How to Defeat Procrastination?

Procrastinate is referred to a practice when a person put off things that he or she should be focusing on right now, usually in favour of doing something that is more enjoyable or that he or she is more comfortable doing. 

Everyone procrastinates some part in their life, but some people suffer from chronic procrastination i.e. they continuously find difficulty to sit and start difficult tasks and deliberately look for distractions.  In psychological terms, procrastination is referred to a condition when there is a temporary gap between intended behaviour and enacted behaviour.” That is when there are significant time period between when people intend to do a job and when they actually start it. Procrastination in large part reflects our perennial struggle with self-control as well as our inability to accurately predict how we'll feel tomorrow, or the next day. 

Today Psychologist Shivani Misri Sadhoo suggests how to overcome procrastination.

1. Start your work with a good mood: Procrastination thrives when we’re in a bad mood. Before you take on the task at hand, elevate your mood with a quick treat. Eat a candy bar, get out of the office for a 10-minute walk, or listen to your favourite song. Do something you like to do that will change your focus. With a positive mindset, it will be harder to convince yourself that you can’t handle the work that needs to be done!

2. Understand why you don't want to complete a task. It is often difficult to understand why a person procrastinates.  So keep asking yourself, why you don't want to do an important work and analyse your answers if they are worthy of the loss.

3. Make sure you’re not sleep deprived. If you are expected to complete an important task, practice going bed early on the previous day. Make sure you adequately sleep to maintain good work efficiency and good mood.

4. Focus on what you have to do, not what you want to avoid. Think about the productive reasons for doing a task by setting positive, concrete, meaningful learning and achievement goals for you.