How Can I Avoid Procrastinating?
We procrastinate. But what can we do in order for us to reduce the time we spend procrastinating?
In the “What is procrastination?” article we established that procrastination is an irrational process for us in which we delay completing our tasks in order can avoid the negative feelings associated with them. However, procrastination is not all bad either. Grund and Fries, suggest that procrastination is not irrational but rather a response when tasks we have do not align with our personal goals and/or values. They further highlight the importance to consider the lens through which we consider procrastination, distinguishing the difference between our ability to perform a task and our intention to perform the task. In fact, procrastination could be considered a productive method to complete tasks as it gives us time to organise our thoughts and emotions around finishing their tasks.
Dr Judson Brewer, psychiatrist and neuroscientist, suggests that there are countless activities that we can do to break the behaviour but it would still fall under the umbrella of procrastination. Thus, it is best to consider the most appropriate choices keeping in mind which of the 6 types of procrastination you fall under.
Shortcuts For The Busy Reader
Strategies That Will Help You Avoid Procrastinating
Here are a few tips you can consider to reduce the time you spend procrastinating:
a. Be Aware of Your Negative Emotions
Starting off on a very cliched note but a valid one, it is important that you are aware of the fact that you procrastinate and the negative feelings that pre-meditate. This will help work towards avoiding it or at the very least reducing the amount of procrastination.
Research findings suggest increasing awareness of negative emotions and how they affect their approach to completing their tasks. So before you set out to plan how to avoid procrastinating, you have to be self-aware of the negative emotions that are associated with it.
b. Do Not Be a Perfectionist
Having an eye for detail is a good thing but knit picking every detail all the time every time is an ineffective process. When we have this mindset we tend to take an all-or-nothing approach and when we don’t meet these expectations we just give up or put off from continuing with the task. Piers Steel, a researcher found that perfectionism is strongly associated with procrastination. We should thus try to avoid being perfect and instead focus on putting in our effort to complete the tasks to our level best.
c. Be Realistic
Having goals that are realistic will help you not only achieve your tasks better but also avoid procrastinating as they are much more achievable. Oftentimes when you set out a goal to complete your tasks, you will often hear to have a realistic goal, breaking down your goals into smaller manageable goals.
d. Plan Your Calendar
Sometimes, the reason we procrastinate for longer than necessary is because, when we delay starting our task, we sometimes forget we even have to do it. One way to avoid this is to ensure you have a to-do list on your calendar so that you are able to keep track of the tasks you need to complete as well as organize your schedule based on your availability. Research findings have shown that creating an action plan will help individuals to complete their work much faster as well as boost their productivity. This is called the “Zeigarnik Effect” which states that if you plan out the tasks you have to complete, it reduces any negative feelings that arise in having to finish pending tasks. Now might be a good time to get out the planner you bought last year because it looked pretty.
e. Accept Your Tendency to Procrastinate
Acknowledge the fact that you procrastinate and do not beat yourself up about procrastinating - we are all guilty of doing it once in a while. Eliciting feelings of
guilt has shown to have a maladaptive effect on our levels of life satisfaction as a whole. Research has found that individuals who go through self-forgiveness are more likely to reduce the likelihood of procrastination in the future. Thus, by forgiving yourself for procrastinating while completing your current task, you reduce the time you spend procrastinating for the next task.
There is no way to completely stop procrastinating, it is in our nature to take breaks to avoid being overwhelmed. However, we can reduce the time we spend delaying the process of finishing our tasks by ensuring that we strategize our approach to any task in order to reduce the time we spend procrastinating.
References Chun Chu, A. H., & Choi, J. N. (2005). Rethinking procrastination: Positive effects of "active" procrastination behavior on attitudes and performance. The Journal of Social Psychology, 145(3), 245–264. https://doi.org/10.3200/socp.145.3.245-264 Grund, A., & Fries, S. (2018). Understanding procrastination: A motivational approach. Personality and Individual Differences, 121, 120–130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2017.09.035 Rabin, L. A., Fogel, J., & Nutter-Upham, K. E. (2010). Academic procrastination in college students: The role of self-reported executive function. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 33(3), 344–357. https://doi.org/10.1080/13803395.2010.518597 Schrager, S., & Sadowski, E. (2016). Getting More Done: Strategies to Increase Scholarly Productivity. Journal of Graduate Medical Education, 8(1), 10–13. https://doi.org/10.4300/jgme-d-15-00165.1 Steel, P. (2007). The nature of procrastination: A meta-analytic and theoretical review of quintessential self-regulatory failure. Psychological Bulletin, 133(1), 65–94. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.133.1.65 Wohl, M. J. A., Pychyl, T. A., & Bennett, S. H. (2010). I forgive myself, now I can study: How self-forgiveness for procrastinating can reduce future procrastination. Personality and Individual Differences, 48(7), 803–808. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2010.01.029 |