If you have so many things to do that you often find yourself struggling to finish projects and tasks and move on to other stuff, you’re certainly not alone. Studies show that over 20 percent of the adult population put off or avoid doing certain tasks by allowing themselves to be overtaken by distractions.
So what is procrastination? And what can you do to prevent procrastination?
In this article, I am going to explain to you why procrastination is so difficult to beat and how you can stop procrastinating and manage time better by following a step-by-step guide. But first, you need to understand how procrastination happens.
What Is Procrastination?
“Procrastination is to voluntarily delay an intended course of action despite expecting to be worse off for the delay.”
In other words, procrastination is doing more pleasurable things in place of less pleasurable ones. The end result is that important tasks are put off to a later time.
This comic is one of the typical examples of procrastination.
Signs of a Procrastinator
Procrastinators don’t want to complete their works because they tend to feel overwhelmed easily and lack focus when they work.
Why Do We Procrastinate?
The reasons vary from person to person. It could be a matter of emotion, which affects your motivation. It could also be something related to your ability to focus, and the way you deal with your fears.
Is Procrastination Bad?
Yes, it is. Procrastination is bad. It drags your progress and make you unable to get anything done. If you procrastinate, you will lose your precious time and blow opportunities.
The Challenge of Getting Over Procrastination
Human beings have limited self-control. Dr. Roy Baumeister, a psychologist from Florida State University, has been studying self-control and he has found that just like any muscles, human’s self-control is a limited resource that can quickly become exhausted.[3] When self-control is close to being depleted, human tend to choose what’s more pleasurable– the immediate procrastinated tasks instead of the actual works.
At its core, procrastination is an avoidance strategy. Procrastinators choose to do something else instead of doing what they need to do because it’s much easier to choose pleasure over pain.
In short, procrastination is so difficult to beat because it is a battle against human’s natural enemy, a human weakness that is in-born.
The common symptoms of procrastination are lack of vision, lack of time and lack of organization.
For a step by step guide on how to stop procrastinating, click HERE
