For many people procrastination is an unfortunate part of everyday life. It can be easy to put off things that you should really be doing by avoiding the job and instead choosing to do less important tasks or things that really are not a priority. Or, even worse, doing nothing at all.
Procrastination in a nutshell is putting off doing something that you should be doing in favour of something that you enjoy more or something that you find easier. A lot of the time it can be harmless, but for some people, or at certain points in your life, procrastination can have a huge impact on your potential, and can disrupt your goals and even potentially your career.
Often people procrastinate because they find a particular job unpleasant, boring or difficult. Many parts of everyday life can have dull or unpleasant aspects to them, but we can’t avoid them forever. Sometimes the best way to deal with them is to get them over with as quickly as possible, allowing you to move on to tasks that you enjoy more.
If you feel like procrastination is affecting your potential we’ve come up with three ways that can help you get back on track.
Break it down
Sometimes a task may seem overwhelming, which causes us to not want to do it. If something feels too big to take on then try breaking it down into smaller chunks, and then break it down even more. This makes everything seem far more doable, and makes it more likely that you will want to do it. For example, if you have a difficult piece of coursework or an essay to write break it down into sections, like research, planning, bullet points and drafts, and think about approaching individual paragraphs rather than the whole thing.
Create a timeline
For people that are prone to procrastination a deadline can be a very, very bad thing. It gives you the impression that you have loads of time until you have to hand something in, encouraging you to keep putting it off and putting it off until suddenly the deadline is upon you and you haven’t got anything ready. Instead of letting this happen to you create a timeline for yourself with detailed actions you need to take on each day. This means that you have to get these tasks done or it will throw out your whole schedule for the rest of the time. This helps to create a sense of urgency and stops you from giving in to the temptation to procrastinate. Well, that’s the idea anyway.
Get on with it
We’re going to go for some tough love here, but sometimes the only way to truly beat procrastination is to just get on with the task at hand. Stop putting things off and remember that no one forged their path to success, fame, wealth or stardom by procrastinating. You have to be prepared to help yourself and put in the effort and work that’s required to get you where you want to be. One thing’s for sure though, it will feel oh-so-good once you’ve finished the task, got the qualification, succeeded in getting that dream job, pay rise or promotion. You won’t regret it.
How do you cope with tasks you don’t want to do? Share your tips in the comments below.