How to stop procrastination and turn it into a productive notion
When you are here, you are probably trying to escape procrastination, Your big question is how to stop procrastination. Do not worry!! We’ve got you covered, we will ensure to turn your procrastination into a productive notion.
Procrastination is a state of mind where you deliberately postpone the work! You know it, you got to do it today. But with or without knowledge you postpone doing the same. At an individual level, everyone postpones work that they don’t like, But procrastination is postponing a task on regular basis. Recognize the difference delaying a task once is OK, but are you continuing to do so consistently?
Imagine you come to the office thinking to start your day afresh, but suddenly a meme pops on your mobile and you get so indulged!! A precious hour is lost!!
Could you have experienced this? Do not conceal; everyone would have been affected. However, how did you make up for this kind of circumstance? Beating yourself and stretching at work for a mobile hour! in fact, was this a solution?! but what about the work’s quality? Did it meet your expectations, or were you just rushing to get it done?
Reasons for procrastinating your work?
To search for the reason for procrastination you need a deep down run into your below attributes
Physical well being
Do you neglect your physical well-being? This quality may be quite important if your profession requires physical activity!
I went to an orthopedic doctor because I was feeling persistent pain in my ankle, and he asked me, “How long have you been experiencing this pain?” that got to me. I was clueless. I was unaware of my physical well-being, hence. I was forced to abandon my preparations for a group hike due to my carelessness. You can be dealing with a persistent pain that you would have ignored and put off doing the chore.
Burn out from work
Burnout is a constant reminder that you are not taking care of your emotional being!
You might be stressed emotionally and taking excuses and your creativity is declining which is visible to everyone. Possibly you are under burnout!
Burnout is a state where you accept more jobs than you could handle and now you are stressed mentally. It is a state of self-sacrificing where you can’t say ‘NO’ for the tasks assigned over the above limit. After a period of constant juggling in the job to maintain and reach the target, you would have reached a position where you would feel you can’t do it anymore! You feel less accomplished and not worthy of this job. This can be emotionally draining and make your self-esteem down the drain. Burnout is more of an emotional state than physical well-being.
Lack of motivation
Motivation is a call from within to do a work?
You start waking up early if you are motivated to go to the gym, the same way if you are not motivated, you just give excuses to the gym!
Might be you not motivated only by this particular task? Lack of motivation can be a big deal in handling a job. Less motivated you might find reasons to avoid the task or you would not be giving your cent percent for the task. You would be procrastinating and pushing the tasks for tomorrow and eventually pile up stuff and struggle to complete it.
So we have a policy at First Floor, where we have one to one meeting and pop the question individually ” Are you motivated for this job?” or do you need any change in the department? This synergy has helped a lot in the performance of many individuals.
Not in sync
For a few days or a few moments, you don’t feel in sync with the team. The entire team might be running towards a flow but you would have lost the syn and struggled back. Communication barriers can be a possible reason for not being in sync with your team. This can be one of the major reasons for procrastination and feeling to be left out.
So we discovered the possible reason for procrastination but what are the ways to exit it and run on the high way of performance? Every individual including many achievers has been there and reached a rough surface of mental ambiguity. But beating this feeling and emerging as an achiever is what makes them successful!
A great feeling of achievement is memorized when a task is completed on time. Don’t run behind the clock and push tasks tomorrow. It is difficult to run on a frontline but it is not impossible.
Here are a few tips on how to stop Procrastination
Forgive
A big step toward overcoming procrastination is forgiving yourself. I know you had an issue of procrastinating the tasks in the past but carrying the baggage to the future burdens you more. This is a step of self-realization, where you accept that you have had difficulty completing tasks earlier and now you are giving time for yourself to heal and are working on yourself to create an environment to stay up to date to complete the tasks on time.
This self-realization can be a life-changing time where you accept your mistake with a few of your friends/teammates and eventually move on for a better tomorrow.
Take in charge of being a productive notion
Now you have realized you have been procrastinating, and even forgiven yourself for it. To overcome the guilt commit to the commitment you have taken, take the responsibility for completing the tasks on time, and make firm assurance that you will be back on track. There are simple tips to follow to overcome delaying and postponing the tasks set a few reminders on mobile or task manager to see the status of the task completion. Planning your day prior and noting all the tasks to be completed is the essence of being productive and managing your procrastination better.
Writing down the work to be completed and assigning the deadline is a smart way to tackle procrastination on the individual level.
Choose your Reward
It is always tempting to set a reward for the completion of a particular task. Imagine I am having jamoon post-completion of this blog! I know looking up for something post completing a job can be rewarding you might even try and finish the task within or even before the assigned time. Feel free to choose your reward and choose something you are waiting for.
Pent up the peer pressure
Imagine you are running a race and there is no first or last position! Then you would not put your effort to reach the destination before someone. In the same way, peer pressure can be a catalyst for better performance.
When you are handling your procrastination on a personal level ask someone to check up on you at regular intervals. This can create pressure to complete the task before your peer approaches you for the report.
Assign your personal TAT
The companies have their own Turn Around Time (TAT) but how about having your tat? This can be a personal monitor imposed by yourself on the task assigned to you. Attend all the tasks when they are assigned instead of piling them up for tomorrow. This can act as a medium, for you to start afresh tomorrow with the new tasks.
Personalize your internal dialogue
When you talk to yourself about a particular activity, pick your words carefully. For example, if you tell yourself, “I have no choice,” you can feel less empowered and the statements could be self-defeating. Instead, use phrases like “I shall” or “I chose to,” etc. which makes you feel more empowered. Your subconscious mind hears what you say to yourself and brings it to pass.
Disconnect to Reconnect
Disconnect from all sources of distraction, including your phone, email, music, etc., and reconnect to focus fully on the task at hand. Detoxing from technology might help you reconnect with your inner self.
Conquer your least liked task
Always begin the day with the challenging task and work your way toward the enjoyable task. This will allow you to complete the challenging assignment quickly and go on to the enjoyable task at the end of the day.
I know procrastination can make you look like a lazy hog, but you need to be lazy to procrastinate. Time management and managing your inner emotion can ease the sensitivity of procrastination. If you are an individual who is a victim of procrastination, just read this article and try to inculcate the simple steps to overcome it.
But if your entire team is procrastinating a particular task? How will you handle it? What will you do?
Here is a situation at First Floor where the team was procrastinating a particular task! And yes, we overcame it and worked our way! Read the journey of overcoming it in the below link