Anyone who’s been a student or has tried to write anything knows all about procrastination. It’s that age-old dilemma of doing anything and everything else possible to avoid doing the thing you really don’t want to start – be it an epic or challenging project, or a task you dislike such as doing a tax return.
As a student, I recall cleaning out my sock drawer rather than starting an essay, which inevitably was left to the last minute, at which point I stayed up and wrote it into the wee hours of the morning and handed it it in right on deadline. That happened regularly. (I had a friend who was cleaning her bathroom floor with a toothbrush instead of writing a similar essay).
Times have changed, but I still procrastinate when it comes to personal endeavours – such as finishing any one of the five books I’ve started. There’s always something else to do in my spare time – a blog to write, a book to read, a house to clean, a dinner to cook, a friend to see.
Yet if I’d taken all of the single hours that I’ve had spare over the past year (or five), I would now have my book. At least perhaps one of them. Yet I procrastinated on it, and of course the opportunities to write never arise unless I actually make them.
In saying all this, equally I know how not to procrastinate. After all, I write this three times a week; I got my degree; and I finish a lot of projects.
The level of procrastination that I experience in my life is that which is right at the edge of my abilities and tolerance – it’s the procrastination I experience when trying to achieve something after a long and busy day; or squeezing in between other appointments. This type of procrastination is the hardest to overcome, because there’s not only excuses but there’s also my own down time to consider (having any, that is). Down time usually wins, as there’s precious little of it.
The other type of procrastination – the type when you have enough time, but you’re just not motivated – now that I can help with. I am a master at overcoming this type of procrastination (or so I like to think).
Here’s how I go about overcoming procrastination, getting started and getting it done.
Figure out what needs to happen, then don’t think about it too much
Usually, the anticipation of a task is far worse than the action of doing it. Sometimes this isn’t the case, but it’s usually when you expect something to be easy and it’s hard that doing it is worse than the anticipation.
This is because the mind tends to over-amplify things. For example, when I first started doing presentations at work it would loom in my mind for days or weeks beforehand. I would envisage every type of disaster, including forgetting everything I had to say, which usually made me so nervous in anticipation that I would actually, in fact, forget everything I had to say and then have to improvise.
If instead, I’d focused on what needed to be done and been extremely prepared, then not thought about it any more, or at least very little, the result probably would have been far better for me (this is what I do now in the lead-up to presentations).
When there’s a task ahead that you’re procrastinating on, for whatever reason (and there are many), first get your head straight and figure out what will need to be done. Then, don’t think about it any more. Don’t allow your mind to go around and around in circles, anticipating all of the ins and outs and how much work it will be. Don’t allow yourself to think about how much you’d prefer to be doing something else instead. Just get prepared, and stop thinking about it until you actually start it.
Set aside time to focus
Realise that there’s no way you can humanly do two things at once. Procrastination often extends into the task, when you’re trying to do the impossible: multitask. We can physically only do one thing at a time, and think one thought at a time, so multitasking anything simultaneously is a myth. I mean, you can pat your head and rub your stomach at the same time, but when it comes to thinking two thoughts at once? Definitely not.
Rather than trying to write something and Facebook message someone at the same time, shut down your browser and just write. It’s a novel idea in the digital world of today, but it must be done if you’re to get anything done.
Just get started
When I’m faced with a blank piece of paper, I like to literally just start writing. Not only does this create a flow from the universe directly through me and onto the paper, but it gets the process going and I start to get involved in it.
It’s like when you plan to go to the gym in the evening and you’re hating the thought of it all day long, until you actually show up and jump on one of the machines and you start to get all pumped up and into the swing of it. Writing is a lot like that – you just have to get something down. Get on the machine. Get started.
Sometimes, it’s good to do the hardest part first but other times, the planning process actually happens a little of the way in. The key is to get involved in the project and committed to the process before you start to hit any hurdles.
I find that not giving myself a choice works well. When I start thinking about all of the other stuff I could be doing, or just considering not doing the task at hand, my mind starts to run wild and I start to really get annoyed with what I’m doing. Not conducive. If you simply don’t give yourself a choice – kind of like going to work in the morning, or washing your clothes – the other thoughts won’t even cross your mind.
How do you overcome procrastination?
