Do you have a tendency to postpone things for later?
Does it bother you and are you, like many of us, a victim of the “procrastination” illness?
If it bothers you, you probably tried to do SOMETHING about it, right?
But have you ever thought what are the true reasons behind your procrastination?
There are five main reasons why people procrastinate:
They simply hate the task
They do not have the confidence to go on with the activity
They get easily distracted
The task is simply too big for one chunk
Their creativity is blocked
Once you identify which of the procrastination reason is stopping you from taking another step, it will be much easier to apply the strategy to overcome your tendency.
So ask yourself, which of the five reasons is making you postpone the tasks.
If you hate the task:
ask yourself why is that? perhaps you have a belief that is stopping and limiting you?
reward yourself for taking up on the task you don’t particularly like
try a “10-minute promise” game and do the task for only 10 minutes at first, maybe it is not as bad as it seams
If you lack confidence:
identify the skillset you need and look for how to get it
experiment and remember that each attempt is teaching you something
ask for help
If you are easily distracted:
name the things that distract you and deal with them
clear your desk, switch your notifications off, get yourself water and food to avoid reasons to stand up
block yourself time in the calendar to deal with the task
give yourself predetermined progress that you want to make
If the task seems too big:
break the task in small activities and list them down
create a list with all the small activities and track the progress
If your creativity is blocked:
remember than Done is better than Perfect and Just Do It
there is no magic wand which will make you inspired in an instant, so instead of waiting for it to come, just start working and see what happens
