It’s 10 pm, the night before a big project is due and the good old procrastination has gotten the best of you again. You tell yourself you are lazy and you have messed up once again. But if you understand procrastination it has nothing to do with laziness at all. You are NOT lazy. It is deeper than that.
The thing that causes you to procrastinate is your thoughts. Think about something that you need to get done. Now think about the thoughts you have revolved around that thing. You may notice you hear things like
“ugh, I can’t do it.”
“I don’t know where to start.”
” I don’t want to do it”
“It is too hard, I’m too dumb.”
“There is too much to do.”
” I am so scared I am going to fail.” Which, fear of failure is a big one that causes procrastination.
Or you may have other fearful thoughts. You may fear what others think, you may fear rejection or judgment or not being good enough. Fear is a big underlying factor in why we procrastinate.
Perfectionist
You also may be a perfectionist. So you may have a certain image in your head of how things should look or be and so you may need it to be that way before you decide it is done. And because of the perfectionist attitude, you may notice you do not want to do it as you feel it is never good enough. So you may notice you are having these negative thoughts that are causing you to not want to do it and it is causing you to procrastinate. You see this thing, you feel a negative feeling towards it and you have these negative thoughts os of course you are going to want to distract yourself from it. So you avoid it.
Overwhelmed
There may be too much on your plate. Too much going on. Unsure where to start. There is no real beginning, middle or end so it seems like it is too much. This can cause you to feel helpless and stressed so of course, you are not going to want to get started or continue.
Distracted
You may notice you get distracted easily. Especially now in the time of social media. You are getting notifications or people are sharing posts and there are so many different things going on so it is hard to not give in. So you may think of something more fun to do. Or you start thinking of all the other things you have to get done and start doing those things.
Not urgent
If it is not an emergency or it won’t kill you, you feel it is not going to affect you. So you prioritize other things before that and then before you know it, it is now close to the deadline or what you wanted to get done is never getting done.
First thing is to be aware of your thoughts. What are you telling yourself? What is the story that is going on in your mind when you are about to do something? Are you being negative? What are the words you are using? Then you want to make sure you reaffirm the opposite. So if you notice you tell yourself ” I am dumb.” Correct it by reiterating that you are smart and you can do it.
You do not want to use negative words like “I am not stupid” as you want to say something positive to reaffirm the opposite to encourage yourself. Also, another thing to keep in mind is that when you are telling yourself these negative things, you are reaffirming in your mind that it is true. This then causes you to act on this belief which is more likely to cause failure and procrastination. So when you change that thought to a positive and create a new belief you are more likely to act on that belief which will have positive outcomes. So recognize those fear and negative based thoughts and reaffirm the opposite.
Also, be aware of the words you use like “have to” and “need to.” This feels like a chore and causes people to not want to do it. Instead, change it to ” I get to” Or “I am looking forward to it.” At first, it will feel like a lie but you will start to see it differently. It becomes an opportunity.
If you get overwhelmed easily, take the tasks you need to do and break them down. Prioritize what needs to happen first and mainly focus on that. Afterward tell yourself you did a good job, give yourself praise, and then tell yourself you look forward to the next thing! Make it enjoyable for yourself.
Our brains associate different areas with different things. So for instance our brains associate bedrooms with relaxation, sleep, or fun time. Or it associates the kitchen with cooking and eating. So try to have an area where you can study or work so that way your brain associates that with productivity or getting work done.
If you get distracted easily, something that could help is putting your phone in another room so it is not a temptation. We can become very addicted to our phones, especially when we get notifications. Every time we get a notification it gives us a dopamine and serotonin release, the happy reward chemicals. So you will notice you will get tempted to pick it up every few minutes to see if you got another notification as you want that release again. So when you put it in another room you will be less tempted to get up and go in that other room and get it as you are already sitting.
Another thing that can be helpful is to not look at your phone first thing when you wake up. When we wake up and look at our phones, it sets the tone of the day to get that release of happy chemicals from our phones. So instead of looking at it, spend the morning meditating, saying affirmations, practicing gratitude, or just being mindful. This will help you set the tone for a more productive positive day.
You can set time blocks of things you want to get done. For instance, if you have been putting cleaning to the side, you can set a time to clean. Or whatever you need to do it. Not only that but when you get a thought of doing something, do it within the first 5 seconds. When you wait more than 5 seconds, your brain will naturally talk yourself out of it as we like to be comfortable. So the second you get that thought to do something like cleaning or a project or a chore, do it. You can then set a timer for 5 minutes and before you know it, you are already on a roll and will continue.
Some people work better rewards and some work better with discipline. So try this, pretend you are in kindergarten again and you have a little chart and some gold stars. So put down some things you want to get done in a chart for the week and then when you complete it, you get a gold star. At the end of the week if your chart is filled, then you can give yourself a little prize. If you don’t complete it then you don’t get the prize
Or if you want to try a discipline chart, write down the things you want to get done, and if you don’t do them then you have to put some money in the jar and at the end of the week, you either have to donate or give away that money. These are things that can condition you. It’s something to look forward to or consequences you don’t want to endure.
Do a trial and error and see which works for you.
If all else fails, get an accountability partner. Tell someone that is also motivated about all your goals and what you want to get done. This way they can check in on you and vice versa to see if you are getting things done. That way you can feel like you are a part of a team as some people work better when they feel a part of a team.
What do you guys think? Leave it all in the comments below!
