Who’s not guilty of procrastination here? Not me. I’m guilty of procrastination at times. Because it’s easy to put off a task until tomorrow or until I’m sure of it. But procrastination is a time thief — surely, we’ll never get anything done. In this article, you’ll have a deep understanding of procrastination per se; and why we tend to do so despite our good desires to reach our dreams. You’ll also learn how to overcome procrastination and possessing the right attitude for it.
You have been sitting in front of your laptop for some minutes. You want to work on a project, but you haven’t done anything since you opened the system. You got a notification on your phone, and you checked it. From there, you checked the comments of your friends about a picture you posted on Facebook. It’s close to an hour, and you still haven’t started the project. This is the situation many people find themselves in every day. Why does this happen? Everybody procrastinates, don’t they? In reality, many people have been able to master the art of overcoming inactions. In this article, we will explore this phenomenon to help you understand how to deal with it.
Investigating Procrastination
Is procrastination a congenital issue or just a bad habit? Did we inherit it from our parents, or we developed it over time? Many scientists have been interested in answering these questions. One of the studies that have been carried out to investigate the source of procrastination was carried out at the University of Colorado Boulder. Interestingly, the researchers discovered that the tendency to delay actions could be passed as a trait from the parents to their children.
According to the study, procrastination and impulsive actions can be inherited like other physical traits. It also showed that impairment of goal management abilities could be passed from parents to their offspring. The researchers stated that 46 to 49 percent of individuals inherit procrastination and impulsivity from their parents. Therefore, it is possible that an individual has difficulties in prioritizing crucial objectives as a result of genetics. Still, even if your tendency to waste time and struggle with meeting targets was passed to you by your parents, it is a situation that can be managed.
Besides, it’s not healthy to believe that you are stuck in a situation you cannot control. You can overcome poor time management as long as you are ready to win the battle. The most important victory happens in your mind. You have to begin by filling your mind with empowering thoughts that will make you work towards turning things around. Strategies that can help you overcome inaction can only work to the degree to which you believe they can be effective. So, begin by working on your thoughts.
What If I Fail?
You need to understand your thought pattern to be able to overcome procrastination. Why have you not been making any attempt to achieve your dream? Is it because you are afraid that you might fail? The truth is that we are all afraid sometimes because we are humans. If you have failed before, it’s natural that you don’t want to experience the feeling again. Besides, some people can be unforgiving and insensitive in their evaluations. They try to make you feel that you aren’t good enough and worthless.
It hurts more when the people making these remarks are your friends and family. You expect them to understand you better than anyone else, but they seem to know nothing about you. If you aren’t careful, you might start avoiding any situation that can make you experience that feeling of sadness and anguish again. This might make you start avoiding new challenges because you don’t want to fail again. Even when you set targets, the fear of failure might cripple you in such a way that you will not do anything about it.
One of the reasons some children don’t participate in sports competitions is the fear of being jeered by their peers. Sadly, many individuals still have this issue, even as adults. They don’t want anyone to laugh at them. So, they will rather not do anything. This approach will not help you. Anyone afraid of criticism and mockery can never succeed at anything in life. Great achievers set out to attain their goals and damn the consequences.
Eliminating Distractions
You cannot make the contributions that will help you achieve your goal when you are not focused. Setting goals helps you to identify distractions. You cannot recognize something that will not let you reach your destination until you have defined your target. Yet, setting targets isn’t enough. You should be able to identify those things that impede you whenever you are trying to reach your target. Your objective determines the distraction you need to eliminate. For example, if you are trying to lose weight, going around your favorite meal will be dangerous.
The amount of time you spend with your digital devices can also be a distraction. Never forget that you don’t have more than twenty-four hours in a day. You have to learn to manage your time wisely. If not, you’ll start feeling that you need more than twenty-four hours in a day to complete your tasks. The three hours you spend playing games cannot be used to add more pages to the new book you want to author.
So, you should have tasks you intend to achieve in a day. When you set out to accomplish them, recognize the usual sources of distractions and eliminate them before they limit your productivity. You can switch off your notifications until the end so that you’ll not be tempted to use your phone unnecessarily. Sometimes, distractions can be in the form of your friends that want you to discuss irrelevant things. Learn to excuse yourself in a polite manner when necessary.
Overcoming a Carefree Attitude
Another reason some people don’t do anything tangible that will make them achieve their targets is that they are carefree. There are many reasons for this attitude. One of them is that they have seen some people work hard without achieving their dreams. So, they fear that they might end that way if they also put in the hard work. However, you should never forget that many people have worked hard and achieved their targets.
Why not use the story of such people as motivation rather than the people that were not able to make the cut? Another reason some individuals are lackadaisical in their approach to life is that they believe that whatever will be will be. They have a deterministic view of life that gives them the impression that fate has plans for them that cannot be changed. Such people believe that they will reach the pinnacle of their career if God wants it that way. You are not likely going to amount to anything significant in life if you are going through life hoping that the stars align in your favor.
As earlier stated, luck only favors the people that are working towards achieving success. If you depend on a supernatural power to make you rich or successful without lifting a finger, you are only waiting for a genie. Guess what? Genies only exist in the realm of imagination! It’s high time you started taking more responsibilities for your life. You have so much potential, and it is up to you to realize it. Don’t let a carefree attitude make you waste your life.