A key hurdle in accomplishing goals is procrastination. Procrastination can be defined as the process of consciously choosing to ignore or putting off tasks that you should be working on right now, usually in favor of doing something that promises immediate gratification.
The obvious costs of procrastination are a loss of financial income, losing opportunities, poor relationships, long work hours, bad lifestyle choices, frustration, resentment and finally missing out on living your life purpose.
So given the obvious discomforts associated with procrastination, what compels us to continue this behavior, and how can we deal with this?
1. Feeling Overwhelmed – There is simply too much to do, too many directions to follow and too many thoughts cluttering your mind. Stop. Take a step back. The solution is not to plunge in and then struggle to come up for air, but to take conscious, deliberate, baby steps. Make a list to start with, ranking each task in order of importance.
2. Being lazy – Laziness is often a symptom and not the cause. Find out why you are feeling lazy. Is it a habit you have picked up or is it a momentary feeling? If it is momentary, the causes might include fatigue, sudden lifestyle changes or some major underlying reason which you are ignoring. Address them and then get to work. If your laziness has become a chronic condition, the solution is to simply disengage with your consistent thought pattern by creating a diversion. An example of a diversion would be to position your alarm clock at least six feet away from the bed. This way you have to physically get up in order to shut it. Once up you are more likely to do what you need to do – exercise, pray or get ready for work.
3. Lack of willpower – Exercising your willpower is like exercising your muscles. You build it through consistent practice. Start with making small commitments and ensure you consistently practice them for at least 30 days. Once you stick to a practice for 30 days, it will establish a neural pathway in your brain and, with time, make your commitments seem effortless.
4. Create goals that are energizing – Do your goals arouse passion, curiosity, and excitement? Do they make your toes curl up in anticipation? Do they create a burning desire? Having an exciting goal creates the adrenaline rush within you to brush past distractions and challenges to achieve the impossible.
5. Fear of failure –We procrastinate because we are scared of failure. In fact, perfectionists often become procrastinators because they are scared to create an imperfect product. Similarly, fear of success might also deter us, as it might demand more from us. So we end up doing unimportant stuff. But both fears suppress self-development.
6. Dismiss distractions – Ignore all distractions that are irrelevant, purposeless and energy sapping. Before starting any important task, create a distraction-free atmosphere. Put your phone on voicemail, shut off the social media, close the door, make the customary coffee cup in advance to avoid any last minute urges and then settle down for the task.
7. Delegate – Sometimes we procrastinate at a task because we are simply not good at it. Instead of treating this as an ego challenge, acknowledge the fact that not everyone is good at everything and that everyone is good at something. So if you are not good at something and do not see the value in picking up a particular skill set, delegate it to someone who is good at it.
Finally, procrastination, like all habits, can be replaced with more productive behaviors with diligent and consistent actions.