The Causes of Procrastination

Procrastination is not altogether bad. One good reason to procrastinate is that by procrastination you are assured of lots to do. If we could be happy with looking at what will not get done as tomorrow's adventure, we would not likely be concerned with either writing or reading articles on procrastination.

Procrastination is not about all the things that do not get done. We all leave many things undone, the constraints of time do not allow any other option, but we are not all procrastinators. What denotes a procrastinator is the effort put into attempting to do those things that either do not get done or get done only under the most difficult of circumstances. Procrastinators are not procrastinators because they are lazy, or slovenly nor because they are time-challenged.

Procrastinators may have difficulty meeting deadlines but it is not because they are unconcerned about them or incognizant of the chaos that results from missed schedules. Most people who do little and worry less do not fit the clinical definition of a procrastinator. Nor do the indolent see what they do as procrastination. A procrastinator in comparison knows what needs doing and understands when it has to be done and desperately would like to achieve his or her objectives. What denotes a procrastinator is the difficulty they have doing what they sincerely desire to do.

A major problem we see in a procrastinator is poor judgment regarding priorities. Dinner may need to be cooked but the procrastinator seeking to avoid the task continues to look at it as a task more appropriate for the future. In the meantime they become preoccupied with the exotic recipes and the colorful pictures in the recipe book. For most people the priority is to cook dinner. The procrastinator whose underlying objective is to avoid making dinner as long as possible, decides to make a statement and chooses dinner as the vehicle by which it will be made. Since he or she does not have the ingredients required to make the meal of their dreams, they become immobilized by indecision. They neither want to do what they dislike (scale down their objectives) nor do they have the means to do what they wish (amaze everyone with their culinary skills).

What is an ordinary task becomes an emotionally laden dilemma filled with anxiety and conflicting goals. Which in the end is their way of escaping from having to face the task of preparing a meal.
As the culinary artist struggles with this irresolvable dilemma time overcomes the threshold of the procrastinator's resistance. A disliked task is turned into desperate haste eclipsing g all possibility of the task being either pleasant or done properly. Yet if he or she had remained focused the task of cooking dinner could have been done with a minimum of fuss, as it generally is the world over.

Procrastinators get distracted because of their inadequate prioritization. They also look at the most simple of tasks such as making dinner as a huge, overwhelming job. From deciding what to cook to putting the last fork back in the cutlery drawer the procrastinator sees work as an uninterrupted flow of activity. The immensity of the task helps them justify avoiding the job until the last minute.

A more organized approach looks at complex jobs as several components each of which can be performed independent of the others.
All of these unpleasant emotions make the procrastinator dislike even thinking about what needs to be done. They are prone to forget and they are less likely than other people to plan. Today is spent catching up with yesterdays work.

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How Not To Procrastinate

HOW NOT TO PROCRASTINATE

Procrastination can affect your future. Setting goals and proper planning will help overcome postponement.
You cannot climb the ladder of success dressed in the costume of failure -- ZigZiglar.

Unfortunately, we all are obsessed with success and greater achievements. If a student gets few marks, we make him feel like it is the worst thing that could ever happen to a him or her. But there is always something we can learn from it.
This feeling of yours can affect your future studies because your negative thinking and attitude impair your ability to manage the situations you face. You mentioned that you didn't concentrate and work hard on studies due to recklessness and postponement. The occasional instance of wanting to sleep in late on a particular day or wanting to postpone studies to the next day after an exhausting day's work, is perfectly normal, and nothing to be alarmed by. But if an attitude or laziness and procrastination start creeping into every single aspect of your personal or professional life, then that certainly becomes matter of concern.
Postponement or procrastination is a complex psychological behavior that affects everyone to some degree or another. With some it can be a minor problem, with others it is a source of considerable stress and anxiety.
Although the problem may not appear that serious, it does have devastating effects on the life of the procrastinator. There is a feeling of weakness and helplessness accompanied by the frustration of not being able to take control of one's life. The strategies to overcome procrastination can help you attain a peace of mind, a feeling of being in control and sense of personal freedom. With few minor adjustments procrastination can be tackled.

Steps to overcome:
1. Realize that you are delaying tasks unnecessarily.
2. Discover the real reasons for your delay. List them.
3. Dispute those real reasons and overcome them.
4. Begin the task.

Here are a few simple ways to overcome procrastination:

