Procrastinate: 4 simple techniques to stop postponing your life until tomorrow.
Do not put off overnight, because death itself does not postpone the date and time dedicated to you.
Sorin CerinLet's start from the beginning: what does it mean to procrastinate?
Procrastination comes from the Latin word procrastinus: pro forward and crastinus tomorrow, so when it comes to procrastination in psychology we mean that deleterious and unhealthy tendency to postpone commitments, activities and above all decisions to tomorrow.
The reasons why we procrastinate can be very different from each other and sometimes they act in harmony making us put off even the most important activities indefinitely.
If you have had a dream, a project or an idea in the drawer for many years, in all probability the problem is not the resources needed to start but a strong tendency to postpone.
Procrastination is great
How many times have we put off a simple dinner, a commission or a very small activity to do something more relaxing and less stressful?
At the moment we feel free and relieved, but the more time passes, the more we feel a boulder on our head that increases its weight more and more.
If you are not making your dreams come true and you are not yet living the life you want it is because yesterday you decided to postpone the decisions that today would have led you in the right direction.
So let's find out the 5 reasons why we postpone and 4 of the most effective techniques for heal from postponement.
Why do we procrastinate? Find your cause
# 1 You're stressed out and overworked
When we are overburdened with work, study, stress or responsibility, we have a tendency to procrastinate for protection.
Our mind can no longer hold this fast pace and does not want to shoulder the burden of new heavy commitments.
In this case, an effective solution is to reduce and drastically reduce the commitments to eliminate the primary sources of stress.
First take some time to relax, then narrow down your mental to-do list: grab a pen and paper and write only essential activities that you just can't delete.
Put fewer commitments and fewer activities on your to-do list, in doing so you will have more energy, you will be more gratified and consequently you will procrastinate a little less.
# 2 You're not working for yourself
I used to frequently procrastinate for this reason.
When we are not involved and motivated in what we are doing, we have a tendency to wildly put off.
Motivation is key when it comes to taking action and if you feel that the work you do is not for yourself, your project or is not in line with what you would like to do it is normal to have a tendency to procrastinate.
If you want to stop work for the dreams of others you need to make a list of your passions and activities that excite you to find out if it is possible to turn them into a real job.
# 3 Your goal isn't inspiring
This motivation was also among the first places when in the past I postponed specific activities that I had to carry out.
It is possible that even if you do a job that makes you happy and satisfied, sooner or later you happen to have to swallow a toad or having to get your hands dirty.
In these cases there is little to do, certain commitments must be carried out with your head down.
# 4 You're scared and have to do too many things
This cause of procrastination is directly related to the first one we saw: when we find ourselves inundated with things to do, chores and commitments that must be carried out, we end up getting a little fear.
When we fear a commitment, perhaps because it would force us out of the comfort zone, we have a tendency to engage in planned procrastination.
The fear of carrying out unusual actions is one of the most frequent causes of postponement, even if the actions we should take could open up new extraordinary scenarios.
In this case it is important to be aware that we can act despite fear and expose ourselves little by little outside the area where we are comfortable.
# 5 You are a staunch perfectionist
It may seem silly but sometimes in the past I have procrastinated because ofexcessive perfectionism.
I was in a position to never start certain jobs because I wanted to find the perfect information, the perfect tools and the perfect knowledge to get started in the best way.
The most striking example concerns this blog, Personal Growth Lovers.
Although I had the idea of ​​creating this digital space long before its birth, I waited a very long time to find more information and increase my knowledge.
At some point, however, I decided to start even though I didn't think everything was perfect and with hindsight I'm glad I did.
The solution is to realize that the perfect plan does not exist and that the best strategy is to start and adjust the game along the way.
Once we have identified the cause that pushes us to procrastinate, we can choose the strategy that best suits our situation to stop postponing.
4 Effective Techniques To Cut Procrastination
# 1 The accountability partner
You know when you don't feel like going to the gym, doing some chores or studying?
Very often in these cases the postponement comes into play: we tend to procrastinate in view of an immediate discomfort, not counting the future pleasure, often not too far away.
In these cases, having an accountable partner is an effective method for stop procrastinating once and for all.
The idea is to find one or more people who have to do the same thing you have to do, whether it's studying or going to the gym for example.
Once you have found an accomplice, you can also count on their willpower to complete the goal and stop procrastinating.
