What is Procrastination? 4 tips to get rid of it

The word procrastination means postponing an action. Roughly speaking, we could say that it would be that habit of leaving everything for later. We postpone as much as possible something we could have started before.

I will cite a very common example to illustrate procrastination: A university student has to deliver a paper in a month, but he ends up putting it aside, until there is only one day left to deliver the work. The university student then has to manage to do the work in one day, and he could have done it more calmly in the 30 days that passed.

It is interesting to analyze that procrastination only prevails in duty. We don’t procrastinate things we like or feel pleasure. Psychologist Joseph Ferrari in his book Procrastination reports: “most of us start the day by procrastinating, pressing that alarm clock button that allows us to stay in bed for five more minutes.”

When we procrastinate we stop doing something. In this sense, it is important to analyze yourself and check which moments you procrastinate. There are many techniques, books and texts on how to get rid of procrastination.

See also – How to stop procrastination

An interesting aspect that we can think of is that we are always doing something. There is no way to do nothing. At the very least you will be breathing. And, equally, you will be having bodily sensations, feelings and thoughts that come and go. Thus, the postponement of an action, procrastination is exactly that: choosing to do an unimportant thing and failing to do the most important thing.

4 tips to stop procrastination

Below I have listed 4 tips on how to be more effective in action:

1) Know your personality

Analyze your way of acting and being determined, in which moments you carry out your activities with pleasure.

Some people are more nocturnal, while others are more diurnal. As a result, by knowing your own pace, you can take advantage of which period is best for you to work, study, rest or have fun.

2) List your tasks

Prioritize which are the most important and urgent, because if you think too much you will procrastinate and leave it for tomorrow.

As for priority, we have two texts here on the site that will certainly help you understand the importance of establishing the one thing that is most important, as well as defining your priority in each specific area of ​​your life.

Look:

Do you want to succeed? Learn the rule from the book “The One Thing”

Increase your productivity with Warren Buffet’s system – the 2nd richest man in the world

3) Set deadlines for your activities

Once you have made your list, put the maximum deadline for accomplishment. In English, we say that having a dead line, a final and maximum deadline, is the difference that makes the difference between doing and not doing. According to Napoleon Hill, “A goal is a dream with a deadline” – “A goal is a dream with a deadline🇧🇷

Because, imagine, you. If you have a dream and think it might take 30 years, are you going to start realizing it now? Will probably leave it for later. If the dream has a term of 5 or even 1 year, even so, maybe you will postpone it.

However, if what you want to do or what you have to do is “for yesterday” you will have no choice but to do it. So, instead of letting everything stay “for yesterday”, set deadlines and follow them to the letter.

4) Do it immediately

Don’t think too much about doing something on the list, do it right away. Because if you think too much, you will procrastinate. Another common mistake is planning, creating a thousand to-do lists (to-do lists) or remain in arguments and counter-arguments: “I didn’t do this, I didn’t do that. If I do it now, I’ll save that for later. But I have to do this too. So, if I do that other thing first, there will be time and I will be able to…”

Read – Productivity: less thinking, more doing

Observation:

These tips can help you be more productive in your studies, work or activities. But the pleasure of leaving it for later in certain serious cases can be a difficult problem to solve alone. If you are having difficulty prioritizing or completing your tasks, psychotherapeutic and psychiatric treatment is suggested.

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