Ever found yourself working so furiously to meet a deadline you could have met if you started earlier? You somehow know what to do, but you lack the motivation to start. You end up cursing yourself when procrastination becomes your habit—always have to work twice hard or spend an entire night finishing on your task. If this is you, we’ve got a cure for you. Unless you are not willing to change, you can overcome this behavior.

Research shows that about 95% of people strangle with this problem to some extent. Though this vast percentage is a bit comforting, it doesn't mean you should give a blind eye. Allowed to thrive, this habit can hold you back from delivering on your mandate. 

2 Types of Procrastination

Chronic procrastination

This is a robust, profound, and permanent psychological behavior. It is more difficult to eradicate. To overcome it, you need patience, willingness, and hard work. Sometimes procrastination can be on specific tasks or, even worse, on all tasks.

To avoid chronic procrastination, you must be assertive. Setting achievable goals and developing passion over time. It can be overwhelming, and if discovered early at its acute stages, it can help save you from a physiological trauma.

Acute procrastination

This can be described as the usual postponing of workload now and then with reasons. It can be due to mood swings, lack of energy, or emotional triggers. No matter how super productive you are, acute procrastination will strike you once in a while. You may find yourself acting strangely and taking hours to complete a task that could take you lesser time. 

Unlike the chronic procrastination, acute procrastination is easy to recognize. It may occur due to fatigue, bad mood among others. To overcome acute procrastination, you need to diagnose the cause. Know what makes you postpone and deal with it wholeheartedly. 

8 Ways of Avoiding Procrastination

1. Avoid distractions

When you need to focus on completing a certain work, any distractions that arise are likely to make you to push the deadline. To avoid that, retreat to a quiet place or listen to any fantastic music you flow with or white noise to help drown other noise around you.

 2. Have priorities

When you prioritize on completing a task, it’ll be hard to procrastinate. Make a daily or weekly list of things you need to complete and handle them in the order of their priority. You should begin with the complex tasks and finish with the easier tasks to make them manageable to work on.

3. Have achievable goals

When you want to avoid procrastination, goals are important. However, goals cannot yield fruits if not followed faithfully. You should focus all your energy and time on the set goals. Moreover, set goals that are within your capabilities to avoid overworking and frustrating yourself.

4. Take reasonable breaks

Take breaks in between your work session when you feel like your mind has handled enough. You can listen to some music, dance to the tune, take a walk, or scream into a pillow. Taking a break helps reduce stress. Thus increases your focus helping your mind to process information. Depending on the magnitude of your work, take a break of ten to twenty minutes. 

5. Be accountable

When you feel you are accountable for delivering the best work, you will avoid procrastination easily. It's easy to find reasons not to do your work on time, but you get to handle it on time when you hold yourself accountable.

If it becomes hard to manage yourself, ask for help from a friend or a family member to keep on checking up on your goals and accomplishments. Such help will keep you energized and get motivated to deliver the best work without crashing deadlines.

6. Reward yourself

When you frequently fall into the trap of procrastination, promising yourself a reward helps overcome this behavior. Promise yourself something like a slice of cake or your favorite coffee when you finish a challenging task. Ensure you realize how good it feels to finish things on time

7. Change the environment

The environment you are working in has significant impact on your productivity. Are the things surrounding you in your working area motivating you to work harder or draining your morale to work? Do they give you more energy, or they make you feel like sleeping? If the latter, consider changing to another workplace or altering the working area.

8. Have friends who inspire you to work

The people we hang out with can inspire us negatively or positively. Taking just ten minutes listening to an inspiring person will motivate you to get into action. So, make it your principle to hang out with the right people or listen to positive inspiration daily.

Conclusion

Observing all the above tips can help you get rid of this depressing habit. It is helpful to avoid surfing blogs and following forums when you know you are supposed to be working. Furthermore, suspending unimportant tasks from your free time can help you manage your time appropriately.

If you have already fallen into procrastination trap, follow these tips and you’ll definitely overcome it. Additionally, working towards maintaining a stable mental health by avoiding procrastination is paramount. It’s unhealthy to recurrently find yourself working in a hurry to meet a deadline. Be cautious and suppress any procrastinating behavior you seem to develop.