Ways to Overcome Procrastination

Procrastination is a habit to put off doing the important tasks until the last possible moments which should have been already accomplished on an urgent basis. The habit of procrastination prevents the person from fulfilling their unique potential and discovers the true strength. So, it is worthwhile to eliminate the habit of procrastination to increase one's own productivity and become successful in life.

Procrastination is not considered problematic when it acts as a catalyst to increase the productivity. Most of the people procrastinate to get refreshed because they cannot keep on working hard for a long time at one stretch. They delay the important task for a certain period of time, so that they can get back to work with more vigor. Therefore, putting off the work for a fixed period of time to increase focus and productivity is very much normal, the problem only starts when the act of delay gets longer and tasks become difficult to get completed smoothly in times.

Putting off important tasks, you do not like to do, but you are supposed to do, make you feel guilty, stressed and frustrated. However, if you somehow manage to accomplish the task, it will raise your self-esteem and that in turn make you feel happy and worthy. So, it is all about showing love for self to figure out the reason for procrastination and chart out the strategy to overcome it.

Basic Reasons for Procrastination

Procrastination is a byproduct of avoiding uncomfortable situation. Almost everyone falls victim of procrastination at some point or another, no matter how much disciplined and punctual a person is. We, human being, tend to live in our comfort zone and avoid the pain of uncomfortable situations. Moreover, here are some of the basic reasons for procrastination:

Fear of failure
Feels like not doing anything
Being overwhelmed by the task
Task seems boring and unpleasant
Pressure of perfection

Tips to Overcome Procrastination

Once you figure out the reason for your procrastination, you would be able to chart out the effective strategy to overcome procrastination. Some of the common strategies are as follows:

Increase Your Level of Motivation

Figure out benefits of tasks which you are supposed to do but consciously or unconsciously, you are putting it off. Unless you do not have enough reason to invest your valuable time and energy to do something then it will be hard to get it done. It is easy to do something; you have really strong reasons.

Increasing the level of motivation is the effective strategy to counter the fear of failure, which is one of the most prevailing reasons for procrastination. When the level of motivation gets increased procrastination will be a thing of the past because you will not put off the work you love to do. By our very basic nature, we, human being, most of the time, choose to avoid the task by putting it off whenever we feel like messing it up because of lack of motivation and hurt our ego by bringing failure in life.

However, the fact is that failure is a very much natural part of successful life. It is the failure which paves the road to success. All the extraordinary achievement of human being from mode of transports to medium of communications is a result of those scientists who dare to step ahead from the fear of failure.

Gather Courage to Start

Taking the first step is essential to get any task completed. You just need to gather your courage and force yourself to start the task. You should not wait until you get motivated and feel like doing it to start. No one is stopping you from doing what you are supposed to do. To wait for the motivation and have to feels like doing the task is an excuse to procrastinate the important task and gathering the courage to start is the best strategy to counter it.

Break Down the Big Task into Small Sizes

Being overwhelmed by the sheer size of the task is the most likely cause for most of the people to procrastinate. It is very much natural to have hard time to keep yourself engaged in a task when you do not have the clear vision of what you need to do next. So breaking down the big task into small manageable sizes is essential to keep the motivation level high and overcomes the habit of procrastination by being overwhelmed.

Compete with Yourself

When the task appears boring and unpleasant, you need to make it entertaining by adding thrill into it. The best way to add the thrill in a boring and unpleasant task is by competing with self. Suppose, if it takes your two hours to complete one assignment, then you can challenge yourself to get it completed in one hour and fifty minutes to add thrill in it and keep on increasing the challenge for yourself to get things done in less time. That will not only make the work entertaining, but you also get it done more smoothly and earlier.

Stop Trying to Be Perfect

The self-imposed pressure to complete the task with perfection is one of the most valid reasons for most of the people to procrastinate their task to achieve their most desired goals in life. The best way to deal with perfectionism is to stop trying to be perfect and embrace imperfection with dignity because after all we, human beings are not perfect by our very own definition.

Hence, if you want to see yourself as a successful with worthwhile achievements in life, you need to eliminate the tendency of procrastination. So motivate yourself to gather the courage to take first step to accomplish your most desired task of your life smoothly and early by keeping on challenging yourself without the pressure of perfection or waiting to feel like doing it.