Procrastination affects your health, work and reputation. Here’s how to stop procrastinating and start living.
Why do we often only choose to do chores at a convenient time? Why do we give excuses for missing deadlines and failing to start or finish a task on time? And how do we overcome this habit of delaying tasks or actions to a later date? Why do we procrastinate, and how do we stop procrastinating?
This blog post will answer these questions. Please continue reading.
Everyone procrastinates, but if you always have reasons to justify this habit, you are a victim of chronic procrastination.
Procrastination is an unhealthy habit. It is also a behavioural problem which affects your health, work and reputation. According to experts, procrastination is intentionally avoiding or delaying tasks. And they think this may be due to laziness, apathy or inability to regulate your behaviour.
We procrastinate due to many personal, family or life challenges. But despite the reasons, this blog post offers suggestions on how to stop procrastinating. It explains why procrastinating may be your biggest everyday problem.
What is Chronic Procrastination?
Chronic procrastination is the tendency to put off tasks always. Chronic procrastinators need help to start any assignment, finish them or meet deadlines. They will go to great lengths to avoid chores; shift blames and evade responsibilities.
People who procrastinate too often are “last-minute” individuals. Last-minute individuals believe they always time to do chores. They overlook the risks of missing deadlines, such as extra cost, delays in dependent activities, failure to meet customer expectations and soured relationships.
Chronic procrastinators know the risks of missing deadlines but delay their tasks until the last minute. They are always confident of meeting the deadlines. Yes, it is possible to meet deadlines despite delays. But this always comes at the cost of other lost opportunities.
People suffering from chronic procrastination have the following characteristics:
1. They often delay starting or finishing tasks on purpose.
2. They are usually lazy; love to waste time or very slow in doing things.
3. They hate to accept blame; there are reasons always to justify their actions, such as:
- · It does not matter when a task starts as long as it is completed on time.
- · They claim to perform better under an impending deadline.
- · It’s the way I like doing things.
If you have any of these attributes, you are a chronic procrastinator and must learn to stop procrastinating now.
How Chronic Procrastination Affects You.
Chronic procrastination is a primary source of stress and anxiety. It is also a barrier to success in both personal and professional settings.
Putting off tasks till later can reduce your productivity. It can also diminish your self-esteem and increase your stress level. And, people who procrastinate often need to be more organized. They often struggle to maintain healthy relationships.
Procrastinating can become a big problem if not treated. It can derail your career, relationships, and personal goals.
Missing deadlines is always a source of embarrassment. It makes you vulnerable, unserious or irresponsible. The anxiety associated with approaching deadlines can create many health-related problems.
How Chronic Procrastination Affects Your Health.
The worst effect of chronic procrastination is on our health. The health risks manifest in various ways. Here are some symptoms.
- Do you often feel sleepless, depressed, or want revenge for the wrongs done against you?
- Are you worried because of a reoccurring feeling of low self-esteem or the inability to maintain relationships?
- Do you always resent people, oppose their demands, or refuse to cooperate with others?
- Are you bad-tempered, cynical or aggressive to others
- Do you always resent people, oppose their demands, or refuse to cooperate with others?
According to Professor Joseph Ferrari, people with the above personality challenges should be concerned about how to stop procrastinating. Joseph Ferrari is the Distinguished Professor of Psychology at DePaul University in Chicago. He is a world-leading authority on procrastination.
Why Do We Procrastinate?
Some common causes of procrastination include: –
Fear of failure: Some people procrastinate because they are afraid to fail. So, if a task seems too challenging, they may put it off till later.
Fear of change: Many people put things off because they are comfortable with their current situation. Thus, they fear that taking action may lead to an unexpected turn of events, which may discomfort or disrupt their lives. So, they choose not to act but to maintain the status quo.
Poor time management: Time management is always a problem for people who procrastinate frequently. They are usually not keen to complete tasks they consider uninteresting. Some procrastinators are perfectionists; they set unrealistic goals, leading them to procrastinate.
Focus on trivial things: Chronic procrastinators get distracted by trivial matters. They lack the skill to focus on urgent issues. As a result, they cannot prioritize tasks, set achievable deadlines or accept responsibility for their failure.
Fear of dealing with emotions: People procrastinate to avoid feelings of sadness, depression, or anxiety.
How to Stop Procrastinating and start living
Here are some suggestions on how to stop procrastinating:
Set realistic goals: Avoid setting goals that are too high to achieve or too low to feel accomplished. Instead, aim for the middle ground with a higher chance of success.
Breaking big tasks into smaller, more manageable units helps you stay focused and get things done easier than procrastinating.
Focus on your strengths and positive attributes. If you procrastinate frequently, you may also have low self-esteem. Thus, you will be more concerned about your weaknesses than your strengths. Instead, put on a positive attitude; nobody is perfect; everyone makes mistakes.
Create a reward system: To overcome chronic procrastination, reward yourself. For example, you may take a small break to watch your favourite TV programme as a reward for completing a task.
Remove distractions from your environment. Get rid of all forms of distractions around you while undertaking a crucial task. If you love watching football, for instance, keep the football channel away from the room where you want to complete an important task.
Seek professional help: Seek professional help if everything fails and you need to work on it. A therapist can help you identify the problem and offer advice on how to stop procrastinating.
Finally
Chronic procrastination affects your health, work and reputation. It can also lead to decreased productivity, increased stress levels, and feelings of inadequacy.
On how to stop procrastinating, the post suggested the following strategies:
- Setting realistic goals
- Breaking tasks into small but manageable units.
- Removing distractions around your task environment and,
- Rewarding self
These strategies will help you overcome chronic procrastination and be more productive. But please seek help from qualified therapists if everything fails.
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