How many of your New Year's resolutions have already been derailed by procrastination? How many times a day do you get stressed by thinking about how many things on your To Do list are sitting there unfinished? If you're logging more hours a day playing Bejeweled Blitz than you are knocking down your To Do list, it's time to lose the procrastination and boost your productivity.
People tend to think of procrastination as a bad habit, but it's more accurate to think of it as a conditioned response. We have processes running in our deeper mind all the time that we aren't consciously aware of, and sometimes those processes take us in a direction that isn't really good for us. The deeper intention is, in most cases, a good one, but the way it plays out practically speaking doesn't leave us in a good position.
We have a natural tendency to avoid anything that makes us uncomfortable, so when we have tasks on our To Do list that aren't fun or emotionally rewarding, our inner response is to avoid them. Let's look more specifically at the issues related to our avoidance:
Motivation-- if you don't feel a strong connection to the task, or if you don't have a clear awareness of how it's really going to make you FEEL great doing it, then where's the motivation?
Competence-- if you don't think you're capable of doing the task well, of performing at a high level, then you intuitively know that you could end up failing, which FEELS bad, and looking like a failure in the eyes of others, which also FEELS bad. This is a great reason to avoid the task altogether.
Obligations-- you may have other tasks which are more important and have more serious repercussions if you don't complete them first. Now there's competition between tasks on your To Do list.
There are more issues than these three, but this is a great place to start when you're assessing your own habits around procrastination. For a fuller learning experience in what makes procrastination happen, read Kevin Hogan's "The 168 Hour Week." It's a great book that will really help you make changes in this area of your life.
For now, let's focus on these three. Whether it's a task at work or a personal goal at home, you're going to respond in the same pattern. That's how you've been conditioned! So you have to interrupt the pattern and change the way you think about these things. Let me show you what I mean:
Motivation-- there's always a plus side to getting the task done. That plus side is your motivation. We have a tendency to focus on whatever it is about the task that we don't like, but you can practice visualizing how great it will be to have it off your back and out of your way. Brainstorm a list of every positive outcome that results from completing the task. When you do so, really imagine those results. Make them as clear and vivid and real in your mind as you can. See yourself looking happier, feel yourself being relieved to have it done and over with, etc. Activating these emotions will turn on the motivation.
Competence-- you can always improve. You can always learn more and get more training. If you think you really don't have what it takes to complete the task well, then get help! Seek out resources that will increase your competence. Read books, attend workshops, find a mentor. Ask someone with competence to help you in this particular case. There's nothing wrong with asking for help.
Obligations-- setting priorities is important. Sometimes we don't prioritize properly because we refuse to put ourselves before others, but this is unhealthy. You have to sit down and look at what tasks really have top priority because they will lead to you being the happiest, healthiest, most productive version of you that you can be. Being honest about this is really important. You may need to talk with someone about it so that you can bounce your thoughts off of an objective outsider.
Procrastination is no solution, and it tends to create more stress than it resolves. Practice changing the way you think so that you will change the way you behave, and you'll get better results. Create a clear vision of what you want to achieve, and make very specific, concrete steps that lead you through the process from start to finish.
