Procrastination

Struggling to get things done?

What is it?

Procrastination is the act of putting off important tasks such as study or work in favour of less essential stuff. So, maybe your essay is due tomorrow, but you decide to use your time to play computer games instead.

It can cause serious stress in the long run though, as everything is left to the last minute.

If you’re a procrastinator, you are likely to:

Have your phone or diary full of reminders that you never do until the final deadline is looming.

Take so many tea/coffee breaks that people start thinking about checking you into caffeine rehab!

Always do the easiest and least important tasks on your ‘to do’ list first i.e. responding to your friend’s email rather than doing the report that’s due tomorrow morning.

Experience a lot of stress doing things at the last minute.

Why do people procrastinate?

Because they find it tough to organise themselves.

Because they lack confidence that they can get the task done.

Because humans are wired to seek immediate rewards before long term gains. It’s how we evolved.

Living with your procrastination tendencies:

Choose a job where procrastination isn’t a big problem. If procrastination is an issue for you, you’d be best off avoiding careers that demand high levels of concentration such as accountancy, writing and the legal field. You may instead find more happiness in the health and fitness industry, in PR or as an entrepreneur.

Be realistic. You won’t ever become totally cured of your tendency to procrastinate. So if you can just improve your concentration and abilities to get things done, that’s still really good.

Be aware that you are not alone on this one. No matter how efficient your friends and family seem, it is very likely that they have procrastinated at some stage too.

Use some handy anti procrastination tools. You might enjoy a disconnect tool. This is an application/programme that disconnects your Internet for up to eight hours and thus allows you to slave away without being tempted to check your Twitter every five minutes.

Be aware of what you need to work efficiently. For example, some people absolutely cannot study or work in silence. If they try to work without music or radio, their procrastination will only worsen and they won’t get anything done. On the other hand, maybe music distracts you and you are better off working in silence. Only you know the answer to this one.

Give yourself a specified amount of time. Some people like to set their phone alarm to go off in twenty minute chunks of time. This means that they have a nice break to look forward to when it goes off, but before then they will simply be working. Cutting work down into bite sized chunks like this seems to help many people become more efficient, as they are not facing three hours without a break, but are instead getting a lot of work done in short bursts.

Start with the roughest task first. The natural inclination is to go with the easiest task first, but many people find that getting the tough one out of the way first makes life easier. Try it and see if it works for you.

Start with the easiest task first. Yep, the exact opposite of the advice above. Apparently, it seems that procrastinators do do stuff. In fact, they do plenty of stuff. It’s just that they tend to put off the most important tasks in order to do the less important ones. Accepting this fact allows you to order your ‘to do’ list so that the most important tasks at the top of the list are the ones that seem vitally important, but actually aren’t. This clever concept is called ‘structured procrastination’ and it was created by the Harvard professor John Perry. It may well work for you.

Reward yourself. This is a biggie and many people find it motivating. The reward can be as cheap and simple as a bath or it can be as extravagant as a trip away. It depends on your finances and the extent of the task.

Make sure that there are consequences of not following through. Some people are not motivated by positive rewards and instead need the threat of something negative to get them going. So maybe tell yourself that you won’t be allowed to watch that all important match if you don’t finish the project. Of course, this requires discipline on your part, to actually follow through with it. If you do though, you may actually find it very motivating.

Seek support if you feel that procrastination is really interfering with your happiness or if it’s preventing you from getting on at school, college or in your career.