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How can I eliminate procrastination?
Home » Careers » Time Management » How can I eliminate procrastination?Posted by Your Guide on October 31, 2005 11:13 AM
Procrastination is the process of continually delaying certain tasks or activities. Sometimes procrastination is necessary; you need to put off some responsibilities so that you can deal with more important issues. Many times, however, we put off activities simply out of laziness or a fear of the responsibility.
There is a Scottish proverb that says, “What may be done at any time will be done at no time.” The first way to eliminate procrastination is to assign a task a self-imposed deadline. Put it on your schedule or day-timer; if you write it down, even if you have to delay it longer, you will at least be regularly reminded of the job. If you don’t write down the responsibility, you’ll likely ignore it.
The next step to end procrastination is to simply start working. Even if you are dealing with a long-term project involving many hours of work, take the first small step. There is a principle of inertia in your work—the hard part is starting, so once you start, you’re likely to keep working at it. This tip is especially applicable for long-range projects because you need to do a little bit of work at a time over the course of weeks or months to ensure that the project is done by the deadline.
Procrastination is caused by a mindset that says “I’ll have time later.” Counteract this by assuming you won’t have time later. With this mindset, you’ll get the project done early, and possibly even have extra time later.
Finally, don’t riddle yourself with guilt over procrastination. Sometimes, you do need to delay your responsibilities; no matter how well you prepared, emergencies come up or other jobs take longer than expected. If this happens, simply assign yourself a new deadline for the project, and get started on your work. You may be surprised at what you can finish.
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