5 Ways to Beat Procrastination

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I had been struggling hard to work on this post since very long. But I couldn’t do it on time. You know why?

Because I was under the spell of procrastination this time. Procrastination, which is the thief of time. I had all the best excuses and reasons to my rescue and I gave all of them to myself on day to day basis. Sometimes they were true and sometimes false. I just wanted to delay my work and avoided doing what matters most to me.

I know we all procrastinate and give one reason or the other to ourselves. We get overwhelmed when we look at the amount and magnitude of the tasks that we have to accomplish in a day. As a result, we feel dissatisfied, frustrated, stressed out and overworked on a day to day basis.

So, it is important that despite the pile of work that we have to complete in a day, we take out time to think, prioritize, create our task list, do one thing at a time, beat distraction, enjoy our work and then move bird by bird and inch by inch until we finish our task and feel accomplished.

Here are 5 ways that we can use to achieve our daily goals and beat procrastination.

1. PRIORITIZE THE TASK AND CREATE THE TASK LIST. While we all are good at dealing and managing our urgent tasks, our important tasks keep on shifting at the back seat and we procrastinate them often.

As we know according to 80/20 rule, the 20% of the tasks that we do, give us 80% of the results. But it is that 20% of the important work that we avoid and procrastinate.

It is true that sometimes procrastination is a good thing to practice but we must also ensure that it does not become our habit.  Important things in life like getting a degree, working on your dream project, starting your venture, taking out time to strengthen your relationships, learning a new skill or many such important tasks are always neglected.

So, it is important that we set our priorities and create our task list around these set of priorities wherein we have enough time slot for the important tasks on day to day basis and enough buffer time to meet the urgent demands popping up on daily basis.

2. TAKE THE SMALLEST AND THE EASIEST OF STEP FIRST.  It is the magnitude and size of the task that looks daunting to us. But how can we forget that the journey of a thousand mile begins from a single step and that single and the smallest of step is important for us to take.

That smallest of step could be exercising for 5 minutes, drinking a glass of water every two hours, writing for 15 minutes, talking to your client, or to have a meaningful conversation with your family member. Whatever it may be, it is important to start it today because tomorrow never comes.

3. DO ONE THING AT A TIME. In the environment these days, multitasking is something that we all aim at. But, if we want to achieve better and faster results, it is important for us to understand the power of a single task and doing one thing at a time. The lines by Gary Keller, “Until my One Thing Is Done-everything else is a distraction,” is an important reminder to all of us.

The book, The One Thing , is a must read for those who want to master the art of achieving more.

4. STOP BEING A PERFECTIONIST. I have personally faced this challenge the most. While we must aspire for excellence, it is also important to be mindful when we do our tasks.

Perfectionism could be fatal when we do not allow our ideas and thoughts and imagination to take flight under its pressure. There are so many people who never accomplish their goals or fulfil their dreams because they wait for their creation to be perfect.

We try to be perfectionist because we are afraid of certain things. We fear of what others might think about our work.  We fear that our work may not be the best. We fear of our own failure. We fear of shame and embarrassment that we may have to face. Perfectionism, in such cases, thus, acts as a barrier and we must avoid it, so as not to create any unnecessary stress, anxiety and pressure on us.

Instead, in order to achieve excellence, we should seek help, discuss issues and challenges, delegate tasks and then should strive for what we want to accomplish.

5. KNOW WHY TO DO OR NOT TO DO THE TASK. There is always a purpose and a reason behind what we do and the way we do. Sometimes we don’t know them and sometime we do not acknowledge them. It is important that when we procrastinate for a longer duration, we know why we are doing that and if we do not accomplish the task, what will be at stake in ultimate terms. The reason and probing will allow us to delve deeper to find out our own reasons and we would gain courage to decide and do the task that we might have been procrastinating since very long.

Important is to take the first step, then the next, and the next. These steps will give us momentum and we will gain confidence to move in the direction of our goals and dreams beating procrastination on daily basis.