What is procrastination? Why do we do it? How to tackle it?

What is procrastination?

Procrastination is the act of voluntarily and unnecessarily postponing or postponing something when it is known that doing so will have negative consequences. In addition, it can be described as a habitual or deliberate delay in starting or completing a task, although knowing that it may have negative consequences. This is a common human experience that involves postponing daily tasks or even important tasks, such as making appointments, submitting work reports or academic assignments, or solving stress problems with colleagues. 

 

 

 

What is procrastination? Meaning

Why do we procrastinate?

People often think that procrastination is just a matter of willpower, but the situation is much more complicated in reality. When faced with a decision to be made or a task to be completed, we usually rely on self-control to push us to complete the task. In addition, our motivation is based on the expectation of some return for our efforts, which can support our self-control and make us more likely to complete tasks quickly. However, we may also experience that some negative factors have the opposite effect on our motivation, which means they make us procrastinate more easily. For example, anxiety, fear of failure, and other negative emotions can cause us to procrastinate unnecessarily as if we were assigned unpleasant tasks. In addition, some obstacles can interfere with our self-control and motivation and make us procrastinate more easily. For example, fatigue caused by hard work during the day will make it more difficult for us to exercise self-control if it is late at night. Similarly, the huge gap between the time we complete a task and the reward we receive for completing the task will cause us to discount the value of this reward, which means that its incentive value will be greatly reduced.

 

 

 

Generally speaking, we procrastinate because our self-control and motivation will be hindered by fatigue, long-distance rewards, and other factors, but also by negative factors such as anxiety and fear of failure. As long as our self-control and motivation are greater than the influence of negative factors, we can complete our work on time even if there are obstacles. However, when all the negative factors exceed our self-control and motivation, we will eventually postpone our work indefinitely or until a break-even point in the future is beneficial to us.,

 

 

 

Reason of procrastination Reason

 

How to tackle it?

If you now need some basic advice on how to stop procrastination, you can do the following: 
Make your environment conducive to action. For example, you can eliminate distractions in your work environment, even if you are not ready to start working. Organize some instant rewards; if you start, you will get these rewards. This reward may be relatively small, but the important thing is that you will receive it soon. Ask yourself, "If you must take immediate action, what is the smallest step you can take?" Then repeat to yourself, if you start with this little step and try to do it, then it doesn't matter if your work isn't perfect. . Additionally, you may also ask yourself, "What makes me procrastinate?" Then think about the reason for your procrastination and try to figure it out. For example, if your problem is that you are afraid of not handling the task well, you can tell yourself that even if you make a mistake, it is not the end of the world, and you can correct it. Later.

 

 

Conclusion

Consider the wishes in front of you. For example, your future self may save for retirement, but your current self decides to buy those brand new shoes since that's decades later. The struggle between your present and future interests will only end when the consequences affect you here and now. In ensuring that new productivity habits are maintained, and old habits do not recur, you need to find tools to help you stay consistent. For example, create a daily routine that allows you to prioritize tasks. Limit your attention and start each day with the most important thing. Completing the first task will help you continue to the next task. Also, try to use "visual cues" to remind you of new productive actions, such as a calendar showing what you have done and what you still need to do. Creating "evidence of your progress" will help you get on track and achieve your goals.

 

 

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