Home » Three easy ways in which you can avoid Procrastination

Three easy ways in which you can avoid Procrastination

‘While we waste our time hesitating and postponing, life is slipping away’ – Seneca.  ‘Procrastination’ is derived from the Latin verb procrastinare which means to put off until tomorrow. It is one of the main obstacles to getting you moving and performing. The time that you waste procrastinating can keep you away from investing in something more meaningful and productive that can change your life around. Overcoming this great barrier can be beneficial in the long run to unlock your true potential and accomplishing more in life. 

Procrastination is often associated with bad time management or laziness. It is not.  Procrastination is an emotional regulation problem. Realistically people who procrastinate have higher levels of stress and lower well-being.  Specially in the recent times where emotions like uncertainty, fear and worrying has taken over, we more often than usual find ourselves emotionally absent and easily distracted. 

Psychologists reveal that procrastination is related to a behavioural psychology that sees the inclination of the human brain to value immediate rewards more highly than future rewards. People are constantly looking out for instant gratification. Likewise, when you articulate long-term goals and constantly think about it, your brain will recognise the value in taking actions towards achieving your future goals. 

In todays’ world, people realise the implications of procrastination and are learning the art to overcome it. We have listed five ways in which you can say bye-bye to this.

Get organized and set achievable goals

A part of the reason why we procrastinate is because the task at hand feels daunting. Work on establishing simple, reachable goals rather than a big, vague plan. Once established, set deadlines and work towards achieving it. Breaking your tasks into small makes it more manageable and achievable. You can start with writing down your goals on paper, as you will keep revisiting it every time you look at the paper. Set timelines and reward yourself at each completed deadline. 

Try Temptation bundling

Another effective way to boost your will-power is to try temptation bundling. For eg: if after a long day at work you go home and binge-watch your favourite series, you are obviously leaving aside more important work for something that is instantly gratifying. This way you are putting your goal of exercising on the back burner. In this case you should couple your activity. You can program yourself to complete a set of exercise to be able to watch the next episode. Adopting this technique can show huge improvements in your inconsistent exercise routine. 

Be kind to yourself

Go easy on yourself. You have to be confident in yourself to successfully complete a certain activity. It is evident that if you are harsh on yourself you will refrain from getting started on the activity and in turn hamper the way things progress.  Be kind and believe in your abilities to perform it to the optimum best. 

Don’t be afraid of failure

We hesitate starting work on a project with the fear that we might blow it off at the end. Perfectionism and procrastination have a direct connect. Having a great vision and solid ideas to achieve a perfect outcome is great, however, postponing start to the project only because you do not have the adequate resources can be a let-down. As the deadline approaches you are now feeling low and also close to messing up a big opportunity that you were once excited to achieve. It is advisable to set the right standards initially and be motivated towards it right from the start. Set realistic deadlines and work towards it in clusters.

Get rid of distractions

As millions of us are adapting ourselves to the ‘new normal’ work environment, negative thoughts, distractions at the new workplace and anxiety are a common phenomenon. Mobile phones, social media etc. also act as major distractions and should be kept at bay. To achieve measurable results, it is extremely crucial to ensure you get rid of all potential distractions, so you are not getting side-tracked midway. Distractions from external sources like family members, music and constant chatter from co-workers can be looked into before you delve deeper in your task. 

People often assume that procrastination is simply a matter of willpower, but in reality, the situation is far more complex than that. If you are not able to overcome your challenges, get in touch with our experts specialising in anxiety treatment in Dubai at Evolve Brain Training. Investing in professional help can prove to be a long-term solution.  For more information on our training sessions, contact us at +971 4 589 6983.

Dr. Upasana Gala is the founder and CEO of Evolve Brain Training, a Neurofeedback-centered institute that focuses on using non-invasive brain training techniques to maximize the brain's true potential.