How many times have you said to yourself, “I’ll do that later”, and then the time comes later and you do nothing at all? This results in a number of issues such as not completing tasks at all and keeping them postponed indefinitely, or at best finishing them late, or doing them quickly and without focus due to lack of time. Procrastination affects an individual’s ability to produce and renders it dysfunctional, leading to many different negative outcomes. Despite the importance of the issue and its negative effects, you can easily overcome it by following the following 10 strategies that help you manage and organize your time and do your tasks efficiently and effectively.
(1) Reorganize your to-do list This step is one of the important and essential steps to overcome the issue of procrastination, as rewriting and organizing your to-do list so that it becomes less long than it is now, and contains a number of clearly formulated and precisely defined tasks, makes you able to implement them more than long lists that tempt you to procrastinate. It’s worth noting that just writing these tasks down can have a strong psychological impact and increase your desire to complete them in the best way possible. This short, clear, and prioritized format also enables you to easily assess your achievement, so that you can clearly see what you need to do before the day ends.
(2) Identify the reasons you’re procrastinating If you find yourself unable to finish a task and have an overwhelming urge to put it off, you need to figure out why. Have you lost your energy and can’t take on any more tasks, are you being forced to do the task against your will, is it an unpleasant and scary task for you, or are you afraid of not being able to do it well? Just recognizing the real reason why you are procrastinating will allow you to solve the underlying issue and then you will be able to be productive again.
(3) Determine the right amount of time to complete each task You need to start writing down tasks with a time limit, so that the time given to each task is commensurate with its nature and the amount of effort it needs to be completed to the fullest. This method is one of the effective methods of time management, a method developed by the Italian “Francesco Cirillo” in the late eighties and called thePomodoro Method, and this method depends on the idea of frequent pauses for rest, which would improve the individual’s intuition and concentration, and this is done by dividing the work time into specific time periods, each of which is 25 minutes followed by a rest period ranging from 3 to 5 minutes: 5 minutes. This idea is based on the idea that the individual becomes more capable of working, and more willing to work, if he knows that he will take short breaks as a reward for accomplishing the tasks required of him, and he returns to work more seriously, eager to get a new break after accomplishing a new task, and so on.
(4) Start with the annoying tasks first There are two important factors that affect your decision to postpone a task. The first is the time you intend to carry out the task, the earlier in the day you start carrying out your tasks, the greater your ability to perform these tasks, and vice versa; the later the time, the more likely you will lose the desire and enthusiasm to perform these tasks, and the more likely you will lose the desire and enthusiasm to perform them. The second factor is the difficulty of the tasks and the extent of your discomfort with them, so it is preferable while planning the tasks you intend to perform during the day to start with the difficult tasks first, so that you start with those tasks that require more effort early in the day, and leave the easy tasks that you enjoy performing until the end, and this is your appreciation for the effort made by both your exhausted mind and body throughout the day.
(5) Get enough rest throughout the day If you’re the type of person who tends to procrastinate, it may be because you don’t get enough rest throughout the day, maybe you don’t practice relaxation properly and you continue to feel tired even during your daily work break, many people take a break without leaving the office. For example, they stay at their desks to check the emails they are about to respond to right after the break, or they talk to their colleagues about the projects they have been working on recently, so they do not replenish their energy and are unable to finish the remaining tasks assigned to them. When you take your daily work break, make sure that you have completely disconnected for a few minutes from the stressful work environment, go and eat outside, meditate and relax, surf the internet for fun, or go for a walk before going back to work, all of which will help you regain your energy and become ready to complete the rest of your tasks.
(6) Run errands during commercial breaks While watching your favorite movie on TV or listening to your favorite show on the radio, you can take the opportunity during commercial breaks to do some errands, whether those work-related tasks that you have put off until later, or simple household tasks such as putting clothes in the washing machine, taking out the trash, or feeding your pet, all of which are easy tasks that can be done quickly during the few minutes of commercials.
(7) Divide the work into small tasks If you are starting a huge project, the threat factor associated with the ability to complete the work may be a strong motivation to procrastinate and postpone starting to accomplish the required tasks, for example, being required to complete a task that takes several weeks to complete will make the mere thought of this task a great burden on you. However, if you divide the work into smaller, simpler, and less time-consuming tasks, this will make the task seem easier and immediately achievable, and in the end, a set of small, short-term goals will come together to reach your larger goal for sure.
(8) Take good care of yourself Don’t assume that your procrastination is because you’re lazy, it could simply be that you’re completely drained and need to take care of yourself by getting enough sleep, eating healthy, and exercising. If you’re feeling lethargic, fearful, threatened, or unmotivated, you might want to visit your doctor, as you may be suffering from a vitamin deficiency or depression, and when you address your health issues and get in better shape, your procrastination issues will decrease dramatically.
(9) Give yourself the reward you deserve If you want to stop procrastinating and postponing tasks, you must give yourself a strong reason that makes you more willing to accomplish the work, and in this context you can write a list of small rewards that would make you happy and increase your motivation to accomplish more tasks, such as taking a short break, spending some time in a recreational activity, or getting your favorite candy, and the bigger the size of the achievement, the bigger the reward should be to become a strong incentive for you.
(10) Stop using the Internet for some time The great development in the field of computers and the Internet in our modern age is the most important factor that pushes many people to procrastinate and postpone their work repeatedly, from sitting in front of the computer screen for hours to browse social networking sites, to the smart phones that have become in the hands of everyone, we find ourselves surrounded by a flood of messages and updates waiting for us to respond to them, and then neglect some important matters and postpone the implementation of some tasks that must be accomplished. To combat this phenomenon, you may have to stop using the internet for some time, even if it’s just for one day, let your smart devices stop working and start accomplishing your postponed tasks first.
In conclusion… Procrastination is a bad habit that limits your ability to be productive and has many negative consequences as mentioned earlier, but fortunately, you can still retrain yourself and learn to modify the behaviors that lead you to put off your tasks. The next time you feel the urge to put off an important task, try using some of these techniques, and with persistent practice, you’ll be able to adopt a new attitude that pushes you to finish your work first and never become a victim of procrastination again.
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