Procrastinating is a very common problem in our society today. It seems to be more of a problem especially in the workplace. There are many factors that play a part in procrastination and why humans do it.
So how do we stop procrastinating?
We need to realize that we are doing it in the first place. Human nature allows us to do things and then disguise them as other issues. We tend to make excuses for our bad habits and usually end up blaming them onto other things or people. So the first step in learning to stop procrastinating is to identify that we are procrastinating.
So what exactly is procrastination? Procrastination is when a person literally avoids doing a task that they know they should be doing. It could be any task, from making a simple phone call to someone, or losing weight, to more important issues such as finishing a duty in the workplace that may cause you to lose your job if it isn't completed.
Procrastination is a bad habit that usually has bad end results from doing it. If this sounds familiar, then it may be time for you to learn to stop procrastinating.
Why do People procrastinate? There are many, many reasons why we do it. A Study at a prominent University showed that 90% of the college students enrolled there were guilty of procrastination. The dropout rate of students that procrastinate is high, as well.
The reasons range from many different problems, however, Laziness is not one of them. We tend to think that people who procrastinate are lazy and that is just not the case. There is usually an underlying problem.
One of the most common reasons why people procrastinate is perfectionism. These people are so afraid of making a mistake that they avoid doing the task at all. Their way of thinking is that if they don't do it, they won't have to face any mistake that they have made.
Fear is another reason why people procrastinate. If someone is put outside their comfort zone, they avoid it. An example of this would be asking someone to write a speech to give in front of a group of people.
If this person is afraid of speaking in front of people, then they will more than likely put off writing a speech until the last minute. Little do they realize that it makes them feel unprepared and doesn't probably go as smooth as they would like it to.
Another common reason why we procrastinate is out of anger. If someone is forced into doing something that they do not want to do, they rebel by avoiding the issue. This is so common during the teen years. The task is usually poorly done, if done at all.
So to stop procrastinating we must first set goals in our lives. We need to figure out what it is that we want to achieve, and then make a list of goals. They need to be realistic goals that we can achieve. If we set them too high we are setting ourselves up for a disaster.
After we set our goals we need to commit to doing them. That is the hard part, but if we can understand that we are procrastinating and why, it will be much easier to learn to stop procrastinating.
