Procrastination means when we put off our task pending to do another work or simply to sit free and enjoy. When the task is stressful we try to delay it and get our self-busy in some other work. The results of this act is very bad, as it may make your mind full of anxiety and you are full of guilt when you are not able to finish the assigned work in time. Procrastination increases when we are given a lot of time for small work. We think that there is lot of time left we can complete it later. At the end day of the assignment we just hurry to finish the work but unfortunately are not able to do it. In the student’s life it is seen the most as 70% of the students are found to procrastinate and leave their work pending. You may have heard the word Student Syndrome which means when person starts the work when there is deadline. When we procrastinate we tend to give our minds different reasons like distraction when we worked, comparing ourselves with someone who is lower, laziness etc. Many people know that they are procrastinating but cannot help it. So here are some of the ways you can avoid procrastination and make your life fast and successful.
1. Make Full Plans, To Do lists and Create deadlines
The only way to be successful in life is to not procrastinate. The only way to not procrastinate is planning. Planning can be done by making to do lists and marking the self-made deadlines in it. Like making deadline of completing project 2 days before submission. Planning should be done properly that how every minute. To Do list can be made in your mobile, so that you can update it whenever needed and also do not forget the work. Even it makes an impact on mind to finish the to- do list whenever it is created. The deadlines should be followed strictly and must be really adhered to. One cannot take advantage of planning if he is not serious towards completing the assigned material.
2. Publicize Your Plans
This is actually the best encouragement which can be given to anyone. How, let me tell you. Just make an announcement of your plans and attention to your family and friends. So that whenever you are bit lazy they can boost you up. To stand on their expectations I am sure any person would do hard work. If they are not boosting you and criticizing you, it will be helpful as you will come back on track and become enthusiastic about completing your work. When you are criticized and become embarrassed it can be taken as a great motivator. So motivate yourself with small things even if they are negative. This is really the success mantra of life.
3. Tempt Yourself
It is very important in a way to tempt yourself. You may set a goal in front of you. After you accomplish it you can give yourself any award of your choice. This is just like tying fruits and grass in front of a donkey to make it run. If you are not able to complete your work you yourself would not take the assigned reward. This will help and encourage you to complete the work in time and side by side enjoy your rewards.
4. Waiting for Perfect Situation
It is the most foolish thing to do. People think that may be it is not a perfect time to start a project. They make excuses that they are not having the main equipment to start. They need the space and also the time at once. We think that the situations are not favorable and hence let us start the work when everything is according to us. But that is never going to happen. There is always going to be less than perfect conditions and this leads to never ending procrastination. So do not wait and just jump in your assignment then only the situation will favor you and time will also be taken up because no angel is going to come and tell you when to work.
5. Evaluate the Timing
It means to take count of the time which you are taking for doing your assignment. When we asses the time taken by us to complete a particular work we can plan our work very well. Hence when other job comes we can take some estimation of time which you will take to complete your work and work according to it. It will help you in better planning which is actually key for beating procrastination. You have to learn the art of monitoring time and then only you would be able to make plans.
6. Concentrate on Your Work
Many a times you sit to do your work and after an hour you see that you only wrote three lines. That is because of distraction. It may be from TV and internet. It turns into procrastination as when you see after 15 minutes that you have not written a word you just close the book and loose all hope. To tackle this you can write and take short brakes. That will actually save your time because you would be attentive when you are doing your work and even you would get a break when you are tired. Try to not get distracted by the movies and net and stay away from them.
7. Set Your Preferences
It’s a tendency of the human mind to do those things first which are easier. It keeps on telling you to do the things which you are interested in. So, many persons try to do the things which are easier and sometimes less important and the mind gets a justification for not doing that work. So we have to teach our mind that the more important works are to be finished first even if we don’t like them. We should not make excuses and just keep us away from the work we should be doing. Also the light work must be saved for the last so you can enjoy those moments at full.
8. Do Not Try to Be Perfect
Many times people leave the work pending because they want their work to be perfect. But that is not possible. We should just start doing our work without trying to be perfect. It is obvious that we will come in flow after some time we have started. So do not try to be in a perfect flow in the beginning as it is not possible. Even if the sentences does not make sense then to continue? If you are lacking somewhere you can correct it afterwards. We should know that we can’t be perfect at first attempts. So bad material is better than no material at all. You can make rough drafts first which will help you to make the final project. Do not fear if anything goes wrong as drafts are rough and are not meant to be perfect.
9. Get Started
Procrastination happens only when you are afraid of your work. When you do not know how to start your work you start procrastinating your work. The only solution to stop this is to get started. Like when you are writing any article or any other thing, just do not think and write the first three words the thoughts will only then continue and form sentences. So just jump in the task and only then your mind would be fully engaged. Or else if you do not follow it and just try to think of a suitable time of writing, I am telling you that time will never come. So the best way is to stop this and jump into the work.
10. Break Up The Task
Whenever you get a big project, do not think that it is so big you would not be able to complete it. Of course you cannot complete it in a day. So this leads to procrastination. To avoid this type of procrastination you can break your work in small pieces and assign yourselves with equal proportion of work a day. This will help us to complete the task in time. Ad no longer will the big projects scare you. The task of breaking the assignment is yours and makes it simple so that you can do it. But beware do not make it too simple because that will lead to another procrastination. It will really lower down your stress as all the work would not be accumulated at the last days only.
This should have been 10 Tips on how Not to Procrastinate. Many of your tips are really aimed at lazy people not procrastinators. Some people think procrastination is a mental problem. I’ll look that up and send you the data – Tomorrow!!