Stop Stalling: Overcoming Procrastination for Success
Procrastination can hinder your ability to achieve your goals leading to stress and anxiety, but it is possible to overcome. Understanding procrastination is key to overcoming this habit. It’s a delay or postponent in completing tasks, usually caused by a lack of motivation, poor time management, fear of failure, or a lack of interest. Procrastination can be classified into two types: active and passive.
- Active procrastination is done intentionally because some people believe that they work better when under pressure.
- Passive procrastination is an unintentional delay that occurs when people find ways to distract themselves deviating from the task at hand.
The cost of procrastination is high. It can lead to a lack of success and affect personal and professional life, causing missed deadlines, missed opportunities, and even affect relationships. It can affect your self-esteem, creating negative self-image, and result in a lack of confidence.
Strategies for overcoming procrastination include:
- Setting realistic goals that are challenging but achievable; this boosts motivation.
- Creating a schedule to manage time and accomplish tasks. Prioritizing tasks is key to creating a schedule that will guide you.
- Starting small by breaking a large task down into smaller, manageable tasks. This makes the task easier and less daunting.
- Using positive self-talk to encourage achievement of goals and a positive mindset.
- Eliminating distractions such as closing an email inbox or turning off mobile phones.
- Breaking the cycle of perfectionism by focusing on progress and doing your best.
- Finding an accountability partner such as a friend or colleague to encourage you and keep you accountable for your goals.
- Rewarding yourself after accomplishing a task. Rewards can be anything that makes you happy, such as going for a walk or relaxing to your favorite TV show.
Overcoming procrastination requires determination and discipline, but with these strategies, you can stop stalling and achieve success. Remember, success is measured not only by how fast we achieve our goals but also by the progress we make towards them.