
We procrastinate because we want to avoid the pain of doing something important and necessary and receive the pleasure of doing something fun and unnecessary.
We can reverse this by imagining the pain of what not doing this task may bring us and the joy of we gain from accomplishing this task. If you have to write a report for a meeting, don’t think of writing the report, think of impressing the president at that meeting, or how doing a good job on that report could be the deciding factor that gets you promoted over someone else. Think of the pain of working late to get the job in. Think of the anxiety of having to present work everyone can tell is incomplete. Think of disappointment of having that come up during your review.
Don’t think of the pain of working out. Think of the joy of more energy, better health and an attractive body. Think of the pain of letting heart disease creep up on you. The disillusionment of looking in the mirror some day and having a body that is out of control.
Cause: Easily distracted, progress is slow
As the internet evolves most of us find our attention spans are shortening. You get distracted because you are not focused on what needs to be accomplished or what we should be working on.
Solution: Always work from a list and make your tasks small
People who are easily distracted are people with short attention spans. You will greatly benefit from breaking your tasks down to even smaller tasks. Each task show be a single idea and under 20 minutes in length. The more tasks you have to check off the more accurate the estimation of your progress will be. Keeping the tasks tiny will help motivate you and keep you focused.
Solution: Give yourself a deadline to stimulate focus
A deadline can do wonders for your focus and motivation. As you set a deadline work backwards and ask yourself what has to be accomplished by what day to make the deadline. Set several deadlines for milestones if you have to. For added effect, make the deadline public and have people check up on you progress.
Solution: Remove distractions
Go into mad scientist genius recluse mode. Close the browser, shutdown the E-mail client, sign off of messenger. Close the door. Put on headphones. Do what you have to do to look busy to avoid people interrupting you. Turn off your phone and let it go to your answering machine if you have to, but remember to leave a note on your planner to turn it back on when you finish. Note any other distractions as they come up and note how you can prevent them for the next time.
Extra Tips for Getting Motivated
Develop a stronger reputation with yourself
Be careful with what thoughts you think and what you say to yourself. If you are a person that is always saying that you will do something while at the same time internally doubting yourself, you have a poor reputation with yourself.
So be very careful about making commitments with yourself and begin making sure that when you make a commitment with yourself that you always pull through. If you say you are going to do something, you have to do it now. You made a commitment to yourself by saying it. Sometimes you’ll have to do something you don’t feel like doing, just because you told yourself you would. Keep this up and you can quickly motivate yourself into doing anything just by telling yourself that you will do it.
Once you have a good reputation with yourself, motivation will be much easier since you will believe yourself when you tell yourself that you are going to do something.
Start the day by doing the hardest task on your list
Even the worst sounding tasks are rarely that bad when you do them. By getting them out of the way first we can coast for the rest of the day by the momentum created for you by that one hard task.
Be realistic and allow for mistakes as you become more productive
Procrastination is a habit and replacing it takes time and dedication. Commit yourself to doing what it takes to overcome procrastination and be willing to pay the price. Realize that you will make mistakes and that they can be corrected and that at any time you can decide to stop procrastinating when you realize that you are procrastinating. This new habit will not happen overnight but by replacing the habit you can eventually be free from procrastination.
Apply environmental association
We all know that insomniacs are recommended to only associate their bed with sleeping and that they should get up and leave the bed, even in the middle of the night, if they can’t sleep. We can apply the same thing with our work environments.
If working at home, designate a room to be the office. Do not mix purposes. Create the association that when you sit down at your computer in your office that it is for business only. Use another computer for other tasks. If you have to take a personal call or have to do something non professional, immediately leave the room. |
