Everyone procrastinates. Sometimes it’s fun to procrastinate. Sometimes waiting till just before a deadline is incredibly motivating. And sometimes procrastination is even necessary — to put off a dreaded task until we feel more energetic, prepared, or able to do it.
But eventually, chronic procrastinating will hamper job performance. It will also affect our mood and state of mind by generating worry, fear, or added stress. Perhaps most serious for people in a leadership position, procrastinating may cause our peers and employees to feel that we’re holding up progress.
If procrastination has become a problem for you—and you want to try these tips to stop procrastinating to change your behavior so you can be more productive. An added benefit is that you’ll feel more upbeat, less worried and stressed, and more confident about your reputation and effectiveness.
Put it in Writing.
Write down the task you’ve been putting off. Doing this brings the project to the front of your mind so you can’t easily ignore it.
Delete Unimportant Work
Out of the many things, you must do every day, there are certain tasks that are not important enough to get your attention. This calls for prioritizing work based on their importance. Therefore, you must delete or do away with work which is not important and concentrate only on important work. If you do this, your life will become simpler and you won’t be so tempted to procrastinate.
Act NOW
Whenever you put off things for a later time, you feel anxious about how and when it is going to be accomplished. Therefore, it is best to do easy tasks as early as possible to make sure the feeling of anxiety is wiped off.
Ask For Advice
Sometimes, it is very important to just ask advice from a mentor, friend, coach or expert. They may show you ways of doing work more effectively which will reduce your time and increase productivity. This will help get work done quickly and in turn, avoid the need to procrastinate.
Break up Tasks
Sometimes, people feel scared to start work because the sheer volume of work seems to be so overwhelming. You will be surprised at how ridiculously simple work can look if you just break or chop up tasks in small parts. It also helps you concentrate on different aspects of the jobs in a better way.
Make clear Deadlines
Always set clear deadlines or milestones to get work done by. In fact, let your close friends or family members know of these deadlines. If you do, they will always hold you accountable if you stray away from your target.
Praise Each Little Step
If you are working hard to become successful, there is no reason why you should not reward yourself. Every time, you reach a milestone in your work, give yourself a little something, maybe a cool new haircut or pampering at the spa. Hard work should always be rewarded so that you are motivated to do better.
Make yourself distraction-free:
Make sure you work in a place or an environment that is conducive to getting work done quietly and more effectively. Also, make sure you are with people who motivate you rather than distract you from the work you are doing. This will help get work done faster and avoid the need to procrastinate
Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle. Abraham Lincoln