Word Count: 542 Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2007 9:56 PM
How To Stop Procrastinating
Everyone of us will find ourselves procrastinating from time to time. We put off doing things that perhaps we do not want to do, or we just do not get around to completing a project until it becomes a rush job and then the job gets done, but often not as well as it would have been, had we taken the time to do it properly. For most people this happens from time to time and is not a major issue for us.
If you are one of those people who procrastinate regularly, you may be interested in this article to hear about ways regarding how to stop procrastinating. This article reviews some of the challenges as well as methods that people use to try to avoid procrastination.
In order to understand procrastination, we first must understand what procrastination actually means before we examine how to stop procrastinating. As defined in the dictionary, procrastination is defined as the deferment or avoidance of an action or a task, which requires completion by focusing on some other task or activity. Procrastination can contribute to increased stress as well as guilt for many individuals. Chronic procrastination can be not only increase the stress in your life, but may also be an indicator of some other physiological or psychological issue in your life.
So, how to stop procrastinating, begins with figuring out what is the underlying reason for your procrastination. There are a multitude of reasons and we will list some of these here, however fundamentally you need to figure out what is contributing to your need to avoid or delay things. Procrastination can be caused by avoiding difficult tasks in favor of easier tasks, intense fear of failure, social self consciousness, anxiety, low moods, working too much, perfectionists who are unwilling to start something because they fear not completing the task to their satisfaction, underlying mental health issues, compulsive behavior such as spending too much time playing games, and a host of other reasons that contribute to putting things off until another day. Readers should examine their reasons for delaying something and if it is related to mental health issues seek professional help.
There are a number of steps also that readers can consider helping them avoid procrastination. Fundamentally the process is to identify the reasons for the negative behavior, set goals that are realistic and then make progress to achieving these goals. Even if you have to set small goals and make progress you will be heading in the right direction. One helpful trick is to use the five-minute method. Basically, start a task that you have an aversion for with the idea that you will spend 5 productive minutes working at this task. Just starting the task will reduce some of the anxiety you have and make it easier to continue. Continue in 5 minute chunks, gradually increasing the time you spend until the task is completed.
There are various types of procrastination including perfectionism, academic procrastination, relaxed procrastination and the tense afraid type. Each takes a different approach to procrastination and requires various solutions to getting on with the task. The five-minute rule works well for many of these types of procrastination.
About the Author
Peter Vermeeren is the owner and webmaster of: Stop Procrastinating - Find Information Online
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