Procrastination is when we put off tasks/responsibilities by doing anything else. Many sources state that procrastination is actually a defense mechanism to protect us from experiencing unpleasant emotions, “such as anxiety, fear and insecurity”. A person might refrain from “trying” and thus cannot be disappointed if their work fails because they never tried in the first place (avoiding failure). By avoiding hard/meaningful tasks in our lives we momentarily avoid the negative feelings that these challenges may bring to the surface. However, often by avoiding what we “should” do, we dig ourselves into a hole, increase the negative feelings surrounding a task, and place ourselves in a worse position by continuing to procrastinate.
First, REFRAME your thoughts around procrastination. The most common characteristics that make a task “procrastination-worthy” are boring, frustrating, difficult, ambiguous, unstructured, not intrinsically rewarding, and lacking in personal meaning (taken from HBR). Reverse these triggers into positive ones! For example, if you find writing an essay boring, try to gamify it by seeing how many words you can type in 15 minutes!
These following actions should help you get out of the procrastination cycle and/or help you reframe the tasks you have been procrastinating on:
Reduce your distractions.
Reduce the decisions you have to make in a day. Plan out your day the night before or early in the day. Get in the habit of making habits and routines! You will spend less time deciding and you will have time scheduled for the important parts of your life: studying, exercising, eating, etc.
Disconnect. Put down the devices. This might be for a couple hours while you work or it might mean for a full week. Maybe it means deleting a certain game or Instagram from your device for a period of time. Be really honest about what works for you!
List the costs of not doing a task and the benefits of doing the task. If these reasons are strong enough then do the task! Otherwise do something else!
Focus on something doable. If the task seems too large or difficult then focus on a smaller aspect of the task or allot yourself a small amount of time to start it. Often once you start, the task becomes much easier to continue!
Nothing alternative. Set aside some time to do some task (for example 1 hour) and if you don’t feel like doing the task during that time don’t allow yourself to do anything except look out the window or walk around. This strategy may give you the head space and disconnection you need to focus on your tasks!
Change your environment. If it’s difficult to work at home because you want to go back to bed, etc, then consider a library, cafe or coworking space. Find a location where you can focus!
Learn to prioritize and make lists! Sort through your tasks and decide which you should do first! Some may have sooner deadlines or are just outright more important. Make a list of the tasks in order of priority and check them off when you’re done! You can also write a list of what you completed in a day or week to keep yourself accountable!
Reward Yourself! Plan to reward yourself once you’ve completed a task! Maybe a short break or a donut from a local bakery. You can also bundle things you dislike with things you like. Perhaps you don’t like washing dishes, but you like music. Every time you do dishes, listen to music and have a dance party! Be careful though, because not everything can be paired, for example music can be very distracting when studying.
If you have any lingering questions, schedule a consultation with one of our experts at Hermiona (Today! Not tomorrow!)
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