Procrastination Buster

What's up, Stonedvet Army?

Do you ever feel like you can't get anything done?

Lately, I've been feeling like I'm procrastinating more, and that's not gonna fly. There's too much shit that I want to get accomplished to 'waste' time. Today's blog focuses on redirecting the energy of procrastination into a positive behavior to help you meet your goals.

That sounds good, right?

Here are the hard facts.

Studies show that most people procrastinate for one of three reasons:

• Laziness
• Fear of failure
• Lack of motivation.

Often people procrastinate for fear of overwhelming tasks. Avoiding these tasks can feel like an escape for people who feel overwhelmed.

But the truth is that procrastination can lead to disappointment and drag you down, leaving you frustrated and stressed instead of taking the next step to achieving your goal(s).

When we procrastinate, we're typically trying to delay unpleasant tasks. Sometimes we're trying to avoid our fear of failure. Other times, we're trying to prevent our laziness.

When we feel lazy or unmotivated to do something, it can be tough to motivate ourselves to get it done.

This is a common problem among many people, who sometimes find it hard to complete their work on time.

According to amazeurbaaz.com procrastination prevents people from:

• Meeting deadlines. 
• Offers feelings of guilt. 
• Creates unnecessary stress. 
• Spoils future plans. 
• Engenders feelings of depression. 
• Leads to poor physical health. 
• Gives rise to anxiety. 

TOP REASONS PEOPLE PROCRASTINATE:

• They may have a lot of other important work to do
• They may not feel motivated to take on the task at hand 
• They are just not sure how to tackle the task.

In any case, there are several potential solutions to the problem and a few different techniques that might be worth giving a try.

TRY DE-CLUTTERING YOUR SPACE.

It's no secret that clutter is one of the most common triggers for procrastination. You may not be motivated to do any work at all if your desk is piled high with open folders, paperwork, and scattered papers. How does your workspace look?

Knowing this, I took a few hours on Saturday, and I pulled everything off my desk. I laid everything out on the living room floor, cleaned everything, and reassembled my desk in a much more organized way.
Doing this made my desk much more comfortable and inviting. Now, I can type, not have anything in the way, and fewer distractions.
And it looks good!

TURN OFF YOUR PHONE

Putting your phone in Do not disturb mode for a set period each day will reduce app notifications and help eliminate distractions.
I do this on both my phone and my computer. From 9 am - 5 pm, I get only notifications that I have set as a priority.

Be careful, though.

In the beginning, it's easy to miss notifications that you want because they didn't make it through the priority filters, this method may be a bit of a reach for you, but it's working very well for me.

TO-DO LIST

Prioritizing your day with a to-do list and then breaking the to-do list down into smaller, more actionable steps is a great way to eliminate procrastination. As a bonus, if you reward yourself for the completion of to-do list items, you will speed up the process of making a new habit and make it more enjoyable at the same time.

REDIRECT ENERGY INTO POSITIVE BEHAVIOR

The American Psychological Association has identified the following five traits that are needed to stop procrastinating:

• Physical well-being 
• Social support
• Good personal management
• Involvement in productive behaviors
• Positive expectation

In conclusion, whenever procrastination rears its ugly head, the advice I would give anyone who finds themselves procrastinating is this. Remember that any period of procrastination is a wasted opportunity for someone who knows how to put their mind to something and see it through.

To succeed, I'm learning that you must rid yourself of negative influences, create an environment that inspires you, get your end goal firmly in mind and make sure the steps you take are deliberate and productive.

Soon enough, you'll be bursting out of the blocks with lightning-fast speed!

Do you have any advice to stop procrastination?
Comment below and let us know!