Checking Whatsapp, watching funny videos on social media or downright avoiding work, we all have been there, and it has frustrated us. Procrastination is the act of delaying the task. As the deadline starts looming, the task eventually snowballs into a large monster smothering us, and leaving us unable to perform our routine tasks.
What comes next is probably worse than procrastination itself. The feeling of anxiety and the hindsight that, maybe if we had not wasted time on social media or elsewhere, we could have finished the task with much ease weighs heavily on our mind. This in turn, leads to more negative feelings with passing time.
Procrastination comes in many forms . We might resolve to finish a task, but will find endless reasons to postpone it. We might prioritize simple tasks but leave the complex tasks untouched. We may look busy, while creatively avoiding concrete tasks. And, at the end of the day, when we look at the long list of unchecked tasks in our to-do list, we can’t help but feel disappointed in ourselves.
The crux of the problem is that our brains are programmed to procrastinate. Our brains, in general, struggle with tasks that promise future reward for efforts we take now. That is, our brains crave for instant reward rather than in the future. So, the short-term effort easily dominates the long-term upside in our minds, something the behavioral scientists call “present bias”.
Hence, how do we tackle this problem before it gets out of hand? It’s all about rebalancing the cost-benefit analysis; make the benefits of action and future reward feel bigger than the costs and immediate hassle of performing it smaller.
Here are a few ways to beat procrastination:
1. Divide your work into small tasks: The key is for the brain to feel that the cost of the action is small. So, it helps to divide a complex task into smaller, bite sized tasks which will not overwhelm us. Now, we can focus on that one important thing and make a commitment to finish the task.
2. Begin the task well: We have heard of the old adage, “A well begun task is half done”. Let’s make it much simpler, just begin the work! You can start writing your next article or prepare a mind map to jot down your ideas. It doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to begin. You can, of course, return and improve it anytime.
3. Tomato time: Science has discovered that our brain naturally goes through cycles of peaks where we concentrate hard on the task at hand or go through valleys where the brain focuses on relaxation. To maximize our output, we can use this knowledge to our advantage.
We can use time-management techniques like Pomodoro. In pomodoro, we break down the task into deep focused work, usually 25 minutes in length, punctuated by a break of 5 minutes. At the end of every four Pomodoro intervals, we can have a long break of 15 minutes.
4. Face your fears: Sometimes, it can be helpful to understand exactly why you have been procrastinating a specific task. Is something heavy weighing on your mind? Is it a lack of confidence? Is it because you feel overwhelmed and don’t know where to start? Ask yourself why you have been avoiding this task and see what the honest answers are. Confronting your fears helps you realize they are not as bad as you perceive.
5. Make it fun: As discussed earlier, the brain craves for rewards, so why not go for it? You can tie your task to a particular reward and you can indulge in it once the task is completed. Like “I will treat myself to an ice-cream if I finish this animation successfully” or “I will reward myself with a movie if I finish this research paper.” Studies have shown that the human brain responds to reward stimulus and this can be an excellent way to create habits.
At the end of the day, we have concluded that procrastination, like every other bad habit, can be curtailed by inculcating good habits. It’s all a matter of how we respond to the brain’s demands and how we can enforce our will through determination. It might not seem easy at first, but with patience and perseverance it can also be brought to kneel. One important thing to possess is loads of positive attitude and avoid negativity. Good diet, regular exercise and a good amount of sleep play an important role in this. As there is an old man saying, “A man surrounded by work does not have time to get bored!”
Really its useful to everyone