5 Simple Steps To Stop Procrastination - Quality Of Life, Self-development

2023 Author: Oswald Adamson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 20:18

Everyone is familiar with the situation when the deadlines for the planned case have already expired, and the start is postponed. You wrote everything down on the calendar, set a reminder, but still ended up in a deadline situation. And this is not the first time this has happened. What it is? Banal laziness or a state of procrastination?

Procrastination is not a diagnosis; it is a broad concept of a specific condition.

Procrastination is a tendency to constantly postpone even important and urgent matters, leading to life problems and painful psychological effects.

Unlike laziness, the procrastinating person is really interested in the topic of the task at hand. He is interested in the future process and result. But I just can't get started. There are always less significant things with which he replaces the necessary, while falling into a state of stress.

Possible causes of procrastination

1. Impulsiveness. A person living in the moment and unable to stick to a certain plan has difficulty managing delayed tasks.
2. Lack of motivation. The person does not see the point in fulfilling the task and subconsciously opposes the start.
3. Uncertainty, fear, phobias. The procrastinator is sure he will make things worse. He is worried that he will not cope with the responsibility assigned to him and will ruin relations with others. Fear of being reprimanded by others triggers the procrastination mechanism.
4. High level of neuroticism. Neuroticism is a personality trait that manifests itself in increased anxiety, mental instability. Often, behind external well-being, a person with a high level of neuroticism inside is very acutely experiencing conflicts and personal dissatisfaction. One of the manifestations of neuroticism can be depression, in which apathy is one of the causes of procrastination.
5. Perfectionism. Despite the fact that perfectionism motivates for perfect task completion and speed, idealistic people often postpone the task until the last. Disadaptive perfectionism makes you painfully search for the ideal, think over the little things, but in fact do nothing. To avoid the frustration of a poorly completed task, the perfectionist puts it all aside. "Malignant" perfectionism is imprisoned on extremely high standards, which sometimes run counter to the objective capabilities of a person. He is accompanied by endless self-criticism and devaluation of his own achievements. Emotional exhaustion can lead to depression, which, as discussed above, can be one of the causes of procrastination.

The procrastination process

The emotional stress that begins to guide further actions (inaction) builds up as soon as a person takes on some kind of obligation. In case of excessive suspiciousness and anxiety, a person has doubts about the possibility of solving the problem. The general emotional background is depressed, the mood decreases. The person decides to postpone the task, replace it with other affairs (household issues, social networks). And to start the planned later. Sometime later, when he gathers his strength and is ready to start and be sure to do it. But it is not exactly.

A person begins to blame himself for weak willpower, to criticize. Thus, he goes even more into an oppressed state, in which there is absolutely no strength to start doing something. The circle is closed.

Experienced procrastinators have special rules for this condition. These are some laws that, according to the logic of procrastinators, cannot be violated. In fact, these are the very same logical excuses that allow you to postpone the start indefinitely:

• Be sure to sleep well before work.
• Perfect conditions are needed for perfect results.
• To work more efficiently, you need to rest first.
• It’s too late to start, now it’s not perfect, it should have been earlier.

5 easy steps to stop procrastination

Procrastination can actually stall work, ruin relationships, and undermine self-confidence. You need to get rid of it according to its own rules - gradually and slowly.

1. Take care of yourself. "No" to self-criticism

One of the important points to start with. First, there is no place for the word “fight” in the story of procrastination. You need to accept both your emotional state and the peculiarities of the nervous system. The more you scold yourself for procrastination, the later you will start doing something, plunging into the abyss of self-flagellation and self-criticism. This is also a kind of defensive reaction - feeling depressed about your carelessness and laziness, you, in fact, justify yourself. Accept yourself. Any corrective practice begins with this. By driving yourself into a trap, endlessly worrying, you are neither working nor resting. Design a clear time for yourself to relax. Productivity will not improve if the entire system is worn out.

2. Establish your personal laws

Think about the rules for procrastination you have. How do you justify procrastination and what happens afterwards. Write down your “set of rules” and analyze what the pros and cons are.

3. Get rid of negative thoughts

Excessive anxiety, a tendency to frustration must be eradicated gradually. If you are faced with a fairly large task, divide it into several parts and immediately start doing the first one. Don't think about the result, it will be better to concentrate on the process. Time management works at any stage: agree with yourself to work for at least 15 minutes, and then rest. Chances are, you will get sucked in and not notice how the hour has passed.

4. Don't let your time be stolen

Social networks, imperceptibly taking half an hour (and a huge time per day), instead of the planned 5 minutes. A conversation with a neighbor that you absolutely do not need. All this takes much more time and effort than it might seem.

5. Learn to solve

Procrastination is a frequent guest of those who doubt everything and always. Even if a decision is made, the matter may not get off the ground, because such a person is initially not sure of the result. If you have decided something - visualization alone will not be enough. We need concrete action. For example: you decide to transfer your child to another school and there are good reasons for this. You perfectly imagine how good he will be there and how he will find new friends. Or, on the contrary, you begin to clearly "see" how he is not accepted in the team and how it threatens. This is all well and good, but, in fact, you haven't done anything concrete to resolve the transfer to another school. Everything is just in your head.

If at some point you realized that the state of procrastination depresses you and interferes with the productivity of your life, remember that such a behavioral model is well corrected

First of all, it depends on you. Procrastination is not a diagnosis, and you should not consider yourself ill. Working with procrastination is one of the rounds of self-development and self-knowledge. This is a slow process aimed at achieving a certain result. It will be useful to visit a psychological group in which you will learn about your mechanisms of behavior and learn how to correct them.

Procrastination will definitely recede. If only because she is lazy.