How to overcome Procrastination

How to overcome Procrastination

To know how to overcome procrastination first we need to understand what it is.

Have you ever unnecessarily and voluntarily delayed or postponed something that you were fully aware was important? That is what is defined as procrastination.

It has happened to me recently. On one of these days, I had plenty of time to finish important tasks on my agenda but instead of doing so, I did everything else and let time and opportunities pass. In fact, this is the reason why I have been researching into procrastination and I have decided to write this blog post.

The truth is that we all put things off from time to time and some authors, such as Rory Vaden in his book “Procrastinate on Purpose”, affirm that procrastinating until the time is right can have a positive impact on our business and our life.

However, procrastinating just for the sake of it can have a negative impact on those running businesses. Let’s say that you have to produce a business report that allows you to analyse the next step to take in your business, but you don´t. Instead, you keep running your business as usual. The chances that one day you will wake up in huge trouble are huge. According to the online magazine Micro Biz Mag, 84% of us are affected to some degree by procrastination. The first question is why does this happen?

Why do we procrastinate?

A lot of studies and books suggest that the main reasons why we procrastinate are:

1. Fear of doing wrong/failing and being judged

Worrying about doing something wrong, being taken as incompetent or not meeting expectations may cause us to never want to finish some tasks. In doing so, our ability can never be judged.

2. Wanting fast and quick progress

This affects a lot of entrepreneurs starting their own businesses. A lot of effort is needed before starting our own business and in the first years. However, the results sometimes come slowly. After a while, there is the feeling that we are doing something wrong or we start questioning if the thing we are doing is even worth it. This feeling makes things seem harder therefore we lose our dedication.

3. Lack of a specific goal

Lack of clear goals makes us not know where to start, which direction to take so we procrastinate.

4. Doing tasks we don’t like

We can avoid doing a lot of tasks we don’t like, for example by delegating to a virtual assistant, but the truth is that sometimes we have to do these tasks and when that happens we are more likely to procrastinate.

5. Having too many options

Having too much to choose from can cause procrastination in two phases. Firstly we tend to seek out more and more information before making a decision. Then we get to the point we have too many choices that we feel unable to choose.

How to stop procrastinating

Stopping procrastination can be more complicated than we think. According to some psychologist experts in this area, procrastination is in our genes and is something we will keep falling into. Still, this does not mean that there is nothing we can do. There are several strategies that we can implement to help us to overcome procrastination.

• Prioritise

Use whatever kind of To-Do List, agenda, timetable or schedule that works best for you to write down what you need to do as a priority. The point is that you have to make sure you are progressing toward your goals.

• Start with the hardest and the most important task

If you start with easier and less important things, more important things get pushed back to the list again and again and could be postponed. As Brian Tracy put it in his book: “Eat That Frog! Get More Of The Important Things Done Today”.

• Break bigger tasks down

By breaking big tasks down we are making our task and goal more achievable and it is easier to see progress. If your goal is to write a book, first set out how many words to write per day, then how many pages per week and how many chapters per month. It is most likely by the end of the year you would have a book.

• Just start and remember we are not perfect

Some experts stated that probably telling a chronic procrastinator “just start” would not help them in any way. But the truth is that not all of us are chronic procrastinators, so basically all we need is action. Most of the time once we start something we are able to keep going.

Your reason for procrastinating and your way to overcome it may not be any of those I have chosen to list in this article. It is important to know yourself and identify the reason why you procrastinated and try to find the solution.

Note: I am not procrastination free, but I have been able to help my clients to implement techniques and methods that help them to stop or at least reduce procrastination, so together we can grow and reach success.  If you want to know more contact me email paula@a-f-ribeiro.com  or phone +44 7925067919

Books and articles referred or consulted to write this post:

Books

• The Procrastination Cure: 21 Proven Tactics for Conquering Your Inner Procrastinator, Mastering Your Time, and Boosting Your Productivity!
• Real Focus:Take control and start living the life you want
• Procrastinate On Purpose
• Eat That Frog! Get More Of The Important Things Done Today

Articles:

• 5 Ways to Finally Stop Procrastinating
• Procrastination: A Scientific Guide on How to Stop Procrastinating
• How to Stop Procrastinating (And the Numbers)
• How to Beat Procrastination As You Grow Your Business
• Procrastination or ‘intentional delay’?
• Procrastination gets the best of all of us, to the detriment of our work, happiness and health. But a new theory could provide us with the easiest way to kick the habit
• Why procrastination is about managing emotions, not time