Beating Procrastination

If you’ve found yourself putting off important tasks over and over again, you’re not alone. In fact, many people procrastinate to some degree. The key to controlling this destructive habit is to recognize when you begin procrastinating, understand why it happens, and take active steps to manage your time better. In a nutshell, you procrastinate when you put off things that you should be focusing on right now.

How to Overcome Procrastination

Follow these steps to deal with and control procrastination:

Step 1: Recognize that you are Procrastinating

If you are honest with yourself, you probably know when you are procrastinating. Here are some useful indicators that will help you know when you are procrastinating:

• Filling your day with low priority tasks from your To Do List.

• Reading e-mails several times without starting work on them or deciding what you are going to do with them.

• Sitting down to start a high-priority task, and almost instantly going off to make a cup of coffee.

• Leaving an item on your To Do list for a while, even though you know it is important.

• Regularly saying "Yes" to unimportant tasks that other people ask you to do, and filling your time with these rather than getting on with the important tasks already on your list.

• Waiting for the “right mood” or the “right time” to tackle the important task.

Step 2: Adopt Anti-Procrastination Strategies

Procrastination is a habit – a deeply ingrained pattern of behavior. That means that you will not just break it overnight. Habits only stop being habits when you have persistently stopped practicing them, so use as many approaches as possible to maximize your chances of beating procrastination. Some tips will work better for some people than for others, and for some tasks than others. Sometime you may just need a fresh approach to beat procrastination.

These general tips will help motivate you to get moving:

• Make up your own rewards. For instance, promise yourself a piece of tasty flapjack at lunchtime if you have completed a certain task. In addition, make sure you notice how good it feels to finish things!

• Ask someone else to check up on you. Peer pressure works! This is the principle behind slimming and other self-help groups, and it is widely recognized as a highly effective approach.

• Identify the unpleasant consequences of NOT doing the task.

• Work out the cost of your time to your employer. As your employers are paying you to do the things that they think are important, you're not delivering value for money if you're not doing those things. Shame yourself into getting going!

• Aim to “eat an elephant beetle” first thing, every day!

Remember: the longer you are able to spend without procrastinating, the greater your chances of breaking this destructive habit for good!