1. Setting Goals and Priorities:
Goal setting and prioritizing things is an important step in overcoming laziness. Often it happens that we are lazy or indifferent about doing some particular task or activity simply because we are not clear in our minds about its priority, importance, value or significance. So set specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound (SMART) goals. This can help in overcoming any postponement associated with studying.
2. Plan the day:
Most important micro skill required to avoid procrastination is proper planning. It is important that you plan your day and allocate a specific time and duration for your studies. To help you better understand. If you have three subjects to cover every day, better plan your day accordingly.
3. Motivation:
Lack of motivation coupled with insufficient inspiration, is another major reason for postponement of studies. If you are not motivated enough about doing a particular task, then naturally, you will have difficulty accomplishing or completing that task in time, and with sincerity or genuineness. Motivation is directly related to positivity and an internal driving force to do or achieve something.
4. Mental Discipline:
Strong mental discipline is as important as being motivated is. You may have the motivation or the inner drive to take up a particularly long and complex task, but it is a strong mind and good mental discipline that will ensure that you do not quit halfway through the job, and that you complete what you have begun.
5. Break down into shorter tasks:
The size of a pending task is enough to depress a person. However, rather than dwelling on its daunting size and effort, break up the task, into smaller manageable tasks. This makes it easier to create an action plan. Start off with the smaller, quicker tasks which will give you sense of achievement and motivation to help you work further.
6. Beat the stress:
The feeling of constant stress and pressure makes it hard for you to study. While it is good to stick to a schedule, overdoing things can add to the stress. Instead, give yourself a break and do things which are not that overwhelming. This allows you to de-stress and clear off the mind clutter before you can proceed with the studies.
7. Treat yourself:
Being stuck to one task and developing the negative feelings of being trapped can leave you frustrated and overworked. Giving yourself time off from the hectic schedule and treating yourself small rewards allows you enjoy the task at hand.
8. Remove distractions:
Distractions are often the source for procrastination and the sole reason for laziness. We often get attracted by the distractions ( TV, internet, etc.) as my primary task studying seemed boring. Whatever it is that distracts you (and I'm sure you know exactly what is distracting you when you have to study, work or need to get things done) remove it!
9. Perfectionism:
If you keep unrealistically high expectations or standards, it creates a high degree of dissatisfaction and frustration because seldom is anything accomplished absolutely. Such attitudes may mask problems of self-esteem and self-confidence.

How to Resolve:
-Strive for excellence not perfection.
-Try self-reassurance that this effort or version will be good enough.
-Make an effort to praise what you have done.

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7 Magical Ways To Stop Procrastination

What can you do to stop procrastination when it won't let you finish a job?

There are a number of techniques to help you stop procrastination once and for all. If you can stop procrastination in your life just think about what you could accomplish and how much better you would feel.

People who procrastinate in excess are prone to feelings of guilt, anxiety and powerlessness. Why does procrastination occur?

It could be as a result of not wanting to do things or of not being able to do things. It could also be a result of fear. Many of us fear failure as well as success. Still others procrastinate simply because it works for them.

Procrastination is not something we should live with. When procrastination occurs, nothing gets done. And when nothing gets done due to procrastination, that's when we feel down and worthless.

Feeling this way may be avoided with a number of techniques designed to stop procrastination:

1. You can stop procrastination by getting organized. Being unorganized leads to chaos and feelings of being overwhelmed. Stop procrastination by organizing your life.

2. Breakdown tasks into manageable units to stop procrastination. Smaller tasks are less overwhelming that large jobs.

3. Have discipline. Allow your desire for success to overcome your desire to put things off.

4. Positive motivation. Talk yourself up with encouraging quotes. Even very successful people feed their minds with positive input each day.

5. Get someone else´s help to stop procrastination. Ask someone to hold you accountable for completion of a task you have been procrastinating about.

For example, if you are putting off cleaning the garage ask you wife to question you about when it will be completed several days before the due date.

6. Do the easiest or most enjoyable task first so that you get off to a good start. This works for some people while the opposite works for others. Some people like to get the unpleasant work out of the way so they can enjoy the rest.

7. Giving yourself a deadline can stop procrastination.

Procrastination should not be something you should live with. Successful people do not tend to procrastinate, instead, they stop procrastination because they know what needs to get done must get done.

It is not because they necessarily enjoy the unpleasant tasks which others procrastinate about but rather the strength of their desire for success is greater than their desire to procrastinate.

Procrastination should not be a hindrance to achieving your goal. Take a moment to recognize the signs and do something to overcome it and stop procrastination.

If you begin by rewarding yourself for small successes and stop punishing yourself when you do procrastinate you will be able to develop new habits that, in time, will help stop procrastination.

The Three Best Tips for Overcoming Procrastination

We all procrastinate from time to time. However, some people are chronic procrastinators, and their procrastination takes a huge toll on the quality of their lives. Here are some of the characteristics of people who have a problem with procrastination:

- They are constantly late turning in their work assignments, and their opportunities for advancement are limited because of this. Not only do they hand their work in late, but, because they leave things until the very last minute, they usually turn in poor-quality work.
- Their friends and family members are constantly complaining that they're always late, and that they don't live up to their commitments.
- They have lots of ideas, but these ideas seldom make it past the drawing board stage. Even if they do get started with some of their ideas, they leave most projects half-finished.

If you recognize yourself in any of the three scenarios above, take solace in the knowledge that there are steps you can take in order to overcome procrastination. This article presents the three best tips for overcoming procrastination.

Chunk Down Big Projects

One of the reasons why people procrastinate is because they're overwhelmed by the size of the tasks that they have to take on, and they're not sure how to get started. Therefore, they prefer to work on unimportant tasks which don't take much time to complete, so that they can feel a sense of accomplishment at having gotten something done.

