Procrastination is one of the major obstacles which comes towards your progress. Almost everyone faces it at some point in their life. Are you a procrastinator and did you ever try to overcome your procrastination and laziness?
In this post! Everything is completely covered about procrastination. Why it is dangerous for you and how can you win over procrastination? Till the end, you would find 8 most powerful ways to overcome procrastination and laziness.
How To Overcome Procrastination And Laziness?
Sounds interesting? Great! let’s move on but before moving further to know about the powerful ways to overcome procrastination and laziness.
First, you should know the real meaning of procrastination, signs and reasons. This would better help you to understand the procrastination and win over it.
What is the meaning of procrastination?
Procrastination simply means to keep delaying your work without any reason. How many times usually you do it on a daily basis, Have you ever noticed?
It may be any kind of work like-doing homework, make any important calls, meet someone or any other important work. You don’t take action instantly rather you keep promising yourself to do at a later time period.
How many times you procrastinate your work for another time period and hardly got to finish it on the last time? This is called procrastination.
It always results in unproductivity when you procrastinate your important work for some other time. It won’t be wrong to say! procrastination is the thief of your valuable. Time is the most valuable asset in life. You have to be more alert to save your valuable time.
Do you want to see how dangerous is procrastination for you? Look at this example below: Let say! If you are procrastination only for 1 hour on a daily basis.
How much the total would be after completion of the year?
365 days = 365 hours which is almost 15 days. In this scenario, you are wasting 15 days in a year and listen 1 hour is not a big number.
What if you are wasting 2,3,4,5 or more hour in a day? You can check by your own how many days you are wasting in a year which can be easily spent on better areas for your progress and development.
I believe you have understood how dangerous the procrastination is for you. Now! It’s your duty to kick out this enemy from your room and live a better life.
Characteristics Of Procrastinator:
Here are some characteristics of procrastinator which can give more clarity about procrastination.
Lack Of Self Discipline:
Lack of self-discipline is one of the most common factor which is being found in procrastinators. They are highly careless about discipline. Procrastinators don’t organise their activities and schedules time-table well and are also not much concern for their time management.
They can put their time anywhere on any activities. It hardly bother’s them to do any random activities.
Lack of clarity makes them to do so. They are unclear about their activities which always results in a lack of self-discipline.
Are you one of them?
Let me ask you a question. If you don’t organize your time well and set your own priorities like-
- What is the most important?
- Less important
- Good to do but not important
You start doing any random work whenever you want. Can you achieve good productivity rate? No! obviously not.
You will always feel lack of time because you have already spent your valuable time on less important or useless kind of work. Now, when the time comes to do the most important work you never have enough time.
What did you understand?
You need to bring discipline in your daily routine. Do proper planning in advance for the next day set priority for your tasks in the sequence which are highly important, less important and stick with the schedule.
If you want to beat procrastination, Self-discipline is the best weapon.
No Proper Planning:
Procrastinator never does proper planning for the day and they don’t have any specific goals. As a result, they always feel distracted, demotivated and low confidence.
Doing At Last Time:
At first, they keep delaying for the work and do nothing. when the deadline is about to finish, they gear up themselves to start for the work and seems in a hurry with a lot of stress on the head and try to make own personality too busy like they are one of the busiest person in the city.
It also leads to stress among them.
Escape Themselves:
Procrastinators are always in a habit of escape themselves from the work. They confuse themselves for being busy and don’t have enough time. This is the primary reason which forces them to say no for every work.
The truth is behind the wall is something else. You would be shocked to know, they always have a lot of time but unfortunately spending their most of the time in highly unproductive activities.
Like- Internet, facebook, youtube, playing games, watching movies, useless gossiping.
Looking For Instant Gratification:
Do you like instant gratification? Yes! Who doesn’t!. It is fine to have an instant gratification once in a while.
It becomes most dangerous when you look for instant gratification all the time.
Do you know what is instant gratification? To make your mind busy to give little pleasure for a short time. It won’t be more than a few minutes or a few hours.
Today is the digital age, finding modes to get instant gratification is not a big deal anymore. you can easily look for it in a few clicks whenever you want with the help of internet.
Instant gratification distracts your mind from big goals & purpose. It’s a kind of trap when you try to give pleasure to your mind only for a few minutes usually end up after a few hours or longer.
Procrastinators are expert in giving instant gratification to their mind. They always keep doing false promises.
Like: Let’s watch a video for few minutes and be ready for the work, let’s play one more game and you are all set to go etc.
What is the saddest truth? The promise never converts into reality. They keep making false promises. Once it is broken there is another one and so on.
