Procrastination is among the most crippling behavioural and psychological traits there is. Are you among those people blocked, stopped, or sidelined by this? Perhaps many people are in constant battle with trying to get solutions on how to stop procrastinating so that they can change their operation modes. Procrastinating is affecting everyone ranging from people working in the corporate world, housewives to students.†
Statistics have shown that 20% of the world’s population grieves from procrastination and this number has quadrupled in the last 20 years. The major cause of procrastination and lack of motivation is confusion, vagueness and a fuzzy mind about what you need to do and for what reason. If you are serious about wanting to stop procrastination, then check out the following 5 ways on how to stop procrastination:
#1: Focus on your goals
This is among the effective ways of stopping procrastinations. The more you maintain your focus on your goals the easier it becomes to handle procrastination and laziness. You can maintain your focus by doing simple things that can assist you in remembering your goals several times in a day. Things such as writing a post-it-note about your objectives and pasting it on a place where you will always see. You can also read your goals several times in a day. You can also visualise yourself having attained your objectives. Such practices will help you remain focused to your goals and hence solve procrastination.
#2: Get good night’s rest and Exercise regularly
This may sound like a corny cliche but it’s very true. Research has shown that a human being has more energy, can think better and able to prioritise excellently when he/she exercises consistently and sleeps well.
#3: Set healthy deadlines
When you have goals to be achieved, set healthy deadlines to accomplish them. By setting a definite time frame for yourself, you can curb this procrastinating habit. Ensure that the deadline is realistic to avoid burdening yourself as unrealistic deadlines makes you more prone to procrastination.
#4: Get it done, not perfect
Most people immerse themselves into perfectionism. Don’t work too long to get everything perfect, the idea is to ensure it is done but not perfect. You will have first drafts, in each step then when it’s done you go again editing, refining as you want. Besides part of any endeavour is consistently refining things as you get response on what is not working. Success means getting what is right and not what’s so effective. Therefore avoid perfectionism because it leads to procrastination.
#5: Do something difficult
Hardship or difficulty is always inevitable in your live and they must be part of live. The sooner you get accustomed the better. If you have a behaviour of evading things that may discomfort you, then you need to begin doing these hard things. Begin with things that cause small discomfort. By occasionally doings things against your will, you are exercising your willpower and also developing mental toughness to face difficulties when you meet them in your life. This way you will no longer be anxious and there will be no need to procrastinate difficult things.
Follow these strategies and surely you’ll see yourself going forward in the right direction.