Procrastination is a common problem found everywhere. It is
perhaps present inside almost every one of us. Often we want to get rid of or
overcome it but we find ourselves at a loss. There is no easy solution and you
have to remember that human mind is not a science or mathematic equation that
you can find an exact solution to any of its problems. In this post, I am going
to talk about the problem and I will also try to give some tips. I hope that
you find the post useful.
What is procrastination?
Before moving further, I want to give you a definition of
procrastination from Dictionary.com:
noun
the act or habit of
procrastinating, or putting off or
delaying, especially something requiring immediate attention: She was
smart, but her constant procrastination led her to be late with almost every
assignment.
So, the definition is very clear and I perhaps do not need
to analyze it a lot. The basic thing related to procrastination is that you
have to do something now or today or in a fixed period of time (deadline) but
you don’t. You either don’t do anything at all during that time (which is rare)
or you do something else (which is common) which has no value or irrelevant to
your educational life, career, health or happiness. It is surely a bad habit.
Why it is bad?
It is bad because it seriously hurts our educational life,
personal life (health and happiness) and career both in the short and long
term. If you run away from your assignments and projects then they won’t just
simply disappear. There is 90% possibility that they will pile up and make your
life miserable and you will achieve a grand failure. At the same time,
procrastination ensures that you will suffer from stress and guilt. So, in
short, you will just lose every way. If you avoid your important works today
then tomorrow they will just become double.
Analyze your problem
Before anything, first talk to yourself. Do you suffer from
procrastination? Is it a major problem in your life? I would like you to read
this article in this regard- Overcoming
Procrastination Manage Your Time. Get It All Done.
It is wrong to assume that all of us would have common ways
of avoiding work. May be some of us, waste a lot of time or have the habit of
checking emails after every two hours. Some of us may become too much addicted
to sports, TV or movie and we neglect our real works and education.
Make a daily routine
Yes, after suffering from years of procrastination and indiscipline
life, I know realize the value of a daily routine. Just sit with a pen and
paper and make a plan for the next 5-6 hours. If possible then plan for today
or tomorrow. It is not that you will be able to complete the tasks that you are
planning but just writing the plan is a good start in your fight against procrastination.
If you are suffering a lot from this problem then you will notice that even
making a daily plan will become some tough. You may get busy with watching TV
or making tea or coffee.
Don’t make very ambitious
goals
Alright, I have listened to my own advice and made a plan
for the next 8 hours. Well, making the plan was some difficult at first because
I had the strong urge to check the latest news in BBC or CNN instead of making
the plan. The actual process took just 10 minutes. Anyway, I have noticed that
my plan it too ambitious and I have only 10% possibility of achieving it. If I just
decrease 20% work in the plan then I have 70% possibility that I would become
successful in doing all the things that I have planned.
Don’t feel guilty as
you are not lazy
Whatever you do, just don’t mix up procrastination with
laziness. So, don’t feel guilty for it. If you feel guilty then you will just
suffer for the wrong reason and it will not bring any good for you. Instead,
you will suffer more emotionally and it will become difficult for you overcome
procrastination. When you suffer from procrastination, sometimes you work even
harder but for the wrong and less important tasks. Laziness means that by nature
you do not like hard work. You just want to avoid working and do nothing.
It is a common
problem
To make you feel better, I just want to state that
procrastination is a common problem for people all over the world. I am
quoiting from Psychology
Today:
Everyone procrastinates sometimes, but 20 percent of people chronically avoid difficult tasks and
deliberately look for distractions—which, unfortunately, are increasingly
available. Procrastination in large part reflects our perennial struggle with
self-control as well as our inability to accurately predict how we'll feel
tomorrow, or the next day.
So, it is a common problem and if you suffer from it then
there is no reason to panic. Of course, if you have chronic problem then you
should get professional help.
Address any health issue
or external Factor
For many months, I felt that I was suffering from
procrastination. Now, I understand that it was not really procrastination. As
my health was weak, I could not focus on anything difficult and I wanted to run
away from work. I just could not even write a single blog post. I realized that
I need to rest totally and I needed to try for not doing anything. You may
suffer from depression or you may have too much pressure in life. So, address
any external factor first if you want to overcome procrastination.
Nobody is perfect
When we get too much obsessed with perfection and end up
getting frustrated then there is a good possibility that we will procrastinate.
We may develop a fear of failure and this may keep us from trying. Just
remember that nobody is perfect. Even a gymnast who scores perfect 10 in
Olympics have to practice for years and had many failures. What the gymnast has
done is that s/he has kept on trying and then achieved this perfect score of
10. There is no guarantee that he would get this perfect score in the event.
However, s/he will not quit.
Forget everything and
take a real break
I am not asking to run from an emergency situation but sometimes,
when your life is really messed up, taking a break from everything may really
help you. You see procrastination means that you do the unimportant or trivial
things instead of doing your real job or studies. If you just take a real break
from even the unimportant and trivial things then you may find your has become
empty and fresh and you are back to business. Even if it does not work, you
have nothing to lose as you already have not cleaned your room for one month or
have not worked on your novel for one year.
Move slowly but
solidly
You see, if I really try hard then I can write this entry within
60-90 minutes. However, I said to myself that I will finish it in 4 hours. This
post will have around 17-1800 words. I have excellent typing skill but if I
tried to finish it within 90 minutes then I would suffer pressure and stress
and most probably, I would not have finished it. However, by doing it 4 hours,
I will not get tired or stressed and I will be able to write something
tomorrow. Because of spending 4 hours, I could read a lot of content in
different websites about this topic.
You cannot compete
against the whole world
From my own personal experience, I have noticed that
competition is good as long as it is healthy. However, when you get obsessed with
it then sooner or later you will break down. You cannot compete against the
whole world. When you break down then you become afraid to try. So, don’t get
obsessed with competition. Try to accept defeat as a natural part of the game
or life.
Procrastination in Student
Life
This is a deadly issue for students everywhere. Often they
find that they have time for everything else except studying. Hating homework
is a common trait everywhere. I feel that there should be more counseling facilities
especially for university students. Getting distracted is very easy and just
giving lessons about the importance of discipline normally does not work most
of the time. In fact, procrastination in student life is such a big problem it
really deserves another post which I hope to write in future.
Procrastination in
Career
When you are doing a job then procrastination is a fatal
quality that only brings you misery. Just imagine yourself in the position of
your boss. Will you be happy with a sub-ordinate who procrastinates a lot? If
you skip important tasks then others suffer along with you and the company
suffers. The modern production system is based on division of labor. So, if you
do not do your part properly then others will suffer.
Good
procrastinations!
Is procrastination always just bad? It may be sometime good
and to know more about it, read this article: Good and Bad
Procrastination
This is a well written article and you will gain some
valuable insight about the topic.
Now, I am giving you some articles to read from Internet:
Finally, I just want to say that procrastination is a very
bad thing and if you feel that you are suffering from it and it is hurting your
education or career then you really should seek support either from your family
or friends or from a professionally qualified person in this field. There is no
magic solution to this problem. There is no short cut in life either. You have
to do what you have to do.
No comments:
Post a Comment