I have to submit an assignment tomorrow. But I am doing everything in my control to avoid finishing the assignment. First, I decided to just spend a few seconds and check Facebook. One post led to another and before I even realized it, I was watching YouTube videos. Again, one video led to another, and before I knew it, I was downloading the series and watching one episode after another, as if my life depended on it. Basically, I am procrastinating.
There are deep-seated reasons for procrastination. A few being,
1. Insecurity:
You are probably procrastinating because you are insecure of your ability to complete the task. So, if it is studying a tough subject, the reason you are procrastinating is probably because you think you are not smart enough to crack the exam.
A way out is for you to feel better about yourself. For instance,
1. Set smaller goals and reward yourself for every hurdle you pass.
2. Another method is to just sit in front of a mirror and smile at yourself for 15 seconds. This will instantly make you feel better and put you in the mood to work.
2. Fear:
This point is in tandem with the first point. You may be scared that you starting a task, or continuing a task, will result in something negative. For instance, if you have to apply for a job, you need to send out a bunch of emails. You might be procrastinating because you think that this will result in a bad news of you not getting your desired job, or worse, not getting a job at all!
In such cases, it makes sense to tell yourself that,
3. Negative association:
You may be procrastinating because you subconsciously associate the task at hand with something negative. For instance, if the task at hand is to clean your room, you may be putting it off because subconsciously you think it is not your job and doing something so menial is below your dignity. This especially happens when you first start living by yourself and you’re used to someone else picking up after you. Or you may think that your time is better spent doing ‘important’ stuff than cleaning your room. Perhaps the last time you cleaned your room, you came across a stack of love letters written by your ex, and that ruined your mood for the next couple of days.
Either way, it is a negative association and you tend to put it off for later.
So the next time you find yourself procrastinating, take a few seconds and ask yourself the question ‘Why?’ The answer might fall under one of the top categories and resolving these issues will help you beat procrastination in the long term!
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