How to Stop Procrastinating
Many of us have a challenging time finishing projects, especially when the deadlines seem far off. We put things off until they’re due and then spend a night frantically trying to complete them.This needs to be dealt with.
The solution to this problem is simple enough that we need to put ourselves on a deadline. It’s easier if we can commit to making a promise, but even if we don’t, it will still help us. We should tell ourselves that at the very next opportunity, be that later today or in the morning, we’ll start this project and make sure it gets done. We’ll think something will take an hour, but we’ll spend three hours on it. We’re driven by fear of often needing to get started. If we start how we mean to go on, we won’t have to struggle later.
According to educator Jonathan Osler, defining the goal and committing to it will help us get past procrastination. Osler, an expert in time management, recommends creating a separate task list for the project.
Osler makes a similar point about deadlines. He says that we often spend too much time on non-essential tasks so that when we do work on a project, we feel forced to rush. If we commit ourselves to get something done, we will approach it differently.
Next time you have a project you want to finish, try putting yourself on a deadline. Even if you’re not ready to start, commit to creating as soon as possible and ensuring it gets done.
There are three main ways people can go about stopping procrastination
The first way to stop procrastinating is to commit to not procrastinating anymore. This might seem counterproductive, but it will be more productive if it’s done this way because it will prevent procrastination from happening before it even starts so that it will take less willpower overall.
Identify the reason you procrastinate
Sometimes, we procrastinate because of a lack of skill or a lack of knowledge. When the deadline approach has already made us feel wrong about our project, it’s easier to put it off because we forget that we want to do something about it. If it’s identified what leads to procrastination, then it can be worked on fixing that before continuing your project.
Create a plan of action to prevent procrastination
Identify what needs to be done and make a plan of action that breaks the overall project down into smaller, more do-able pieces. This method is particularly effective because it makes it easier to get started on your project. Jonathan Osler thinks the main takeaway here is that we need to be able to recognize when our fear of failure is making us procrastinate. As humans, we are prone to making choices that are not good for avoiding loss. So often, it’s easier for us to look for ways to prevent failure or get things done than actually doing it and dealing with the consequences.