They break tens or hundreds of promises on a daily basis. To fulfil any of the commitment becomes a big challenge for them.
What Are The Categories Of Procrastination:
Here are some most common categories of procrastination:
Fear Procrastination:
While having fear procrastination you keep procrastinating your work for some other time because you don’t want to face the challenges and problems.
Perfection Procrastination:
You try to be perfect in your work and wait for the perfect time which hardly happens. As a result you procrastinate your work.
Fun Procrastination:
Your mind try to trap you. Let’s have a fun for sometime and then be get back to work. You easily becomes victim for fun procrastination.
“Lot Of Time” Procrastination:
There is a lot of time and nothing to be worry. You engage yourself in all kind of unimportant work, but don’t bother to catch important one’s for having a lot of time available.
Mindfulness and Procrastination Difference:
Mindfulness and Procrastination are completely different from each other. Mindfulness takes you towards productivity and helps you to grow and make progress.
On the other hand, Procrastination is always pushes you back for not doing anything and keep making excuses and wait for the perfect time which never comes.
Let’s understand the meaning of mindfulness. Have you ever noticed how many thoughts are coming in your mind on a daily basis?
It’s a larger in number. Scientific study says. On a daily basis a person attracts 50,000-60,000 thoughts. Isn’t it a big number?
These thoughts are about what? Normally! most of the thoughts are associated with past mistakes regret, future worries, work stress any other worry for the next month, year and so on.
Mindfulness simply tells you to disconnect from all those thoughts of past and future. Connect you towards the present and encourages you to focus on it.
When you try to focus on your present to do better, It is obvious the future is going to be awesome. Try to be concentrate on your present and give your best.
It will definitely enhance your productivity and performance. In starting you may find it a little difficult. Nothing to worry, with the practice once you develop this habit. Everything becomes easy for you.
Being focus and concentrated increase your intellectual level. To improve and grow in your life. You have to kick out procrastination far and invite mindfulness in your room.
What Are The Signs Of Procrastination?
Below is the list of most common signs which is being found when dealing with procrastination. Read and understand how procrastination put a trap on you.
Lack Of Clarity:
Lack of clarity is the most common reason for the procrastination when you are unclear about your specific goals, objective or activities.
You don’t have any idea
- what to do?
- how to do? Or
- when to do?
You don’t have any clear roadmap and this is when procrastination starts inviting you for the trap.
Here is a simple and easy way to beat procrastination:
Make a clear goal for the day, week or month. Break the goal in smaller piece, organize well and complete the blueprint.
Once you have the blueprint, working efficiency and speed would drastically be increased to achieve better results.
Feeling Overwhelmed:
Does it happen with you when you do create a list to do the tasks but never take action for it? Not completed even a single task and still doing procrastination.
Don’t worry! you are not alone, It happens for most people. Do you know why?
The reason behind this is simple. You have created a long list of work to do which is making your mind feeling overwhelmed and unmotivated to take actions.
You don’t need to create long lists, The most important factor is how much you have done in reality. Let say you have created a list of 20 work and didn’t do any one of it.
In the second scenario, you have created another list which contains only 3 items and completed all effectively and efficiently.
Now! Tell which is better making list of 20 items and doing nothing or make a list of only 3 items and do all of it in a better way?
Keep you list shorter and mentioned only important tasks in it. Short list of tasks motivate your mind to take actions.
Unable To Concentrate:
In today’s world, you have distractions everywhere your smartphone notifications, internet, social media- Facebook, youtube, Instagram, games etc.
You try to focus on something on another second you met with distractions. These distractions burns your concentration and left you with low energy.
Lack of concentration leads you towards procrastination. It is truly important to save your concentration, energy to perform better.
Negative Emotions Attack:
You may have some bad experiences in the past. Those bad experiences & mistakes keep running in your head which results in self-doubt.
When you have self-doubt on your own potential, you lose confidence level and start doing procrastination for everything.
To save yourself from procrastination to achieve personal and professional growth. It is highly required to clear your head from all kind of regret, worry & confusion.
This is the only way to be confident and unlock your own potential. Don’t underestimate your own power.
Not Planning For The Day:
When you are not planning your day in advance. You have to understand, the next day is also going to be another random day which is not productive at all.
You can’t be focused & productive for the whole day when you are lost in the city and don’t have any clear roadmap.
To give your best for the day, you obviously need a proper planning before starting out.
Waiting For Perfect Time:
Do you try to wait for the perfect time before taking any important actions? Yes or No! be honest and answer yourself.
You need to understand and tied in your mind. Perfect time never comes, there is always a different kind of problem or situation.
