The secret to overcoming Procrastination

Are you a procrastinator? Maybe you’re procrastinating right now. It’s okay; we all do it. As a matter of fact, I am a procrastinator, and I’ve been one for as long as I can remember. Here’s a good example: I was supposed to have published this article about 2 to 3 weeks ago, but I’m only doing so now, and even though I feel now is the best time to do this, the truth is I could have done it 3 weeks ago and probably should be working on a different article right now. That’s the funny thing with procrastination; though it might come in handy at times, 95% of the time it deprives you of achieving anything of worth or puts you in a tight spot. So procrastination, as I have come to discover, is the single most destructive tool for humans. Procrastination is a thief that steals not just our time but our immortal soul, the part of us that wants to do more and do it well. It eats up your dreams, your willingness to work, and also the limited time that we have. However, here’s the good thing: as destructive and addictive as procrastination might be, it is still just a habit, and like every other habit, it can be learned and unlearned. Yes, you heard right; it can be unlearned, and the process of unlearning procrastination and learning how to do more in less time is what we’re going to be looking at today. We are going to come across some simple and easy steps we can take to unlearn procrastination. So if you’re tired of being a procrastinator and want to beat procrastination and grab life by the balls, this article is for you. This guide will teach you how to overcome procrastination so that staying productive doesn't have to be an uphill battle.

Now that you have a clearer picture of what procrastination is and how it affects your life, let's look at some ways to overcome it.

1.??Stop for five minutes and think about why you're procrastinating:

Stop and think about why you're procrastinating. This can be very difficult because we are often so used to doing things without thinking about them first, but it's important not only for the sake of your productivity but also for the sake of yourself! If something is holding you back from completing tasks on time or even starting them in the first place, then taking some time out from whatever else may be distracting will help clear up any confusion about why this particular task might be worth doing in the first place (and if not, maybe someone else can help).

2.??Break your work into smaller chunks.

• Make a list of the tasks you need to accomplish.
• Break down your work into smaller chunks.
• Prioritize the tasks that need to be done first, and leave other tasks until later (or at least schedule them).

3.??Do something else so you can attack it with fresh eyes.

If you're having trouble getting started on a project, try taking a break. It might be tempting to just throw something in an email and call it good, but if you don't give yourself time to think about what needs to be done first and do it well, you'll end up with something that isn't good at all.

So instead of rushing through your work in the hopes that the next day will be better (which never happens), take some time off and do something else so that when you return, your brain is fresh again and ready for action!

Here are some ideas:

• Go outside; take an afternoon walk around town or wander through an art gallery when there's no one around who can see what's going on inside your head!
• Watch a movie (preferably one without commercials) while reading a book on the couch or lying down in bed until morning comes around again...

4.??Promise yourself a reward once you're finished.

The idea is that once you're finished with your task, you'll be so excited to get the reward that it will motivate you to start again and get it done. This is sometimes called "rewarding yourself," and it's an effective way of overcoming procrastination.

There are many different types of rewards that people use when they prevent themselves from doing what they don't want to do:

• Money/gifts: buying yourself something nice or giving yourself a gift are both ways of motivating yourself to complete tasks. The important thing is not just how much money or gift card value the reward has, but also how excited (or motivated) you will feel if completing this task results in this reward being yours!
• Food: If food is your main source of motivation, then consider eating less junk food instead, especially if any negative effects on your health might result from doing so!

5.??Set boundaries to take back control.

• Set boundaries.
• Use a timer, calendar, to-do list, or checklist.
• Tell yourself that you will finish this task at a certain time. For example: "I will complete this project by Friday at noon." You could also use an alarm on your phone or computer if you want to make sure you don't fall behind schedule.

6.??Think about how much time it would take to get things done right now.

The first step to overcoming procrastination is to understand how much time it will take to get things done. If you're like me, the answer is probably "not enough." That's because our brains are hardwired for instant gratification. We want immediate results and don't want to deal with tedious tasks that take hours or days of work (or even months).

However, delaying gratification until later in life isn't always a bad thing it can actually help us become better at prioritizing our goals and making better decisions about what's important enough for us to put into action today.

I was working at work on a project that was to be turned in the next morning. I was already finished with it and only needed to make a few small changes and add some items that I had put down in my notes. This should have taken me no more than 45 minutes, but I decided to finish it at home because it was closing time and I wanted to avoid the traffic. As it turned out, I spent three hours in traffic and arrived home stressed out, but I still needed to finish the job since I had to turn it in the next morning.

I sat down at my desk and pulled out my laptop, and lo and behold, I worked at my desk for almost 5 hours (I guess I slept off a little during that time) and still couldn't finish it. The following day, I had to beg for more time to finish it. This was only the latest instance of how procrastination had negatively impacted me.

Now we see exactly how procrastination functions. . When you put off something that should ordinarily take you minutes when you're ready to do it, you run the risk of being exhausted or under stress, which will lower your productivity. You can spend hours on a task that would typically take you minutes, and even when you do it, you might not do a good job because you were drained and disoriented.

7.??Don't put things off until you feel ready; do them now!

The best way to overcome procrastination is to simply act. If you’re not sure about something, just do it. Don't wait until you feel ready or completely convinced that what you're doing is the right thing for your business and its growth. If anything in life has taught me anything, it's that taking action gives me confidence at every stage of whatever journey I'm on even if I don't have all of my ducks in a row yet!

I recently had the opportunity to speak at an event hosted by a leading marketing agency at Ikeja, and while it was exciting, I wasn't 100% confident about what would happen when I got there so I almost turned it down. However, I still went and surprisingly (you could say not so surprisingly) did so well there that it made a speaking engagement at another event on the island possible. ?What did this mean? That meant that rather than waiting until some future date when everything was perfect before starting or finishing anything new or difficult, I started today!

You can be productive without panicking or procrastinating.

If you're not a procrastinator but you still feel like your productivity is lacking, here are some tips to help you become more productive:

• Don't panic. You don't have to be perfect at everything all the time, or even most of the time. You can make small improvements as they come up and leave behind any large tasks that aren't a good fit for your current situation or lifestyle.
• Don't procrastinate—even if it feels like there's no way out! Do something now so that tomorrow (or next week) won't be too late for doing what needs doing today instead of later on when things get more complicated or difficult than they should have been during those earlier days when we didn't know how much work would be involved in completing our task(s).

Conclusion

The truth is, you can be productive without panicking or procrastinating. You just need to do a little work and figure out what works for you.