Why Procrastination is your Biggest Enemy?

We all wanted to do something in our lives. If we are a student then we would be running to complete our assignments or if our exams are near, then we would be thinking of getting prepared for our best performance and will top the exams, if we are searching for a job then we would be rehearsing our interview practice and to give your best presentation.

We decide very quickly that we want to do this and that, but we don’t do what we should do, we feel that we will do it tomorrow or today we are not in the mood, let’s check Instagram feeds, scrolling, some YouTube videos and shorts, some comedy clips, and like this we waste our time and that day when we do perform our job or goal never come. This is called procrastination.

Procrastination, is a delaying tactic, let’s try to understand scientifically, how actually psychology works for this. We say someone else will do, God will do. Talk about motivation, motivation works for the short term and stays for a day or two.  According to Dr. Piers Steel, a procrastination researcher, procrastination is not a new problem or a modern-day issue, it existed for centuries, at that time people were also lazy and make delayed. However, there has been a serious growth in chronic procrastination for the last five decades; more than 50% of people worldwide are suffering from this issue.

When we procrastinate? We procrastinate when there is an examination or work time or some duty to perform, office work, health workout, or any emotional activity but we never procrastinate when using a cell phone, social media, partying, clubbing, watching long movies, YouTube videos we procrastinate when there is some effort involved in the work or it is the work of importance, effort either of emotional, physical or mental level. We replace that effort with something easy and simple for all levels especially entertaining like social media browsing or watching movies.

Deadlines play a very important role in life. It makes someone feel to do work or a job within time at some level. We procrastinate till the nearest deadline, for example, scrolling social media for five minutes converts into hours.

After that we feel a little hungry so work should start after getting that energy, after that, we feel that our mood needed to be lifted so watch some funny content on YouTube, then we feel a little tired so we want to take bath to be fresh and then start working, this is how hours wasted then at night we realize that now only some hours are remaining towards a deadline, then we put all your efforts whole night to submit our task in the morning.

This is when you have deadlines, but what happens is there are no deadlines. Procrastination can be carried on infinite. At an early age, procrastination might result in bad grades, no good job, or unemployment, but at the age of maturity, procrastination will lead people to regrets and guilt.  we want to live our dream but could not simply because of procrastination. We have heard people saying that they wanted to be a singer or sportsperson but did not reach there because of circumstances and situations, and start to blame circumstances then.

At growing age, procrastination starts to result adversely, for example, a healthy workout, if you don’t exercise for a long time then this will lead you to weight gain or diabetes or blood pressure or heart disease. And then, Lifetime regrets are not the stop, it leads to depression and anxiety, and you could not do what you wanted to do. Another feeling that occurs is guilt, we are not happy by wasting time but still, we do it, why is that?

Why do we procrastinate? With no motivation or little motivation toward goals, such motivation also depends on the ease of achievement, if the method of achieving something is easy then motivation towards it would be high and vice versa. Similarly, it depends on needs, if someone does not need a return for a job, then it would be difficult for him to achieve that job requirement.

Also, psychological comfort and matching, if any task is according to the psychological level, will be very easy and interesting. Some people are risk takers and like to achieve things in greed of something like money or power, some people are risk averse because they try to avoid any mishap or problem so they work by avoiding any risk. Some people just wanted to avoid losses by doing their jobs, some people work according to quick rewards, all these are relative and vary from person to person.

How to stop procrastination? While it is not easy, procrastination is a habit that can be kicked. You’ll need to create a “To-Do” list and make sure you stick to that list. Give yourself little rewards whenever you accomplish the task in the list, like 15 minutes of social media scrolling, or some sweets to eat.

If you have an exam coming up, the most important you can do is take control of your study environment. Remove all distractions, that INCLUDES your cell phone!

Struggling with big tasks? Subdivide that task into smaller units, that way you can focus more easily.

Most importantly establish a routine, for it brings discipline into your life.

So, which tip will you be following to get rid of the habit of procrastination?