Understanding and Avoiding Procrastination

Are you in the habit of putting-off or delaying tasks very often? Do you need to be constantly reminded by your family members or colleagues at work, of the work or things you need to do? If the answer to both questions is "yes", then this article is for you!

Quite often, some people find it easier to keep delaying on any work, which needs to be done by them, and if questioned on the same, they will have a million and one excuses ready to give you! This phenomenon is referred to as procrastination, a dangerous condition when carried to its extremes. Procrastination can strike anyone at any point of time, but for some, it is a very chronic condition. Procrastination can arise as a result of certain situations or it could be a psychological pattern built into an individual's personality.

Why do most people procrastinate some of the time or some of them, all of the time? There are several reasons why procrastination occurs. For starters, it could be personality or perception driven. For example, an individual may keep piling up tasks because he/she wants to convey the perception of being overloaded with work or is falling behind on account of poor time management. Another reason could be low self-esteem or the fear of failure. Some people may not want to display their ignorance of the task at hand, and in such instances, it becomes easier to put off the work rather than admit ignorance to their peers. Yet some other people could be hampered by their inability to concentrate on the work to be done, due to a short attention span, which is a psychological problem rather than one of deliberateness.

How then, do we do away with procrastination? If you are a chronic procrastinator, begin with identifying why you procrastinate. This could be a self-exercise or you can list the help of family, a friend, or even a professional such as a psychologist. Once the cause is identified, work on how you can remove or lessen the effect of such cause. If it is the enormity of the task that is making you procrastinate, split the work into smaller components. This is also helpful if you suffer from a short attention span.

Have a clear understanding of the goals you wish to achieve and the ways in which you can get to those destinations. Once done, prioritize the work, which needs to be done. Here, you will need to work on creating a feeling of urgency and inculcating self-discipline. By urgency, I mean that there should be a sense of losing a good opportunity, should you not complete the task at the appointed time. For example, delaying a project or presentation at work, could result in your company losing a very profitable client and the consequences to you could be dire - you could be fired, you could lose your benefits or bonus, or you could face public ridicule or humiliation. Alternatively, you can use positive reinforcement rather than negative reinforcement as in the above example. Imagine that completing a task in time, will get you a raise or a substantial bonus for bringing in new business, or how your boss may publicly laud you for your work.

Just like a long distance runner builds up stamina, by increasing the distance run day-by-day, adopt a similar technique when it comes to your official or personal work. If you are a chronic procrastinator and want to change, start with baby steps and build up concentration in gradual stages.

Whether chronic or not, there is hope for all procrastinators, provided they identify their problem and consistently work on it. For those who answered "yes" to the questions in the beginning of this article, hope the rest of it gives you an idea of how to tackle your problem successfully!