“Procrastination is the voluntary postponement of an intended course of action despite having the opportunity to act and expecting to be worse off as a result of the delay”
The thief of time : Philosophical essays on procrastination / ed. by Chrisoula Andreou … (Eds.). – New York : Oxford University Press, 2010. – pp. 185-205
What actions have you been postponing despite having the time and knowing that getting them done would be a weight off your mind? What tasks are sitting at the back of your mind, stressing you out day after day? Do you put some tasks on the long finger and feel like you never seem to get things done? If so, maybe it’s time to see what’s really happening so that you can start ticking off items on your to-do lists, stop procrastinating and achieve your goals. In this post, I will give you 6 easy tips on how to overcome procrastination.
Think for a minute about that task that you just can’t bring yourself to start. What thoughts and feelings arise – a sense of overwhelm? Frustration? Anxiety? All of the above? Now, visualise that you have completed those tasks – what does it feel like?
Let’s take a deeper look at what happens in our brain when we procrastinate.
Consider for a moment the self-talk that happens in your head about the task and about yourself – I don’t know how to do it? It’s too big a job, I don’t have time? I’m afraid I’ll get it wrong? It’s boring? I don’t want to do it?
How do you view the task? Do you look at everything you hate about it? Do you look at the desired result or the steps to get there? How difficult it is? What are your self-beliefs about the task – I amn’t good enough? I’m afraid I’ll fail? I’m afraid I won’t be able to do it ?
Are these familiar feelings? If so, the truth is that these thoughts – self-limiting beliefs – are playing a huge role in preventing you from getting the job done. Negative self-talk, beliefs about yourself that make you feel you’re not good enough, not knowledgeable enough and so on, actually stop you from giving it a go.
So how can you change this?
Procrastination is essentially driven by perfectionism and/or fear of failure or of not achieving the level of success you want. So you don’t do it at all. That way you don’t fail, but neither do you succeed and the ultimate result is that it stays on your to-do list.
When you visualise the task that frequently ends up at the bottom of the list, all those self limiting beliefs kick in and tell you that you can’t do it so, you don’t even try because you believe what you’re telling yourself. Perhaps over many years – even going back to childhood – you have repeated to yourself or someone has told you that you’re not good enough and through this constant repetition, your brain has become wired to believe it. But what if you could train your brain to believe you can do it?
6 easy steps that will enable you to stop procrastinating and start achieving.
- As soon as you notice a negative thought STOP and immediately replace it with a positive one – “I can do this”, “I am good enough”. Be patient, it can take time to change a mindset. Remember, you are turning back the tide on years of wiring in your brain so give yourself a chance.
- The next step is to change how you visualise the task. Instead of seeing the top of the mountain you have to climb, visualise each small step you need to take to get there.
- Once you have identified the steps, tackle them one by one by one. Which parts do you find easier? You’ll probably find that not every aspect of the task is as daunting and as soon as you start it will get easier.
- Think about why you’re doing the task. What is the benefit of doing this task? What will doing this task give you? Why is it important? What will be the reward?
- Plan and commit to spending 15 minutes on the task that you’ve been putting off – you’ll often find that once you start you’ll get on a roll. Just start!
- With constant repetition and practice, your brain will start to change it’s wiring system and form new neural connections which, over time will result in negative self-talk and beliefs being replaced with positive thinking habits. You will stop procrastinating and start achieving your dreams.
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