Successful people always looks for solutions and opportunities in all modes. On the other hand, procrastinators always look for problem to create excuses in a creative way.
Always Look For External Motivation:
Procrastinators try to find motivation from outside sources to make themselves energetic for their work and ends by spending their valuable time in worthless things.
Watching large number of videos for the sake of motivation. Try to find any motivated stories on the internet.
Do you know by doing this makes you lazier and more procrastinated? At last, they promise themselves; I am done for now! Let’s take a little rest for some time to gear up for later.
Unfortunately! Later time period hardly comes and they repeat the same cycle again for searching for the motivation.
Are you one of them who search for motivation from external sources?
The real motivation lies inside you only when you have clear goals and purpose. You don’t need to look for any external motivation.
When you don’t have any clarity and your goals are not big enough to motivate. You always look for external motivation which never works.
If it may work the time period is pretty short only for few minutes or hours. You come back again to the same cycle.
Talk with yourself, what’s wrong? Fix that issue and get clarity. Be on the track for your goals. Don’t waste your valuable time in searching for external motivation.
Bored With Your Work:
Being boring is too boring. Isn’t it? You become bored for any particular activity or work. You try to procrastinate about it.
What if you can make your boring work also interesting, wouldn’t it be awesome? You can easily convert boredom into fun by doing smart time management.
When you work countless hours for a long period of time. The work becomes boring.
Not matter how much you do love the work. It would definitely become boring after working continuously for such a long time.
You can easily kick out boredom by organizing activities or work smartly. Have a smart person approach to work effectively. Take proper breaks and rest while doing the work It won’t make you bored. This would also be going to increase productivity.
Making Unrealistic Goals:
Unrealistic goals are directly connected with procrastination. Sometimes you feel highly motivated and full of energy.
You made a commitment to yourself for doing truly hard work for achieving the goals but later on, you won’t able to fulfil the commitment because your goals were unrealistic.
To keep going smoothly and make true progress. Your goals must need to be realistic which can be achieve in reality.
Try to make S.M.A.R.T goals
S- Specific
M- Measurable
A: Attainable
R- Relevant
T- Timely
Fear Of Failure:
Fear is most dangerous which always stop you to grow in life. In fact, there are many types of fear. You can get stuck by anyone for not taking action and do procrastinate. Fear of failure is the major kind of fear which exist in your mind.
When your mind gets a signal of something unfavourable to meet with failure. You would postpone it and always try to procrastinate. By doing this will keep your mind at ease.
What Is the Main Cause Of Procrastination?
Fear Of Failure:
Failure demotivates you to take action. Your mind makes you to think It is okay for not taking any action otherwise you will get fail.
Why do you often want to get stuck in this trap? No actions mean no progress and therefore no result. Failure is also a part of success. Don’t run away from the fear. Be brave to face all the challenges and obstacles.
It gives you many opportunities and chances to improve yourself.
You Want To Be Perfectionist:
When you try to become perfect for everything. You start waiting for the perfect time It may sound rude for you to know. But, it’s the reality there is never a perfect time.
When you look for the positive side everything seems in your favour. When you start looking for the negative side you may find all the negative things all around.
Accept your flaws and go with it without feeling self-doubt and unmotivated.
Low Energy:
Constantly working without taking proper rest burns all of your energy and results in low energy. Low energy makes you feel like not doing anything and do procrastinate.
You need to be careful about your energy and don’t waste into useless activities. Keep your energy secure for important works.
Most common ways which burns your lot of energy are:
- Long gossiping on useless topics
- Irrelevant arguments
- Spending long hours on internet with your smartphone .
- Watching movies or shows
You have a choice whether to burn all your energy for little pleasure or to keep it safe to use for important kinds of work to have a better life.
Lack Of Focus:
Focus is the most important aspect to complete any work or activity in the most efficient way. When the focus is missing your performance of work goes down.
It’s highly required to bring the focus back otherwise you will start doing procrastination while dealing with a lack of focus.
Proper rest is the best way to bring the focus back to the pavilion. Take appropriate rest and gear up yourself to win the race.
How To Stop Procrastinating And Be Productive:
Here are a few things to be noted which are going to help you to stop procrastinating and be productive.
1. Stop Thinking And Start Doing:
You always keep thinking long about the actions and do nothing except waiting for the perfect time to welcome you or you keep engage yourself in thinking about the stuff like how to improve do better?
It’s a funny part, you haven’t take any actions yet and although thinking how to improve?
This is damn clear unless you take actions about anything it won’t take you anywhere. The best and most simple way you can do is to stop thinking and start doing.
