END TO YOUR PROCRASTINATION

What exactly is procrastination? According to the English Dictionary I found on Play Store, its ” the act of postponing, delaying or putting off, especially habitually or intentionally“. There’s a fine line between these two.

When you have a habit, most times you’re not even aware of it. When procrastination is a habit, it becomes a part of you, sometimes you don’t even know when you’re doing it. How many “I can do it later’s’’ have you said? I know I’ve done quite a lot.

What about when it’s intentional? “I can do that by 4pm let me just finish this project’’, this person has procrastinated but they give themselves a set time to do whatever it is they want to. At 4pm, they may even set an alarm to remind them, because they’ve planned. See the difference? When it’s a habit you put things off with no intention to even do them later because it just normal for you to say  “I can do it later’’, but when it’s intentional, you deliberately put things off with a plan to actually achieve them later. So you need to ask yourself now, do I procrastinate habitually or intentionally?

Well whether you do or don’t, it is still procrastination. So what can you do to end procrastination? Here are a few tips:

• Acknowledge that there’s a problem: Most people don’t like hearing that they have a problem. But honestly, that’s the most important thing when it comes to solving any issues. When you realize by yourself that your procrastination is an issue, then you can begin looking for ways to solve the problem.

• Face your problems: Not a lot of problems will disappear if you ignore them. Most times they will just become worse thus increasing your stress. So once you’ve decided how you will deal with a particular problem don’t delay. Do it right away.

• Start simple: Don’t put high expectations for yourself, start where it’s more comfortable for you and then make progress to bigger stuff.

• Remove all distractions: I could watch TV for hour and not even realize that the sun has gone down, for you it could be Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, etc. You might actually be doing productive stuff, like chatting with family, or watching a historical movie, but what about other important stuff that needs to be done? It may be hard but you need to be able to remove whatever may be stopping you from achieving
  your goals.

• Set specific times to do things: I knew a girl whose parents set timers on her tab when she was using social media, I used to think it was so weird. But now it makes total sense, you can’t cancel out entertainment completely but it shouldn’t breach the time you need to do other important things.

• Maintain your progress: I lose interest in things very easily and I do things on the spur of the moment. If you’re like that, don’t lose hope. Draw out a timetable to organize your activities, set reminders on your phone, write on post-it notes, set dates to do things, ask your roommate or sibling to remind you of stuff to do, have a to-do list, etc. Just find a way to check your progress.

• Have a positive attitude: Don’t think I should, or I could do it, think I can do it. Remember, old habits die hard, but consistency is key.