Be Kind to Yourself- Stop procrastinating.

Relax, you do not have to get worked up or stressed out because of procrastination. With the right knowledge, you will be able to train yourself to beat procrastination and find your inner focus and motivation. But in order to know how to stop procrastination from affecting your life, you need to understand what causes it in the first place. The more you know about why you procrastinate, the easier it becomes to curb the problem.

Everyone has a different reason for their procrastination but the key to overcoming the problem is to identify your personal reasons and take action accordingly.

In today's write-up, I will share 5 common causes of procrastination and how to overcome them.

CAUSES OF PROCRASTINATION.

1. Fear of Failure.

One of the most common causes of procrastination is the fear of failure. If you fear the consequences of failing, then the flip side of this is a reluctance to take action.

HOW TO OVERCOME THIS:

DON'T GO INTO ANY TASK WITH A MINDSET OF FAILURE, but realise that mistakes do happen because we are human. Also, train yourself to understand that failure to take action and give something a go is actually worse than being unsuccessful in its execution. If you try and fail, you at least have the opportunity to learn from your mistakes. If you never tried at all, then you have nothing to show at all.

2. LOW SELF EFFICACY.

This is a person's belief that they are not capable of starting and completing a task. When we don't have confidence in our ability to complete a task, or to complete it well, our likelihood of procrastinating goes up. This shows up most commonly when we are unclear about how to start a task.

HOW TO OVERCOME THIS.

CREATE SMALL WINS: Break your task into smaller sections and commit to completing one section at a time. If you find yourself still procrastinating on your smaller sections, break it down even further. By doing this you find you are able to complete your task pretty well and this in turn will build up your self efficacy and belief in yourself which will also increase your self confidence.

3. DISTRACTIONS.

This is another cause for procrastination. Distractions can include: Social media, Emails, TV, Phone, Internet, living or working in a highly distracting environment and so on....if we have a hard time resisting these distractions, we are much more likely to procrastinate.

To address the issue of distraction, you might need to APPLY STRICT MEASURES ON YOURSELF. 

Are you addicted to Facebook but have an important project to complete by afternoon, leave your phone in the car or better still, switch it off! 

 If the TV is your source of distraction and you have your laundry to attend to, unplug the TV and get your job done. Don't rely on willpower to resist distractions; change your environment instead.

4. DELAY

This is how much time there is between the time of the decision to take on a task and the point when it must be completed. Without deadline, the procrastinator will leave the task unfinished indefinitely. Basically, the longer you have to finish a task, the longer you will wait to get started on it.

To overcome the problem of delay, SET SHORT DUE DATES.

When the due date on a task is too far away, you tend to relax and put off getting the job done until almost at the last minute. Then you find yourself keeping late and sleepless nights just to beat the deadline. I must confess that I have always been guilty of this but I am working on myself now and so can you!

Big tasks with long due dates can be broken down into smaller units and assign each unit with its own specific due dates.

5. LOW VALUE.

The more enjoyable a task, the less we procrastinate on it and the less enjoyable a task, the more we procrastinate. Naturally, people lack motivation when they find little value in the projected outcome of their work. But, if you are able to clearly see that your work connects to your interest or goals, you are more likely to value your work and be motivated to invest your energy in it.

How do you tackle the problem of low value for your task?

If you have a task at hand and you know this task has to be done but it is not emotionally important to you because you find it boring, you may choose to MAKE IT ARTIFICIALLY ENJOYABLE. For instance, you hate writing that weekly report which must be submitted first thing on Friday morning, consider pairing that task with something you enjoy doing like order your favourite pizza and get the report done while eating. Once you pair a task you dislike or find boring with something enjoyable, it's overall value increases...which means your likelihood of procrastinating on it decreases.

Other ways to overcome procrastination:

1. REPROGRAM YOUR MIND. The things that go through your eyes and ears program you. Whatever you set your mind to do can be achieved. We all have different reasons for procrastinating. Identify yours and be determined to get rid of it.

2. DEVELOP NEW HABITS. It is widely said that when we do something consistently for 3weeks, it becomes a habit. Habits put our lives on auto pilot. The journey of success is a forming of habits so develop new habits.

3. Set daily goals and follow through.

CONCLUSION

Dear reader, now you know what procrastination is, why it is bad, what causes procrastination and how to overcome it. Now what next?

If you were to take these strategies mentioned above and apply them in your life will it help you? What techniques and tips would you provide for persons who want to stop procrastinating?