It’s Friday afternoon, and you have a deadline looming. You’re working furiously to complete the task before five o’clock while cursing yourself for watching TikToks all morning. Most of us procrastinate. Then we feel guilty about it and criticize ourselves. And yet we still do it. It’s a bad habit that eats us alive. Do you also keep postponing your work? Why did you lose your focus? And how can you stop procrastinating?
ALL of us procrastinate. Heck, I even procrastinated writing this blog post. So practice a bit of self-compassion. Then get to work!
Focus on doing, not avoiding. One thing you may do is force yourself to start and make the first step. Because this one is always the hardest. Mobilize every single unit of discipline you possess and push yourself hard to make the first step. Sometimes it works surprisingly well.
You already knew I was going to say this, right? Truth be told, you are more likely to procrastinate if you don’t have a plan or idea for completing your work. Start with creating a list. They should be concrete and doable – the first item on your list should be something you can immediately do.
One of the worst things you can do when starting to “work” is checking your phone. Emails, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, everything — turn them off completely. And avoid sitting anywhere near a television while you work! Focus on the task at hand.
Part of the reason we procrastinate is that we subconsciously find the work overwhelming. So break it down into little pieces, then focus on one at a time. If you still procrastinate on the task after breaking it down, maybe break it down even further.
Get those tasks that you find least pleasant out of the way. Just do them as soon as possible! Honestly, this will give you the rest of the work day to concentrate on the tasks you find more enjoyable. And remember to give yourself permission to make mistakes!
Offering rewards to yourself is just good common sense. What about a little procrastination session (see what I did there?) of 5 minutes after every hour of work? What about a piece of cake and some time spent on TikTok? You deserve that! And make sure you notice how good it feels to get things done!
Staying motivated is vital! The more motivated you are, the more forward-moving momentum you will create. We all have a trigger that will push us into productive mode. So let’s find yours. Read this blog post.
If you want to talk some more about this, we’re waiting for your DM on Instagram.
Your biggest fan,
Oana J.
OANA
The Big Cheese know-it-all
Find her on LinkedIn, Instagram and oanacorina.com
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