If your to-do list is filled with large tasks, such as, write a novel, declutter your apartment, or start a web site, it's no wonder that you feel overwhelmed. Try breaking down these tasks into much smaller pieces. When you have to face a small task, you won't be overwhelmed by it, and it's very likely that you'll do it.

For example, if you want to declutter your apartment, write down in your day planner that on Wednesday, at 10:00 a.m., you're going to declutter your top desk drawer. Once you do that, write down that on Thursday, at 8:00 a.m., you're going to declutter your second desk drawer. Continue in this way until you've decluttered your whole apartment.

Remove All Distractions

A second common cause of procrastination is becoming distracted by other things while you're trying to work on something that's important to you. As an illustration, you might be working on a report that your boss wants on his desk in two days. However, whenever you start working on the report, the following happens:

- You hear the "ding" that signifies that you got an email, so you interrupt your work to read it.
- Your phone rings, and you answer it.
- Someone sends you an instant message, and you decide to respond.

When you're constantly being interrupted by emails, phone calls, and instant messages, you won't get the important work done. Therefore, before you start working on that report, try to free your environment of all interruptions. Shut down your email and IM applications, set your phone so that your calls are directed to voice mail, and turn off anything else that might distract you.

Reward Yourself

Another way to get yourself to get to work on the tasks that are important to you is by giving yourself constant rewards. For example, if you're going to write a novel, write down in your day planner that you're going to write every morning, for an hour and a half. Then, each morning, after you've completed your writing for that day, treat yourself to a cappuccino and a scone at your favorite café.

Conclusion

By breaking large tasks down into small pieces, rewarding yourself each time that you complete one of these small tasks, and creating an interruption-free environment, you'll soon be able to overcome procrastination. You'll be a completely different person: one who gets things done on time and keeps their commitments.

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The Top Ten Ways to Stop Procrastinating Now

Procrastination (Photo credit: Reynante Martinez)

10. Procrastination Condemnation - Lose the Labels! All those things you call
yourself, such as lazy, scattered, disorganized, not good enough, incompetent,
or stupid, for example, aren't helping you get things done, are they? You've
learned to believe them, and you think they've become something of a
self-fulfilling prophecy. If you look around yourself, though, you'll see
evidence that you can accomplish quite a number of things without delay.

9. Procrastination Exaggeration - Are you really procrastinating, or are you
simply focusing on other priorities? It's possible that those things you're not
doing shouldn't get done until sometimes later, perhaps not at all. Focus on
only the most significant areas first, and the rest will come.

8. Procrastination Temptation - If you hang out with people who coax you to 
procrastinate, it's time to start surrounding yourself with better examples. If 
you know certain that situations are too enticing and will lure you from 
following through, create a work-around plan that will help you prevent yourself 
from "taking the bait".

7. Procrastination Alienation - Recognize that you're not alone, and are, in 
fact, in excellent company. Most people procrastinate about something, 
sometimes about many things. In a recent survey on procrastination, almost 1/3 
of respondents who identified themselves as procrastinators had a 
post-graduation or higher education.

6. Procrastination Inclination - At the moment you are about to procrastinate, 
stop for just a moment to acknowledge the pattern, even if you continue on to 
put off whatever you were going to do. Awareness and acceptance that these are 
your current patterns is a necessary step in procrastination extermination.

5. Procrastination Perspiration - You probably think that the only way to stop 
procrastinating is to use will power and discipline. While that certainly can 
work, it can cost you a lot of energy and struggle. By allowing yourself to 
begin recognizing what is specifically in the way of following through, and 
creating simple new patterns, progress is pretty painless and immediate. 

4. Procrastination Exploration - What is your procrastination costing you? Do 
you have a procrastination reputation? Do you continually have to make 
procrastination explanations or reparations to others? Are you in 
procrastination isolation so nobody will know what you're not doing? Is your 
credit history in procrastination degradation because of paying bills late? Are 
you in procrastination desperation because you might lose your job or 
significant relationships? Sometimes understanding how badly you're paying and 
in exactly what ways can provoke you to seek assistance.

3. Procrastination Consultation - Talk with friends about how they overcame 
procrastination. Buddy with them on their own projects, holding each other 
accountable to get things done. Hire a procrastination coach, someone who has 
worked with hundreds of people and not only knows about procrastination 
generation, but has helped many veteran procrastinators with procrastination 
renunciation.

2. Procrastination Transformation - nothing helps you achieve more easily than 
knowing all the steps you need to take, having a plan to take them, scheduling 
that plan into your calendar, creating incentives to make following through more 
attractive (and consequences to make it less attractive!), and putting some 
accountability supports into place. This, combined with a simple 
procrastination meditation, will get you back on track quickly and easily.

1. Procrastination Emancipation - Once you've fully understood that one of the 
big reasons you have been procrastinating is that you're focusing only on 
finishing (and that's too daunting) you'll begin to instead concentrate on 
starting, which is a much more approachable and manageable way to get thing 
done. All you need to do is keep starting, and finishing will take care of 
itself.

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