How to deal with procrastination?

The term procrastination comes from the Latin crastinus (that is, "tomorrow") and pro (which in translation means the particle "on"). The second variant of the appearance of this word indicates that it comes from English procrastination, which means “postponement”, or “delay”.

Before fighting procrastination, let's figure out what kind of ailment it is and whether it is possible to cope with it. Remember the student years when many of us, instead of starting to prepare our thesis or term paper in advance, fled to a disco or a date, and left all our affairs for later. This is perhaps the most striking and understandable example of procrastination. Although in a more adult life, it is not so easy to discern the onset of an ailment. And there are several types of this insidious disease.

• Academic - the very one when we postpone study and homework, writing a term paper and a diploma for later.
• Neurotic - when, due to fear and unwillingness to take responsibility, we avoid making any decisions in life. Perhaps the guy does not want to go to the registry office not because he does not like the girl, but because he has procrastination.
• Behavioral “It seems to us that the next time we will definitely succeed in doing all the housework and household chores, as well as other things that require our daily efforts, than today.”
• Working - We pull to the last with some complicated, painstaking or simply unpleasant business for us.
• Integrated - bringing together all of the above species or some of them together.

Sometimes we simply don’t notice how we put off important matters, because we constantly find a replacement for them. We come up with a lot of reasons and deeds so as not to sit down for something important or difficult to accomplish.. And in return we take both other work and other little things in life. Three times an hour we pour coffee, every ten minutes we run to the next office, we will grind all the pencils in the office, wipe the dust even where it is not, and in the evening, laying down on the bed, we understand that we did not do what was planned, but wanted and almost tried.

And everything would be fine, because there will still be tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and so on. But then again we find a lot of excuses in order not to start the annual report, for example. But then the problems begin. Firstly, sooner or later, the work will still have to be done, and time will be running out, and we will do it already in an emergency mode, which, as a rule, entails errors, and even worse - stress and even depression. We begin to reproach ourselves for not taking this time earlier, our colleagues and management are also not enthusiastic about our actions.

And for starters, it's worth figuring out the causes of your illness. There may be several of them, getting rid of some is simple, but others are much more difficult:

• you are an idle and irresponsible person in life;
• it seems to you that by setting a time frame for you, leadership limits the freedom of your personality;
• You are afraid that you will not be able to complete the task assigned to you;
• you are “lost” in time and do not understand that minutes, hours and days pass, it seems to you that they are endless;
• you do not need a salary, there is no financial motivation;
• you believe that tomorrow you will become better than yesterday;
• you have already failed in this field, and it seems to you that it will always be so.

If any of the above about you and what is happening do not suit you, it's time to start a fight. You need to admit yourself to the disease. Go to the mirror and honestly and honestly tell yourself that you are not only charming and attractive, but also suffer from procrastination. And then proceed to a phased solution to the problem.

• Write down priorities. In the morning, make a list of the tasks you have planned. Highlight the most important and difficult, start from this, leave the rest for “dessert”. You eat dinner at first, the main course, and only then - dessert. So let small tasks remain on the “sweet side”.
• Plan. Set a clear framework for yourself - what and when you should do it. Write a plan on paper and hang it in front of you. Follow it as instructions.
• Do not be afraid of failure. Do not be discouraged if something did not work out right away. Redoing, finishing, fixing is much easier than starting from scratch. Repair is not a construction site.
• Observe the regimen. Do not try to catch it all at once. Rest is necessary.

To stop procrastinating, it is also important to understand the reasons. To defeat the enemy, you need to know him in person. Reasons may be such.

• Work does not suit you; it does not bring either moral or material satisfaction. Start looking for a new one, otherwise you will remain in prostration, that is, in procrastination.
• Remove phrases such as “I must” or “I owe” to work, replace them with “I can”, “I want”. You must admit that this sounds more pleasant, and overcoming the psychological barrier will help us, freedom-loving.
• Try to understand why you do not want to take up this particular business, try to start it from the other end. Do not wait until you catch up with the work you have done. Instead of a whip, buy yourself a carrot as an advance for the upcoming work. Please yourself with something. With a good mood and things will go more fun.After you finish the job, boldly walk, buy yourself at least a chocolate bar as a reward.
• Find helpers for yourself. Together we are a force that helps to get out of even the most difficult situations!

As such, there are no special exercises to combat procrastination. Except, of course, daily walks in the fresh air and playing sports, morning exercises are also considered. Both that and another will help to deliver oxygen to our brain, which will make the head work faster and better. There are a number of other actions that will help to cope with the problem.

• Paste later on in your work schedule. That is, provide yourself with time for doing nothing. Just don't overdo it. You can remember about the children, call them and find out how they are doing.
• Put your desktop in order. Remove all unnecessary things that may distract you. You need to work at work. But do not forget about the breaks.
• Set a clear lunch time for yourself. Then you will not be tempted to start it 15 minutes earlier and finish half an hour later.

• To overcome your unwillingness to do anything, remember what dividends you will receive after completing the work (good fee, respect from colleagues, award, "thank you", in the end, a good word, as you know, and a cat is pleased).
• You can’t avoid delays on your own, find among your colleagues a person who can give you a motivational “kick”, at the moment when you once again dream, looking at the landscape outside the window.
• Once and forever forget the word "later"Better do some of the work in advance.
• To prevent procrastination, "Close" for the duration of the work from the outside world. Forget about social networks, sites with promotions and sales. Tell your colleagues and household that you are gone for the next two to three hours. On the occasion of the return, promise a holiday to both them and yourself. Phone, ideally, you also need to turn off, well, if you do not expect a very important call, of course.
• Write a memo with an algorithm for completing the task. Remember - at first there was a word.
• Make a fun process out of chores. Start writing each subsequent sheet of the report, for example, with a new pen, with a different ink color, for example. When creating computer documents, this is also possible.
• Make it a rule not only to draw up a plan for the day, but also to take stock of it. What did, and what didn’t, and why. Perhaps tomorrow you will not drink 10 cups of coffee, but one.
• Do not set impossible tasks. Be mindful of scheduling. Clearly think about what you will do to praise yourself in the evening, and not scold.
• Remember that you can’t easily take a fish out of a pond. Yes, your task is difficult, but it is worth it. Over time, things will go better, you need to tolerate and move towards your goal gradually, albeit in small steps.
• Our best friends are our own feelings and reflexes. As soon as you feel that the attack of procrastination begins, urgently stop it. Take a cold shower, it will cheer you up perfectly. Take a run, a surge of energy is guaranteed. You can simply limit yourself to light charging. The main thing is to do something.
• In the work schedule, take into account not weeks or months, but days. “Until the end of October, another three weeks” does not sound so concrete as “a term that expires in 21 days,” but it’s not so scary. The same goes for a particular day.

Time is running inexorably. And besides work (or household chores), you need to do so much more. In the routine of everyday worries, do not forget to please yourself. The fact that you will have time and energy for this will also spur you to a clear fulfillment of your duties, which, of course, cannot always bring only positive emotions. You must deliver them to yourself by coming out of the situation as a winner and being able to overcome all obstacles, including procrastination.