Oftentimes, procrastination comes from a place of perfectionism. Fearing you cannot complete a task perfectly can lead to instead prioritising other less important tasks, and procrastinating on the one you need to complete.
Are you struggling with procrastination?
Here are a few ways to combat it
With more of us working from home, procrastination is becoming a much bigger issue. Without a normal working environment, it can be difficult to train your brain to concentrate. Because at home, you might be more used to relaxing, rather than being productive.
Your brain relies on cues that signal when it’s time for work. Things such as having a cup of coffee, driving to the office, and sitting at your desk. When those cues are taken away, work is no longer a habit. And then it requires a lot more effort to convince yourself the work still needs doing.
By nature, procrastination is irrational. You know you shouldn’t delay the task you should be doing, and yet you do so anyway. It is a form of self-sabotage stemming from a lack of willingness to deal with negative thoughts surrounding a task. If you are a perfectionist, you may particularly struggle with procrastination. It sounds contradictory, but perfectionists will often put off a task if they believe they cannot do it perfectly.
If the task at hand incites boredom, stress, frustration, insecurity, or resentment, it is all the more difficult to make yourself do it; hence procrastination. Over time, chronic procrastination can lead to several long-term ill effects. These include anxiety, stress, depression, psychological distress, and low life satisfaction.
Break tasks down
One method for beating procrastination is to break tasks down into more manageable segments, rather than taking on a single, daunting task. Breaking tasks down into smaller milestones can make them seem much easier to achieve, and gives you a clear guideline mapping out how exactly to accomplish something.
Often motivation occurs only after action, not before it. Beginning to complete small tasks towards a bigger goal will eventually snowball into getting more done, as action creates further action.
Make distractions inconvenient
Another method is to make tempting distractions inconvenient to access. Especially useful when working at home and surrounded by distractions, removing your usual procrastination method can make it a lot easier to focus on work.
There are several apps available that can temporarily disable social media on your smartphone; it can also be helpful to put your phone in another room while you’re trying to work.
Change up your spaces
Another productivity method is to designate a ‘workspace’ and a ‘relaxing space’ if you’re struggling with working from home. If your brain begins to associate your desk only with work, the act of going to your desk is a cue to your brain that it’s time to work.
Talk to us
Finally, dealing with the cause of procrastination might be necessary. This is especially true if it is severely impacting your ability to get work done.
Procrastination often coincides with other mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety, stress, or extreme perfectionism.
If you’re looking into therapy, send us a message through Facebook to chat with our team about scheduling an appointment.
