5 Ways to Overcome Procrastination and Stay On-Track with Your Goals

1. Recognize the Signs of Procrastination

Procrastination is a very common human behaviour. It is also a major reason for stress in the workplace and life, in general, We need to recognize the signs of procrastination and take steps to prevent it. We can do this by setting goals and breaking them down into smaller, achievable tasks. This will help us to see the progress we are making and stay motivated. We should also take time out of our day to do something that we enjoy, even if it’s just for 10 minutes. This will help our mind focus on something else other than work and make us less likely to put off tasks until later in the day or tomorrow.

A lot of people say that it comes from the Latin term procrastinating, meaning to delay or postpone. It was originally associated with laziness, but it is now understood as a healthy strategy for tackling tasks.

2. Develop a Plan to Combat Procrastination

It’s hard to know where to start when you’ve procrastinated. But, first things first, you need to let go of the idea that it’s not possible to change. There are many different tools and techniques that we can use in order to help you get a grip and stay motivated.

So what is so difficult about overcoming procrastination?

Procrastination is a problem that affects people of all ages and backgrounds. The causes of procrastination vary from person to person, but the negative consequences can be universal. We all know that feeling, when we’re sitting at our desk, staring at the post-it note with what we should do written on it and thinking “I’ll just do that tomorrow”. We know that feeling well. a new study reveals that people who procrastinate may have changes in their brains that could lead to a greater risk of being diagnosed with mental illness in the future. Specifically, some areas of the brain associated with depression and anxiety are more likely to be activated when people are struggling with self-control due to procrastination, according to researchers at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine.”It seems like for these people, once they’re in a bad mood, they just don’t have the ability to get themselves out of it and this can be a problem because these are brain areas that are associated with feeling sad, hopeless and dysphoric,” said lead researcher George Ainslie. When people struggle with procrastination, their mood may be altered as well as their ability to control many other behaviours.

3. Create a Time Management Strategy

The best time management strategy is the one that works for you. A number of different approaches exist and it can be beneficial to experiment with a few of them in order to figure out which one will work best for you. These may include breaking down challenging tasks into smaller, more manageable pieces and setting goals or keeping a to-do list to stay on track. Another option to avoid procrastination is to break up your day into different parts in order to avoid stressing yourself out. For example, you might not be able to handle all your tasks at once so instead have breakfast and lunch, then tackle the never-ending list of tasks and then get ready for bed.

4. Tackle a Task that Seems Difficult at First but is Actually Easier Than You Think

It can be easy to think of tasks as either hard or easy. But that’s not the case. There are many tasks that seem difficult at first but are actually easier than you think.

It might be a task you have been avoiding for so long because it seemed too difficult to do, but in reality, it’s not as bad as you thought. Finishing this task will lift some weight off your shoulders and it will improve your self-esteem, which in return will boost your motivation.

We often assume that tasks are either easy or hard, but this is not the case. There are many tasks that seem difficult at first but are actually easier than we had expected them to be.

5. Learn How to Break Down Big Tasks into Smaller Ones That are Easier to Manage

Breaking down big tasks into smaller, more manageable tasks is a great way to help someone else be more successful. Breaking down big tasks into smaller steps reduces the feeling of being overwhelmed. This on its own helps us to reduce procrastination. It’s not always easy to figure out how to do this, but by following these four steps, you’ll have the answer:

– Determine what the task is

– Break it down into small, manageable pieces

– Set timelines for each piece

– Get help and support from others to complete the task

Procrastination is seen as a bad companion in the corporate world and indeed can have some undesirable consequences. However to beat procrastination once and for all, we need to find out what are the underlying issues and work on them. Quite often the underlying issues for procrastination are perfectionism, low self-confidence, feeling not enough and internal stress.

If you are still feeling stuck and you need help to stop procrastinating, book your session with me