That feeling that you get when you just intentionally delay your tasks or activities even when you know it’s important and you not attending to it can affect you, is what’s called procrastination. Don’t mistake it for laziness, those two are very different. Laziness is when you’re unwilling to do something while procrastination is when you’re willing to do it but you can’t seem to just get it done. 

You can have so much to do and you would just keep pushing the tasks till it’s almost the deadline and you won’t be able to figure out what has caused the delay. It could be just a distraction from your phone or your TV. Usually, we come to regret procrastination, it usually never ends well.

Why Do People Procrastinate?

• The attention span of an average person is measured in seconds. This means that we are easily distracted and we find pleasure in short term fixtures. It could easily be from scrolling through social media, watching movies, seeing a game or even eating. We tend to get distracted just by the little things and we see tasks that require focus as tasking and stressful. And this is all because we can’t get the same dopamine high from the serious tasks like we get from the non serious ones. 

• Running away from what we presume as boring also is one of the reasons why people procrastinate. You see a task that requires you to engage intellectually as boring and discomforting and procrastination shields us against discomfort even though it usually makes things worse later.

• Fear of failure is also a leading cause of procrastination. Most people that procrastinate are scared and feel they are not good enough and whatever work or task they do won’t be good enough. This weighs heavily on people’s self esteem which then breeds procrastination. Ironically, waiting till the last minute often makes performance worse thereby making the fear grow worse.

• Often when faced with too many decisions, one can freeze or get temporary paralysis and this prevents you from doing what you’re supposed to do. This also create Fear in people’s minds because it makes you not know where to start from and how to do the tasks you have ahead

How To Avoid Procrastination

Time Management 

One of the most important things to do when trying to avoid procrastination is to manage your time well. To make this easy, you can opt for tolls such as asana, trello to help you plan your time well. This will allow you focus and keep you on your toes so you can easily get your tasks done as and when due.

Start Small

Beginning is the most difficult part when trying to overcome procrastination but when you actually start, you find yourself almost reaching the finish line. So, take it easy, start from the smallest of the tasks and work your way up step by step till you’re able to finish your tasks. You can break down the tasks and focus on the least when you start out. 

Reduce Distractions

Try to stay away from distractions. Remove everything around you that would make you distracted. You can move your phone into another room so you can focus on the task at hand. This would make it easier to start on your tasks

Reward Yourself

Build a reward system for yourself for when you finish your tasks. It can be as simple as getting yourself ice cream. Attaching this reward would make your brain learn to attach productivity with pleasure and this would make you happy to finish up your tasks

Handling and overcoming procrastination is hard work but when you do overcome it, your mind feels at peace and you feel free. The next time you feel yourself delaying things that you have to do, ask yourself, “How do I start small?, “What’s that first step that I have to take?”, “How do I reward myself for a job well done?”. This is just the beginning of the end of procrastination.