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Why do today when you can put off till tomorrow? Well, because you can seriously mess up your life.
Procrastination – an avoidant coping mechanism that postpones necessary tasks – gets the best of us. Research shows that 85-95 percent of people say they procrastinate sometimes, according to the University of Virginia, and nearly 20 percent of people are chronic procrastinators, Dr. Joseph Ferrari, a professor of psychology at Chicago’s DePaul University, says.
But experts have several methods they back to fight the behavior. Just shifting your mindset is enough to make a difference.
“Everyone procrastinates, and it’s just a human tendency,” Monica Packer, author of the book “Sticky Habits,” told Utah’s KSL. “We don’t have to stay there, and that’s something we can work on as long as we start by neutralizing it first.”
Just start
Starting – instead of waiting for free time or the perfect conditions – is half of the battle.
Setting up a productive environment to tackle whatever you’re putting off can help, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill notes. That means finding a quiet place to work or make a call – but not taking too much time picking out the spot or cleaning off a desk.
“What we see is that once you begin the task, the task itself starts to motivate you,” Dr. Katrina Monton, an assistant professor at Rutgers University, told The New York Times in July.
Manage your mood
Procrastination is largely tied to our mood, experts say.
“As [psychologist] Timothy Pychyl said, ‘Procrastination is not a time-management problem; it’s an emotion-management problem,’” Cleveland Clinic clinical psychologist Becky Bikat Tilahun said in a statement.
People may procrastinate because of negative emotions surrounding the task, including self-doubt and disinterest in things that aren’t enjoyable. Putting it off is a way to regulate their mood or stress, Georgetown University notes.
Often, procrastination may be tied to perfectionism and a fear of failure, Southern New Hampshire University points out.
Adopting a positive mindset to improve self-esteem and working to regulate emotions can help you procrastinate less.
“The main thing is to find healthier ways to manage difficult or uncomfortable emotions rather than defaulting to procrastination as a way to gain relief from these emotions,” Fuschia Sirois, a professor of social and health psychology at Durham University in the U.K., told the South China Morning Post.
Give yourself a treat
Giving yourself a reward after completing an arduous or tricky task can be motivating and help the brain link effort to positive outcomes, according to Tilahun. This works as long as you resist the craving in the moment.
“You can tell yourself, ‘I’m going to make only one phone call to pay one of my bills, and then I’m going to reward myself by watching my favorite TV show for 15 minutes before I pay another bill,’” she suggests.
“For every small task you accomplish, reward yourself with something pleasant so that it gives you some incentive to keep finishing tasks.”
