Procrastination is common, and one of the biggest challenges everyone has to face (and has faced, repeatedly). You have something to do, whether it seems obligatory to you or not, you know you should really get it done, but you just can’t bring yourself to do it. Instead, you do other things. Little unimportant things, distractions lets say, that can not only wait until after the other task is completed. The obvious answer to this, is that those tasks definitely should wait, since their is a bigger one on hand. Or maybe your the kind of person who just stares out the window, who gets lost in your own head, a daydreamer. You look at the clock and find out you have just wasted a lot more time than you thought you would’ve. This is when procrastination gets the best of you. Procrastination is deadly, and toxic to say the least. It clicks in your brain that a certain task, no matter how ‘big’ or ‘important’ it actually is, it seems boring and a waste of time. You, yourself, are not being ignorant on purpose, just bored.
There is a limited amount of time in a day. Every day, it is a race before the day ends, to get everything you need to get done, completed. It is best to use that time to one’s greatest benefit, rather than wasting it, or dilly-dallying around. Sometimes that may prove harder than anyone realizes at first. Procrastinating forces you to cram a project into a short window of time to make sure it hits the deadline, for the last minute. This greatly reduces the quality of the work. Maybe you have an essay due or a project for work. Either way, you might end up getting a worse grade than you would have, or your boss might not be happy enough with your work. Procrastination kills your quality of work no matter what the project is. Procrastination also kills your mental wellbeing, whether you realize it or not. The stress of not having something done, or falling behind takes a toll on your mind. It is a vicious cycle, maybe your feeling down and unmotivated. So you procrastinate, which makes you feel more down and less motivated, so you procrastinate more, etc. It can keep going for a long time until you break the cycle. Although, at this point, it’s become a habit. Quite a popular one among that masses too. In order to break a habit, you need to stay strong, and persistent for a total of 30-days.
The ramifications of procrastination have been discussed, but how do you stop it? For thirty days no less? Here are a few things that help me to stay on track, and be focused: music, goals, and breaks. Now, everybody is different. So if these suggestions don’t work, or go to par for you, that doesn’t mean give up. Don’t let procrastination get the better of you, for how long it already has. I suggest to do some research, and experiment. To figure out your personal, and best-fitting way to combat the virus of procrastination. In the meantime, here are a few ways I combat procrastination:
1. Music
I love music very much. I listen to it all the time, whenever I possibly can. It personally helps me focus, and relax. In fact, I am listening to music right now. The type of music depends on my mood. Most of the time I listen to more peacful music like Lofi pop, slowed-reverb, or sometimes jazz. To me, this pleasant, softer music helps me focus the most. However, sometimes my mood is different, and I am feeling restless. In that case, loud rock, metal, or Trap mixes help me focus a lot more. Music helps me focus, and since I enjoy listening to it so much, it curbs the urge to do something else. It motivates me to be productive, and not lazy.
2. Goals
When I mean goals, I mean specifically timed goals. A lot of times I give myself a specific time frame to do something. I usually plan my day by times of when I should do specific tasks. So I don’t spend an hour right when I wake up, trying to figure out the best motives, when I could’ve used that to get ready, or do a small workout. With time-oriented goals, there is plenty of time to complete my project. Plenty of time to do it well, in the time frames I give myself day-to-day. So that, once it is due, the project was done with the best of my ability. You just have to focus on the light at the end of the tunnel, because by creating a timed goal you can see that light. You know how long the tunnel is. It does not seem nearly as distant, it seems much more real and fathomable.
3. Breaks
I find this to be very important. It doesn’t matter what you do in your break time, but it should be a reasonable amount of time. I find thirty minutes to be a good amount of time. During this time, you can read, draw, write, eat, take a nap, or even just daydream. By giving yourself (small or long) breaks, you have something to look forward to. You can save all the stuff you use to procrastinate with, for these breaks. Breaks are also considered the light at the end of the tunnel. They ease the stress out of your day, and bring little spurts of happiness.
Procrastination is something everyone has to deal with occasionally, and some deal with it more than others. The important thing is dealing with it, fighting it, and stopping it. Stopping it right in its tracks, before it becomes a bigger problem (or to decrease of how much of a problem it has become). Just like with most things, it’s never easier to start than it is to stop.
Lesson 150, Business I @zbelles
Z World 