Obviously, nothing prevents you from having more than one partner and sharing all the responsibilities of the case.
This strategy works well under one condition: your accountability partner must be an active person and that does not tend to procrastinate, in this way you can follow in its wake.
In short, as I often repeat on the blog, the choice of your company is very important.
# 2 The first damn step
The first step is often the more difficult, a bit like pushing a broken car: it takes a lot of effort to make it make the first move in space, but once in motion, thanks to the inertia, you will have to work less.
When we postpone something we should do, the exact same principle applies.
The first action is the most difficult, because it is tiring or because we do not have a valid motivation, even if it is often the thought of having to do something the real problem and sometimes we find that once the action started, it wasn't that bad.
To overcome this inconvenience try to avoid thinking about the commitment you have to carry out, just do it.
Again to use the similarity of the gym, take the bag and go out, do not think about what you will have to do but focus only on the path that leads to the gym.
Once you have started training or whatever activity you have to do it will be easier to complete it.
# 3 Stop procrastinating with your mind
We often procrastinate because we don't immediately visualize future complications.
If every time we procrastinate our brain would send us a immediate painful impulse we will probably all be able to achieve our goals.
An effective technique to combat procrastination in these circumstances is to precisely visualize the consequences of our choice at the exact moment we are tempted to postpone.
For example, let's say you are on the bed or sofa watching TV or watching kitten videos on Facebook, in 5 minutes you will have to stop to go to the gym but you have a little voice in the brain that tempts you and makes you want to skip training believing you can recover tomorrow.
In these moments you have to reflect a few seconds on more likely consequences that could occur by procrastinating.
If you skipped just one hour of training now, are you sure you would be able to do two tomorrow?
Procrastination could trigger a chain reaction that would decrease, or worse, eliminate your urge to train, for example to lose weight.
Imagine all the consequences of this choice, all the mental films you made of yourself in shape, confident, handsome and trained go up in smoke.
Are you sure you want to ditch this better version of yourself to watch 30 - 40 more minutes of zany videos on Facebook?
By the way, if you want to see some real motivational videos click here to read the article where I have listed the best ones.
The technique is simple, whenever you feel the urge to procrastinate, visualize and perceive the negative consequences that would arise from your choice.
# 4 The habit of taking action
Habits have always been the key to achieving goals and the own personal success.
They are also useful to stop procrastinating: are you a person used to talking, arguing and explaining all the time or are you used to taking action?
I know many people of both categories, those who belong to the first category are constantly talking about ideas and projects, gathering information, however they never act, continue to procrastinate for a thousand very valid reasons.
On the other hand, people who are used to action are often wrong, the error is printed on their chest, they have a very low tendency to procrastinate and their motto is to act to adjust the shot along the way.
The idea therefore is to act in spite of everything and make it a habit in everything we do every day.
It doesn't matter if you don't have all the information you need, because when you add more data you will think that more is missing and you will keep putting it off.
It does not matter if you are missing an object to fulfill your commitment because many times that object is not really needed, but it is another excuse to procrastinate something that scares you or that you do not want to do, the motto to remember is: do what you can with what you have.
Then create a new habit with a defined mental attitude: act instead of talking and putting off.
A story to stop putting off until tomorrow
This is the story of a man who when he was a boy and went to school kept saying: “Ah! when I leave school and start working, then I will be happy ”.
He left school, started working and said, “Ah! when I get married, it will be happiness ".
He got married, and after a few months he found that his life lacked variety, and then he said, "Ah, how nice it will be when we have children."
The children came, and it was a fascinating experience, but they cried a lot, even at two in the morning and the young man sighed: “They grow up quickly”.
And the children grew up, they no longer cried at two in the morning, but they did one stupid thing after another and the real problems began.
And then the man dreamed of the moment when he would be alone with his wife again: "We will be so peaceful."
Now he is old and remembers the past with nostalgia: “It was so beautiful”.
Stop procrastinating
Procrastination is a plague not only for personal growth, but for the happiness we want to build in the long run.
If you choose to build a happy and healthy life over the long term, you are not satisfied with just thinking about the next minute and you want to grow and improve, you must stop procrastinating.
There are times, however, in which postponing until tomorrow is good, in this regard read this article, you may discover some good ones.
As always if you want to share your experience you can use the comments below.
