“I’ll do it later.”
“There’s still time.”
“I’ll rest today and finish it tomorrow.”
“I do my best work under pressure.”

These are the mantras of the procrastinator. We have all been bitten, one way or the other and at one time or the other, by the procrastination bug. Sometimes it feels just right to leave a task we have to and can do now for a later time. We come up with excuses to convince ourselves that it is the right thing to do, but deep down we know it isn’t.

Procrastination is a cycle of fear and guilt. When you procrastinate, you feel an increasingly nagging sense of guilt at the back of your mind that metamorphoses into fear as the deadline draws nearer. Not only does this cause you to turn in subpar and haphazardly done work, or cause you to fail when you do not prepare adequately for exams, it becomes a habit and can ruin your future and your reputation. Here are ways you can break free of the chains of procrastination and make the most of your time to do exceptional work.

1. Just do it!

It can be hard, sometimes, to get started on something, even when it is something you love doing. That first step can be difficult, especially if it is something that requires you starting with a blank slate. Most of the time, however, you just need to get up and move! Once you become active; once you start the work, you will find yourself enjoying it and pushing to complete it. But you won’t know unless you get up!

2. Start small.

Another factor that contributes to procrastination is feeling that the task you have to do is enormous. It can be akin to staring at a mountain and wondering how on earth you are going to climb it, or when you will get to the top. Don’t look at the big picture, start small. Break down the task into bite-sized, easily-solvable parts and work one little part at a time. Research has shown that people that set lots of small goals tend to achieve them more than those that set few large goals.

3. Find out why.

Sometimes you may not know the purpose of the task you have to do. Not attaching a sense of worth or importance to a task can easily dissuade you from carrying it out, after all why waste your time doing something that is meaningless? Find out why you have to do that work, the benefits of doing it and the drawbacks of not doing it. Having a sense of perspective will go a long way in motivating you to do the work.

4. Set reminders.

We tend to forget things. Heck, we can forget what we were thinking about as we enter the next room. Nowadays, however, there are smart assistants built into our smartphones and setting a reminder for anything is sometimes as easy as pressing a button and talking to your phone. Even if you don’t use a smartphone, there are inbuilt timer and clock apps to enable you to create basic reminders for things. You have no excuse to forget doing what you have to do.

5. Take breaks.

If you feel you cannot complete the work in one long sprint, break it up into parts and take small breaks in-between. This will leave you refreshed and you return to the problem with fresher eyes and a new perspective.

6. Remove distractions.

Stay off social media and other non-productive distractions until you finish your work, or get to a break period. This should go without saying as it is a black hole that can suck you into it and leave you feeling confused when you emerge, hours later, and it’s midnight and you have wasted the entire day.

7. Create a playlist.

In our post about adequate exam preparation, we talked about the importance of music in aiding recall and achieving focus. Create a playlist that gets you in a state of flow with your work. Most music streaming services have expertly-curated playlists that can get you in the zone. Press play and sink into your work.

If you have any thoughts or more ways to combat procrastination, please share in the comments below.

Source: Exercise Book, the BlueBic blog.

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