Procrastination is a serious and widespread problem. I suffer from it too sometimes. We know we have to finish that article, make that call and …we do something else instead because we feel anxious or insecure about the article or the call.
Procrastination can be really problematic. Some random tweets on procrastination:
“One of these days I am going to get help for my procrastination problems.”
“Sum up my life in one word: procrastination.”
“Procrastination is my biggest weakness.”
Twenty percent of people identify themselves as chronic procrastinators.
How to fight procrastination, our common productivity enemy?
Some practical tips are:
- just get started
- break the task down in little steps
- get someone to help you get started
But more often than not, these tips don’t work. Now, a new light has been shed on procrastination and how to cure it.
Mood repair
Procrastinators attempt to avoid the anxiety or worry aroused by a tough task with activities aimed at repairing their mood, such as checking Facebook and reading emails.
But as we try to fix our mood, why not choose to fix it with imagining and ‘pre-feeling’ the satisfaction when we will have completed the task we dread?
A real mood boost comes from doing what we intend to do—the things that are important to us. And this is the key to curing procrastination.
Time travel
If you are rebelling against the feeling of having to work, try projecting yourself into the future. Imagine the good feelings you will have if you stop procrastinating and finish a project (or the bad feelings you will have if you don’t finish). Kyle T. Webster
Read the full story here.
Photo: Shawn Rossi