3 Step-Guide to Avoiding Procrastination

Procrastination. Who has not experienced it? We all have been afflicted by this habit, one way or another. The only difference perhaps is the extent to which we let ourselves procrastinate. Admit you once prioritized your favorite TV series over your school appointments. Don’t deny that there are instances you attended to personal matters first, before dealing with office duties. That said, procrastination happens when you set aside an important task for something that you feel more comfortable doing. Submitting yourself,  and failing to get rid of this habit can put your career in jeopardy. Time and tide wait for no man. You cannot get back the time you have lost. Here are tips you can follow to finally bid goodbye to procrastination, and waive hello to productivity: Admit your situation. The first step to overcoming procrastination is admitting the situation. You remain stuck in the same scenario because you do not recognize that there is something wrong. Chances are you will continue delaying tasks, until you realize the dangers of this practice. Note though, that it does not always mean you are procrastinating when you pause writing essays to do something else. It is also a case-to-case basis. For instance, you are completing an urgent task. Then your oldest son calls to inform you of an emergency. It is given that your attention will deviate from work to home. Or, let us say you have been brainstorming with your teammates for 6 hours straight. Then you decided to call for a break. This cannot be considered procrastination since rest is imperative for our minds to function effectively. Know why you procrastinate. You might be setting aside task because you find it unpleasant. The thing is your duties would not disappear, no matter how hard you try to walk away from them. One tip to handling this type of tasks is working on them first thing in the day. And do it as fast as you can. Think about those aspects that you love about your job, which you can concentrate on, the rest of your working hours. And with that, accept the fact that being a student or an employee is not always a bed of roses. It is either you keep up to the challenge, or quit. Another reason you are setting aside a task is because you think that you still lack the skills necessary to have it done. But you are only making the case worst, if you will keep on insisting on this excuse. If you are experiencing writer’s block for instance. Do not let the time pass by without you finishing anything. This does not follow that you should push hard on yourself. That is also wrong. You can use this down time by gathering resources for your next output. You can draw outlines, or create at least a rough draft of the essay you are working on. Proceed even if you have not yet organized your ideas. You can always revise, after all. Motivate yourself. You are the best person who can help break this debilitating habit. Others can provide support. But that’s about it. The change begins with yourself. Rewarding yourself after a long day or weeks of laboring on big projects. This is to aid set your mind to finish a task within your assigned timeframe. Rewards do not have to be extravagant. Grab a cup of the ice cream you have been craving for, recently. Meet your friends after work. Invite your peers to movie house come weekends. Get yourself working by thinking of your bed, and the good night sleep that awaits you once you get back home. It all boils down to self-discipline. You are one to suffer the brunt of the consequences, anyway. The key is to not kill time for nothing. And procrastination will eventually leave you alone.