Do you procrastinate? Well, if you have ever postponed an
important job saying “Oh, I’ll do it later..!!” then chances are that you have
been bitten by this bug at least once in your lifetime.
At times, this can get quite frustrating because you know fully well that you need to get the job done; yet you keep delaying it stating funny excuses to justify your own lack of drive or enthusiasm.
Now, there is no magical cure for this problem out there; however I have employed certain techniques which seem to have worked quite well with myself during such times. I am sharing them here so that they can be useful to some of you as well.
Begin somewhere
Okay, so procrastination usually strikes when a seemingly enormous task is looming right in front of us and we are just thinking about the fact that we need to get it done but the mind is constantly finding excuses to flee elsewhere because the very prospect of starting this humungous task is far from being appealing. So, the trick is to just begin somewhere. Roll up your sleeves, get your hands in and just begin. Once you have taken the plunge, things automatically get better. Trust me!
Set your priorities
Setting priorities goes a long way in terms of giving you a direction to work towards. If you are getting overwhelmed by 10 different tasks on hand, jot them all down and arrange them in the order of their priority for the day or the week/month or any other time duration that you are looking at. Setting priorities in this way will reduce the burden of tackling multiple tasks at the same time and will help provide you with focus and clarity as you concentrate on the few most important tasks first.
Divide a big task into smaller ones
If you are faced with the prospect of having to accomplish a fairly big job, look at all the components involved and break up the job into its smaller components. This will help you to develop a better plan of action rather than getting overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the task. Also, by doing this, you would be in a better position to delegate some of the sub tasks if required thus relieving yourself to some extent.
Plan
Once you have a clear idea of the tasks you need to get done, plan for the execution. Create road maps and milestones towards accomplishment. Set time bound goals and create a plan of action to achieve them.
Focus on the task rather than the results
While carrying out any job, there may be times when anxiety, fear or insecurity strikes while thinking about the outcome. Once the mind gets stuck with the possibility of failure, one may automatically lose the drive to perform the task itself. Therefore, while doing any job, try to focus on doing the job itself rather than the outcome of it. I know this is easier said than done but once you start training your mind this way, you will be able to focus on performing the task with ease and finesse.
Yes, you can!
I cannot stress enough on this but it is true that you have what it takes. You can do it and once you start thinking you can, there will be no looking back.
Get help
If there are certain components of the task that you are not sure about, connect with the relevant people and get all the help that you need. The truth is that none of us can possibly be an expert at everything but most of us are experts at something. Network and reach out to people who can help.
Reward yourself!
Keeping yourself motivated at all times is the challenge as well as the key! To keep your mind happy, reward yourself as you achieve your milestones and goals. This will keep you motivated throughout and make the entire process enjoyable as well!
Those were some of my pointers which I have implemented in my life and which have worked out pretty well for me. I hope these will benefit some of you out there as well and bring about some positive results as they have done for me.
And if you have some other pointers to help beat procrastination, I would love to know. Do share!
xoxo
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