These 3 things can help you see if procrastinating, putting things off for later will work for you or against you. And if it is not going to work for you, then how to stop procrastinating.
3 Keys to know if it's working for you (+ how to stop procrastinating)
1. Is it making you productive?
When we keep putting off making a decision, it could be good because we would then have time to look at it from different angles and make a well-informed choice. Even when trying to figure out something, if we just put it aside for a while and do something totally different, it usually brings up the solution more easily.
That’s because the brain got a break from processing all the information and got a chance to connect the dots more effectively.
“Detailed analysis revealed that mindfulness was associated with impaired problem solving when approaching problems with insight, but increased problem solving when using analysis.”
– Claire M Zedelius , Jonathan W Schooler (Mind wandering “Ahas” versus mindful reasoning)
And when there’s just too much to do and things kind of start stressing us out, shifting things to later based on their priority can free up our mental bandwidth so that we can do what’s important more effectively. It can ironically help us be more productive.
How to make procrastination productive:
- Enough time – There has to be enough time to shift things to later without compromising the quality of our effort.
- Time limit – There has also to be a clear time-limit for when we are going to resume the task, which we need to be serious about. Because otherwise, it’s simply going to become a source of unnecessary stress in our life.
- Realistic – The time available should be enough to change those things that are holding us back from taking action in the first place. If it’s something that needs deeper work, the better option would be to find how to start taking action despite the hurdle making us procrastinate.
And so, how to stop procrastinating becomes all about understanding why we want to put things off to later.
2. Type of procrastinaTION
Knowing whether it’s a certain type of task that makes us procrastinate or whether it’s normal for us to leave things to the last moment can tell a lot about how things are going to pan out.
So, if we are able to more or less maintain a daily routine but can’t seem to get started on a task, it’s task specific procrastination. And that means, the resistance to act is trying to show what would work better.
How to stop procrastinating:
- Chunking down – It could be telling us the task is too stretched out and so motivation is running thin because there are no little yay moments to keep us excited. So, chunking it down to multiple short-term goals gradually adding up to the big one can help stop procrastinating.
- Skill up – Maybe the task is too difficult and at some level we feel it might not work out… and so we are worried what failing would show about us. And so in that case, skilling up or asking for help would be a more efficient way to reach the end.
- Review goal – it may also mean that we are not too sold out on the idea and aren’t really convinced about what it’s going to do for us. So, maybe we need to stop wasting time working on something we are not too keen to add to our life.
But, if it’s not just some specific kind of task we are procrastinating on and it’s normal for to leave things to the last moment. Or, maybe it kind of fluctuates, some days things get done on time and other days they keep piling up – then it’s general procrastination.
The good and bad of procrastination:
Maybe, working under pressure brings out the best in you… sharpens your focus or makes you more productive. And that’s good. But the downside of being a general procrastinator is that the frequent buildup of stress hormones is going to affect our physical and mental health in the long-run. And so it becomes important to know how to stop procrastinating when it’s not going to help.
3. How to stop procrastinating - what type of procrastinaTOR are you?
Also, understanding what kind of procrastinator we are makes it easier to know why we are procrastinating. There can be many reasons, like may be the task feels boring, or too tough, or may be other important things are popping up which need to be handled STAT. So, the reasons show us what needs to change so that we can start taking action again.
How to stop procrastinating:
- Worrier or Perfectionist – For the worrier, procrastination is about trying to ensure there are no mistakes. And for the perfectionist it’s about ensuring there are no chances of failure. And that’s good. But the problem arises when it’s never perfect enough because then the good intentions come at the cost of finishing the task. Watch the video up top to know what needs to change as well as the other types of common procrastinators.