Let see below example for reality check:
You thought to start own business and start making imaginations like- First, to get a place on the rent and bring equipment’s, machinery, productions and employees.
Once everything is set now you are planning to bring some more employees to boom your business.
You also have a better idea to increase employees pay check for their welfare. They were doing great and make your business more profitable.
You have made this imagination for almost 1 year= 365 days. Now! Do the reality check, at the end of the year how much profit did you made in real?
Nothing! Not even a single dollar. Because these thoughts were only running in your mind and you haven’t done anything to achieve it.
Now! Don’t get me wrong! I am not against thinking it is a crucial part. Imagination also helps you to see & feel your goals in a closer way which motivates you to achieve them.
The only motive is to make you understand. Thinking is nothing without action.
Actions are the most important. If you don’t take any actions and only keep thinking on a daily basis. It won’t take you anywhere.
Stop thinking and start doing for better productivity and achieve more.
2. Take The First Step:
The first step is always hard to perform later steps are pretty easy. Take first by your own and rest of the work would become cup of cake.
Don’t assume anything and get scared of workload. Make things pretty easy and see how interesting it is.
You want to go for morning walk outside daily for 15 minutes but finding it pretty hard and never fulfil your promise.
Don’t focus for morning walk for 15-20 minutes, even don’t pay attention for going outside. These things makes burden on your mind which always result in procrastination.
The first step is to get out of your bed and be ready that’s it. Isn’t that simple?
You would find once you get ready and take the first step you mind thought process has completely changed. Now! You don’t find it much harder to go for 15-20 mins outside in the park or somewhere else.
In fact. You will love to go there. Similarly, whatever the task only takes 1st step which is actually hard later steps are easy.
Follow the same practice while going for the gym. Come out of your bed and get ready don’t think anything else.
Do you want to do some important work on your computer or laptop which seems tough? Forget everything else and complete your 1st step to sit in front of computer and switch it on.
You need to meet some clients for your business and feeling lazy for the meeting. Call their number and fix the meeting. How simple it is?
Above only a few examples were given but it can be implemented on any task or activity. The key is not to focus on completion rather only focus on the start.
3. Make A Decision:
Talk with yourself and make a true decision for your progress and growth. You are solely responsible for your dreams, goals, work, activities, habits.
No other person would come and guide you for it on a regular basis. Do you know your parents love you the most in the world but surprisingly even they are also not much concerned about your dreams & goals?.
They don’t know what’s running in your mind and what do you want? They only wants you to be happy and wish good for your life.
You are the only person who knows best about yourself and responsible for every actions, thought, ideas etc. Take a strong decision to achieve better to grow in life.
4. Set Priorities:
This is one of the biggest mistakes which always force you to end up in the trap of procrastination. You never set your priorities for the day, week or month.
When you don’t have any clear road map about your activities What would be the result? Obviously! It would make you lost in the city and invite procrastination for the party.
Don’t take it lightly. Roadmap is truly essential forevery kind of work whether it is for a year, month, week or even for daily activities.
Set your priority for the day:
- Most Important thing to do
- Less important
- Good to do but not important
Now, when you have a clear priority of what is most important work. First, complete it then move for the less important. At last, if time is available and allows you to go for the 3rd category. Go for it otherwise don’t take stress it is not important.
You can do it at later stage when you are free but don’t compromise your most important work with the work which is not important at all.
The key is to save your valuable time and make best out of it. Don’t compromise with your priorities and start doing anything randomly.
5. Advance Planning for The Day:
Planning is one of the best habits to make your day productive and wonderful. Everyone has 24 hours. Some people reach a higher level of productivity and others lost in their own distractions.
Advance planning for the day is important. It gives you clear roadmap through which helps you to achieve higher productivity.
Do advance planning for the next day. Set priority from most important task to less important & which are good to do but not important. Once you planned in advance for the day you are all set.
6. Make Environment Favourable:
Environment plays an important role in your overall growth. When you having a positive environment, it gives you a positive attitude and productive habit.
If you engaged yourself in another environment which is completely unorganised and noisy or something similar.
How could you able to complete your task efficiently? As a result you keep procrastination for your work.
You have to make the environment favourable to perform better. If your environment is completely disorganized. Try to organize it properly or shift to another place if possible.
Proper environment also plays an important role to increase concentration level which results in better outcome.
7. Face Your Fear:
Don’t afraid of your problems and challenges. Your fear is making you scared because you are trying to escape yourself.
When you face your fear it gets overcome easily. Don’t focus on problems look for solutions. There is always opportunities available in every situation.
