Overcome Procrastination!

 

Overcoming procrastination has become more difficult in the last few decades and is continuing to become more difficult. Let’s look Back in the 80s for a moment. Life was much more simple back then. In the 80s, there were phones that allowed people to call each other, but these phones were not addictive like the phones we have today. In fact, they didn’t have any electronics that were as addicting as they are today. Today everything has been optimized to draw you in and keep you addicted. It is extremely easy to become distracted from the important things now. Today we are going to cover why you procrastinate and how to overcome procrastination.

The Five Minute Rule

 

 

The main cause of procrastination in this generation is because our hands are glued to electronic gadgets. When we get boring tasks to do, we often get distracted by a more enjoyable and relaxing activity. To prevent this from happening, put down your phone and all other electronics and try the five minute rule!

The Five Minute Rule works like this: set a timer for five minutes and begin working on a task. Give it your best shot and focus on the activity the best you can. After the five minute timer goes off, you can re-evaluate. Do you want to continue working on this task or do you want to stop?

This method works extremely effectively. It puts you in motion, and to paraphrase science, once you’re in motion, you tend to remain in motion. This small commitment can put you in a flow state and it helps you get over the most difficult part – the most difficult part of action is getting started. You will most likely feel motivated to keep going.

On the other side, you give yourself an out. Sometimes you don’t need to do or shouldn’t do a task. This allows you to stop if there is something more important that needs your attention. A lot of people like to commit 100% to a project they are doing, but this may or may not be the most effective approach. You will be able to re-evaluate after five minutes.

 

Choose Your Environment Wisely

 

This tip to overcome procrastination is really 2 in one. First, you need to remove distractions. Second, you need to find an environment that helps you achieve your goals.

Imagine that you sit down to be productive, but everything around you is loud and distracting. You hear people talking, the television is going off, your phone keeps buzzing, and your neighbor’s dog is barking. This would make it difficult to concentrate on your task at hand. Each little distraction would prevent you from reaching your potential focus and would hurt your work flow. It is absolutely essential that you minimize these distractions. Remove your phone by giving it to a friend or family member until you’re done. Ask people to remain quiet. Turn the television off. The more distractions you can remove, the better.

Then, the second part to this is that you need to find an environment that is not only quiet, but also comfortable. This will allow you to focus on your work at hand. If you’re not able to turn your current place into a good environment, then you may need to consider other locations. Maybe moving to a different room in your house, going to the library, or sitting at a park. There are many places that you could use that provide good conditions for you to focus.

By removing distractions and positioning yourself in an environment conducive to completing your tasks, you will increase your output and procrastinate less.

 

Overcome Procrastination With Rejection

 

“An arrow can only be shot by pulling it backward. When life is dragging you back with difficulties, it means it’s going to launch you into something great.” – Paulo Coelho”

 

Getting comfortable with rejection is important for learning and self growth! However, dealing with rejection can be difficult at first. Take homework as an example, when homework is submitted to a teacher, there is a possibility of failure. As a result, this potential for failure and rejection can often prevent us from becoming better. However, it’s crucial to remember that failure is a part of the learning process! Don’t fear making mistakes; analyze the situation and seek ways to improve next time!

These following steps can help you get comfortable with rejection faster:

• Focus on the effort you put in your work, not the result.
• Try turning in your work even if it’s not perfect.
• Keep trying and don’t give up!

 

The School Debate Example

 

There is an argument that goes on in the school debate. The debate is about perfection. School expects perfection from students and they are penalized for not being perfect. The debate is: does expecting perfection teach students the wrong thing about learning, or does the expectation of perfection force learning onto students. Let’s break this down a bit more. No one will ever learn by being perfect. We need to make mistakes. This is what we call experience. However, the school system wants perfection. If students are not perfect, they receive punishment.On the other hand, someone could argue that school forces students to be perfect because when they are not perfect, it forces failure. When a student fails, they have 2 choices: learn or give up. Most people will try to learn.

I am not stating an opinion, just simply expressing both sides because both sides represent the concept we are discussing here. Why do you procrastinate? Because rejection is what you’re afraid of. However, rejection is a part of the learning process. If you want to learn how to stop procrastinating, you should learn to accept mistakes and learn from them. This will allow you to overcome procrastination in this area.

 

Conclusion

 

Everyone would be more productive if they could learn how to stop procrastinating. First, why do we procrastinate? Mostly because of negative emotions. Being overwhelmed by the amount of work ahead of us, fear of mistakes, feeling that our chores are too boring. Understanding why you procrastinate is the first step to overcoming procrastination.

There are many little tricks to overcome procrastination. The Five Minute Rule will help you get started and to determine if the task is worth continuing. Removing distractions will help you focus and placing yourself in a good environment will massively assist you in your productivity. Taking control of your emotions and not fearing rejection will allow you to face each mistake as a learning opportunity. Apply these techniques and you’ll overcome procrastination much easier.

 

Resources

 

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