How To Stop the Habit Of Procrastination
We all experience the same problem every day. We use our conscious mind to decide what’s important to us, and then we set up ideals that we know we should follow – write that first page, take that hour to go workout, finish reading that book, make that phone call, cook that good meal. These are our should-haves. But then our actions expose very different priorities. In fact, our actions expose our real priorities. Our must-haves.
The key is absolutely in how we associate the things we do with our pain & pleasure signals in the brain. Pleasure comes in many forms: Excitement, fun, warm, relaxing. And pain has many shades of its own: Boredom, fear, frustrating, uncomfortable. Tony Robbins has a theory that everything we do is motivated by one of two things:
So.. What are some solutions on How To Stop the Habit Of Procrastination?
To begin with, make sure you know the definition of procrastination, as it is frequently misunderstood. It is not a failure to complete everything. Per wikipedia, it is “the act of replacing high-priority actions or tasks with low-priority actions”.
So you have to know what’s high-priority, and what’s low-priority. Have a clear to-do list and know your top few priorities at all times. Recognize when you’re working on something that’s not a top priority.
Now that you can recognize when you’re procrastinating, ask why. Most people are surprised to learn that procrastination is caused by anxiety. Seriously consider why you’re afraid to work on the bigger task. And ask yourself if you’ll feel better attempting it now, or putting it off.
Don’t be intimidated by big projects. Everything is completed in a series of starts – celebrate and reward yourself for progress.
Don’t expect perfection from a first draft. Procrastinators wait until the last minute so that they can accept lower quality. Few things are perfect on the first iteration, which is why you should just start – in fact the sooner you start, the less pressure there is for it to be good.
1) Write a daily to do list
Long to do lists don’t get done. They make us feel overwhelmed and even guilty if we know we’ve been putting them off.
So instead of staring at 30 or 40 items at a time, make your to do list super short but turning it into a daily to do list of 3-5 items.
Having only 3-5 items does a few mental tricks:
- It makes us prioritize based on what we feel we can accomplish in a day
- It’s much more likely to be achieved
- Makes us feel like we’re making a lot of progress every time we complete one item (you’re crossing off 20-33% of your list off at a time!)
2) Turn your to-do into a 2-minute task to get started
We often dread getting started on a task sounds when they sound daunting in our minds.’
These were some tips on How To Stop the Habit Of Procrastination. If you have any further questions, don´t hesitate to comment below!
