We’ve all experienced procrastination and also its aftermath. We procrastinate but don’t really think why we procrastinate. We can stop procrastinating but are not able to do so. Probably the most common reasoning you do with yourself is – “I don’t feel like it.” Truth is, you are never going to feel like it. You are never going to feel like it unless you pick yourself up to do whatever you are putting off.
Research In Psychology Defines Three Types Of Procrastination –
- The Avoider – Things are put off because they feel bad. These people associate tasks with some past experience. They feel anxious, overwhelmed, sad, or simply bored.
- The Optimist – People who think that the task doesn’t take much effort, could be finished in less time or you have much time on your watch.
- The Pleasure Seeker – People who simply postpone their tasks for quick, meaningless, leading nowhere gratification.
Whatever be the type, it can be tackled. There is hope to stop procrastinating. Below we explore some ways you can use to stop procrastinating and manage your time.
Realize That You Have Complete Control Over Your Time
This is a very important step in rooting out procrastination from your life. If you constantly face the aftermath, it’s because you decided to go on youTube for ‘just 10 minutes’. You can control the time you spend on trivial matters by perfectly planning out. Decide which works need more time and which ones don’t.
Paetro’s Law
Paetro’s law is something you might’ve heard as the 80-20 rule. It basically says that 80 per cent of the results you face or see come from 20 per cent of the effort. So the matter of importance is you need to figure out what is the 20% you need to work on to get that 80% of the result.
Parkinson’s Law
“Work expands to fill the time we allocate to it”
Here’s the thing, we end up doing more when we have time hammering on our heads. We complete the tasks quickly when we have a deadline coming up compared to the times we have a month’s time to submit a project. The point is to allocate less time to your tasks and be strict with yourself to complete them within the stapled time.
Two-minute Rule
This says if you can complete a task within two minutes then you should do now. For instance, if you can clear your table in 2 minutes then you should clear it now. It might not seem to have a lot of effect on paper, but it unclutters your working space and gives you an organized feel.
Batching
This is to say that you have the same task coming up throughout the day, like responding to emails, then you should do it all together, instead of when they come up. This would save you a lot of time. If you have more emails to answer, don’t do it one at a time and wait later. Choose a correct and relaxed time to answer all the emails.
Use Tools
Use tools like the good old Pomodoro, 10fastfingers which help you improve your typing speed. There are tons of productivity apps that help you stay organized, beat procrastination – all in all, help you manage your time well. Be friends with these apps and see yourself utilizing the time efficiently.
