Why people procrastinate
First, we will talk about why people procrastinate in the first place. One reason people procrastinate is because they don’t want to do a particular task at the moment, so they hold if off until later. Usually the person will get into a habit of “doing it later” until they realize there might be a problem. Another reason people procrastinate is because they feel they don’t have enough time to complete the task they need to do at the moment. When you are busy it is easy to forget everything, you need to do in that day unless you have a written schedule out in front of you.
How to overcome procrastination
Productive mornings
The first few hours of the day will determine how to rest of the day will go so, it is important to have an effective morning routine. As soon as you get up a good idea is to write and plan for everything you need to do that day. If you write it down, you can see what all needs to be accomplished. A good tip I learned is to get up the first time you hear your alarm clock. If you press snooze on your alarm clock so many times this is already time being wasted. If you get up when you hear that first buzz and start your day you will feel less tired. Another good tip I learned was to try to get as much done as possible before the afternoon. If you try to aim and get things done early you can have the rest of the day to do what you want.
Avoid distractions
When you are trying to get something important done it is best to avoid distractions as you will get the task done faster. Put your phone out of reach and turn your tv off. You can set time limits during this time of focus, so you can spend a certain amount of time with the task.
Techniques to use
Break down the tasks
If you have something to accomplish such as a project a good technique is to break what you need to do down into smaller sections. Do something for the project each day even if you only have 30 minutes to work on it. Doing something every day even for a few minutes still gets you closer to completing the goal.
Make a schedule
Making a schedule of your everyday life can help you see what times you are available to do certain things. If you write out a schedule you can fill in certain tasks you need to do every day to get to that goal you wanted. You can also fill in appointments you have so you don’t forget. When you write this out this will also help you to stay more organized with your life as well.
This photo above me is a schedule I made for myself on the weekdays. This schedule helped me keep track of what activities and tasks needed to be done each day. This allowed me to be more organized and let me see when I had free time. When you make a routine, it is easier to manage your life. With these schedules you can add as many details as you would like but I made mine include the main tasks I needed to remember.
Make to do lists
If you make a to do list everyday whether it be on electronics or by paper this will help you see what you need to accomplish that day. You can do this on very busy days or in everyday life. Try to accomplish at least one thing a day that you feel is very important to you whether it be for now or for the future.
Two different type of goals
With this technique you write out two different type of goals you want to accomplish. The first goal or task is immediate, and this is something you want to get done now or less than a month. This could be completing a school project or even just going grocery shopping for the week. The second type of goal is an in-progress goal. This is something that could take a lot longer even up to a year. This could be a goal of wanting to start a business or getting into dental school. With this goal you have little steps you must accomplish to get to the bigger picture.
The photo above is an example of a place where you can write out your goals. That is all my goals for the year of 2019 that I want to accomplish. It’s bright and on my wall in a place where I can see it every day. Next to some of the photos I have smaller steps on how to achieve the goal. This would be an example of an in-progress goal because I would like to complete them within one year. Using visuals and fun colors allows the task of completing your goals to be a bit more fun.
My experience
I personally have tried all of these techniques I mentioned from the book and they all were very helpful. Making to do lists or goals I wanted to accomplish on weekdays was helpful for me to get important tasks done. I noticed that when I got up earlier and did stuff in the morning I had more free time than usual. It was difficult for me at first to make a schedule for me every day as I didn’t know what routine would work best for me. I also struggled with getting distracted by my phone and social media. I first tried to put my phone on silent in the same room as me, but I still saw when notifications popped up. I eventually had to put my phone in a different room just starting with 15-20 minutes as a time. I had to work myself up to get to an hour of no distractions.
What I learned
I learned that organization was a big key into overcoming procrastination. When I got a routine, my life became much more organized and I was able to get things done in time. I was able to see what I needed to do to accomplish my goals.
One of the other important things to me is now knowing how much waking up earlier can help you get so much more done. Also having a productive routine in the morning to get as much done as possible. This has allowed me to get things done and still being able to have free time for myself.
I advise anyone that is dealing with procrastination to first evaluate why you procrastinate. Is it because you are busy or is it lack of motivation? It’s important to know the root cause of why this is happening to you in the first place. I also will recommend making a schedule as this has been the most effective in improving my life. I am more organized and with that helps me overcome procrastination itself. I believe writing out your goals or tasks you want to accomplish whether it be short term or long term. When you write your goal out you can then break it down into smaller sections to easier accomplish the goal. When you make your goals, I would add a lot of color and pictures and even hang it up somewhere where you will see it every day. These are all the things that has helped me in my journey of overcoming procrastination and I will tell you that you should remember to look at the big picture. Find something that motivates you and think of accomplishing that to help you along your journey. It’s okay if it takes some time just remember that if you fall, get back up again!