Procrastination: Why It's Bad For You and How To Beat It

PROCRASTINATION: WHY IT IS BAD FOR YOU AND HOW TO BEAT IT.

Procrastination – putting off things that need to be done presently- is a habit that’s easy to cultivate. Trouble is, it’s a bad (and sometimes dangerous) habit. There are several reasons why it is vital to break this habit. I have listed a few below:

·It wastes your time – if there’s something you’re supposed to do, and you postpone doing it, you’ll have to do it anyway. If you don’t do it when you’re supposed to do it, you’ll end up doing it when you should be doing something else.
·It lowers your self-esteem because you feel you’ve failed if by the end of the day you haven’t done what you know you should have done.
·It keeps you from reaching your goals.
·It gives you a false sense of comfort. You deceive yourself when you think ‘I’ll do it later’. You never know what might come up later, making it impossible to do the task.
·It’s a sign of laziness. Chances are, if you’re lazy in one aspect of your life, you’re lazy in other aspects as well.
·It keeps things piling up. This makes you feel overwhelmed when you finally get round to doing them. A vicious cycle then develops because you are put off by how much you now have to do.
·Procrastination keeps you stuck. It prevents you from progressing in life.
·You are unable to concentrate on doing other tasks until you’ve completed the one at hand. You feel like there’s ‘unfinished business’, which there is.

There are many more disadvantages of procrastinating but I hope the few I’ve listed above have helped you realize it’s time to break the habit.

If they have, that’s good. I have put together my top five tips for overcoming procrastination below. Read them, and put them into practice. Remember, one sure fire way to change a habit is by replacing it with another habit.

TOP FIVE TIPS FOR OVERCOMING PROCRASTINATION FOR GOOD!!

1.Do your least favourite tasks first. Get them over and done with, and then subsequent tasks will seem more enjoyable.

2.Decide to ‘Do It Now’! Let that be your mantra, then go ahead and DO IT NOW!!

3.Think of 5 benefits of doing it now. Here are some:
·You get more time to do other things.
·You get an increased sense of accomplishment, which leads to greater self-esteem. You feel very good about yourself.
·You don’t feel stuck because you’re getting things done: you feel free to move onto other tasks.
·You can concentrate on other tasks, so you are able to do them better.
·You reach your goals faster.

4.Keep a record of your progress. This will motivate and encourage you to continue the habit of doing things now.

5.Break down each task into smaller, easily manageable chunks. Then apply items 1 to 4 above to each chunk.