Have you ever had that feeling that you would rather just put what you need to do today away for later, or worst, tomorrow? Yes, we are all human and we do sometimes succumb to putting off some of the things that we are “supposed” to finish today. The word for today is Procrastination.
Procrastination refers to the deferment of actions or tasks to a later time. Psychologists often call this behavior a mechanism for coping with the anxiety associated with starting and/or completing any task or decision. There are three criteria for a behavior to be classified as procrastination: It must be counterproductive, needless, and delaying.
Procrastination may result in stress, a sense of guilt and crisis, severe loss of personal productivity, as well as disapproval by others for not meeting responsibilities or commitments. These feelings combined may promote further procrastination. While it is regarded as normal for people to procrastinate to some degree, it becomes a problem when it impedes normal functioning.
Here are some ways that we hope can help you overcome the procrastination in your own life:
1. Take the task one step at a time but make sure you finish it.
2. Set a deadline – Tell yourself this has to be done now.
3. Don’t say “I have to,” instead say “I choose to” – If we feel obligated to do something, there is a tendency that it will be put off, but if say we are doing it because we want to do it then it empowers us even more and motivates us to act on it.
4. Don’t over think what you need to do – Admit that you are only human and that you will overcome – sometimes we are crippled and put off doing a task because we think it is hard and that our work on it might not be good enough.
I have included a video that simply explains why we should try as much as possible not to give in to making the habit of putting off what needs to be done now. You see, if you don’t start, you will end up not really accomplishing anything and it can become a viscous cycle, and you don’t want that to happen!
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