Change your mindset from problem oriented to solution oriented.
8. Finish It:
Sometimes everything is going perfectly till halfway and then somehow you start feeling not doing the work or activity anymore and thought to stop and complete it for any other time.
This is the big trap when you left your work half way It becomes burden to complete.
You would be shocked to know. Half left work becomes harder to complete as compared to start new work and complete it. Don’t stop your work in the half run.
When you are doing something try to complete it and get the feeling of accomplishment. When your mind receives the feeling of accomplishment. It motivates you more to do more and better.
How To Avoid Procrastination While Studying:
Students are the favourite spot of procrastination to attack. It usually traps them easily when it comes time for studying. Why procrastinating is attacking you while studying only? Because you are inviting doesn’t carry any weapon to save yourself.
Do you ever feel to procrastinate while playing or meeting with your friend? No! never
Do you want to kick procrastination the same way? Alright then first analyse what is the specific thing which is making you procrastinate.
First, handle the problem. Is it big assessment, homework or huge study material to cover?
Whatever it is break down it into small pieces to study well.
Let say you have 3 chapters to cover. Don’t focus on all 3 breaks into 1-1-1. Once you break down all. Do it seems easy? Awesome!
Each chapter has 3 or 4 exercises. Again don’t focus on all of the exercises to cover. Go through it one by one. Write down on the paper about the exercise and when one is completed put a tick symbol in front of it.
Doing this will gives you a feeling of accomplishment. It also encourages you for further study. Do this one by one. At last, you can complete all your study material easily.
Here is one more important thing to concern. It is much possible you would feel not to study because long hours duration is going to result in tiredness and burn down all your focus.
To escape from this situation don’t study for long hours. Take proper rest in between and study in intervals.
Like- 25 minutes study with full focus and 5 minutes break, 50 minutes study and 10 minutes break or any other duration which do you like and more convenient to you. You can check on your own what is suitable for you? Everyone focus level is different.
If you are not able to focus with the duration like- 40,50 minutes. There is nothing to worry, It is perfectly fine. Start with 25 minutes or 20 minutes. If this figure also sounds difficult. 15 minutes or 10 minutes is also fine to start.
Once you practice it over the time you can easily focus with more duration 40,50 minutes, 1 hour or more.
Why Am I Procrastinating So Much:
You are highly procrastinating because you are living in a comfort zone. When you are having comfort level your mind becomes lazy and start feeling free from all kind of worries. It doesn’t care about your future goals, dreams or need.
The secret is to understand You are not in control of your mind rather You have control over your mind. Give the command to your mind and come out of comfort zone.
The real journey of your Life starts when you are living out of the comfort zone. Set your goals and gear up yourself to achieve them.
When you have true goals. It would motivates you to take actions on a regular basis and you won’t procrastinate any more.
Not having any goals would always result in the procrastination. Set your clear goals and kick out procrastination out of the room.
How To Stop Procrastinating Forever:
Well! to be honest procrastinating is not going to end forever. It can hit you anytime if not daily then once in a week or in a month.
In fact, You are not a procrastinator. It is only a habit which is more like any other habit. Procrastination can also be changed like any other habit.
It can’t be possible to come out completely against procrastination. The only way you can do is limit your procrastination frequency.
Make sure it is not attacking you on a regular basis otherwise it is highly going to hamper your performance. You can limit procrastination by your self-discipline.
Make proper time management and stick with it. Your self-discipline would help you to overcome procrastination. Initially, you may find it pretty hard.
Once you stick with your time table honestly with full dedication. Later on, things become easier and won’t challenge you anymore.
This is the only way to limit your procrastination . You have to be like a robot while perform your activities on proper time.
There is no medicine and magic spoon available which can wipe procrastination away completely from your life.
You are the only who has to become serious about this dangerous problem. Make a decision to take actions and win over the procrastination.
If you do really want to beat the procrastination you can easily do. Don’t underestimate your own potential. You have all the power and you are special.
Where there is will there is a way
How To Overcome Procrastination And Laziness:
I believe you do like these 9 steps how to overcome procrastination and laziness. If you follow these ways to overcome procrastination and laziness. It is not a big deal to put off from your life.
Do you feel like doing procrastination, how often do procrastination trap you and how do you deal to overcome procrastination and laziness?
What To Read Next?
When Will You Learn That Your Actions Have Consequences
Why Nothing Makes Me Happy Anymore?
if you ever feel bad about not shedding the pounds before summer; just think of old da Vinci and give yourself a break. but just a small one. otherwise, you’d be procrastinating.