Procrastination isn’t a unique character flaw or a mysterious curse that interferes with your time management. It is simply a way of coping with emotional challenges and negative moods brought on for a multitude of reasons.

Procrastination is derived from the Greek word Akrasia – doing something against one’s own better judgment. Delaying the inevitable.

HOW TO OVERCOME PROCRASTINATION:

  1. Make rewards for taking immediate action by using a strategy known as temptation bundling.

The basic formula is: do what you love while doing the thing that you have been procrastinating.

  • listen to audio-books or podcasts while exercising.
  • get a pedicure while processing overdue emails.
  • watch your favorite show while ironing or doing household chores.
  • eat at your favorite restaurant when conducting a meeting with a difficult client.

2. Make the Consequences of Procrastination More Immediate

Procrastinating on exercising becomes painful after weeks and months of lazy behavior. However, by committing to working out with a friend at a specific time and day, then the cost of skipping your workout becomes more immediate.

Or: make a bet that you will accomplish this, or do that. If you don’t do what you say donate your money to a charity you dislike.

3. Design Your Future Actions

Psychologists use the tool called ‘commitment device’ which can help you stop procrastinating by designing your future actions ahead of time.

  • curb your future eating habits by purchasing food in individual packages rather than in the bulk size.
  • Stop wasting time on your phone by deleting games or social media apps.

4. Make the Task More Achievable

The friction that causes procrastination is often centered around getting started. However, once you begin, it’s less painful to keep working, making the 2–Minute Rule that overcomes procrastination and laziness so easy that you can’t say no.

Another great way is to break them down. Making your tasks more achievable is important for two reasons.

  • Small measures of progress provide momentum over the long-run, which means you’re more likely to finish large tasks.
  • The faster you complete a productive task, the more quickly your mind develops an attitude of productivity and effectiveness.

Procrastinators may claim they work better under pressure. It’s their way of justifying putting things off, deliberately delaying tasks then feeling challenged by approaching deadlines. Innovators and creative professionals use procrastination to their benefit more often than everyone else. Leonardo Da Vinci was a famous procrastinator. It is believed that he worked on the well-know Mona Lisa between 1503 and 1517.

Procrastination affects your level of productivity more often than not. Find ways to beat procrastination instead of trying to use it to your advantage.

BE wise to-day;

’t is madness to defer…

– Edward Young.

“Linda has published sixteen books. She blogs about the publishing world, posts useful tips on the challenges a writer faces, including marketing and promoting your work, how to build your online platform, how to get reviews and how to self-publish.”