Dealing with Procrastination
Procrastinators, Rejoice! How Waiting Until The Last Minute Can Help Us recently grabbed my attention. Procrastination is a challenge for me. I’ve struggled with it since I was young, but I’ve gotten much better at managing it over the years.
I definitely agree with the author that procrastination can decrease stress in the short-term, boost creativity and make (or force) a person to complete tasks faster. Procrastinating, however, does not increase my mood or energy level and it’s not a long-term solution.
If you find yourself procrastinating a lot, the article offers some solid ideas on how to overcome it.
Here are a couple of other things that you can do.
Block out “Loose End” time blocks.
Schedule time in your week to take care of loose ends and outstanding tasks. Take an hour or so to tackle as many things as you’ve been putting off as possible. It might be making a decision on attending an event, scheduling a doctor’s appointment, answering an email or a phone call. Once you put your mind to it, you can end up accomplishing a lot in that time.
Find a Tool That Works
There are digital and paper solutions to help you be more efficient. I’ve been using the Full Focus Planner for six months now. Planning tools can help to keep you on task and encourage you not to drag your feet.
Do something.
If you are facing a particularly challenging project, it might help to just get the ball rolling in baby steps. Just do something, even if it is just one thing to move the project forward. Or, maybe you can just brainstorm a rough sketch of how you want to accomplish the task. Then, schedule time to revisit the project. Pushing yourself along in small increments can help to get a daunting task completed.
Recognizing that procrastination is an issue for you is the first step in overcoming it. Then, use these ideas to help yourself along the next time you find yourself putting things off.
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