Procrastination is common and something that some of us do daily whether or not we want to or not. At home we might be procrastinating to complete house chores. As a student we might be procrastinating to do homework and assignments. At work we might be procrastinating to complete projects until the due date. We also procrastinate to work on our personal goals and interests. Why is it that we procrastinate? I am going to share my stories and my thoughts on why I think people procrastinate. What are the small things that we can change about ourselves to help reduce this habit? I believe there could be many reasons for procrastination but from my personal experience I came up with three reasons. Lack of Prioritization and Organization I wanted to start a blog since the end of 2016 and I set a verbal goal with a close friend that I will have a blog before June 2017. It is now March 2018. I have procrastinated for nearly 1.5 years and finally I am posting! “WHERE DID TIME GO?!” Luckily, back in November 2017 I found out that Angela also wanted to write a blog so we decided we will do it together. Even then, we didn’t start working on our blog until February 2017 due to other priorities such as family and friend gatherings. After the busy winter season, Angela and I decided actually make our blog a reality and we sat down to organize our thoughts and what we wanted to write about. We created a planner to help us organize our posting topics, posting dates, and meeting schedule. Organization and planning was the key to helping us move forward. I learned that if you want something bad enough you need to write it down and strategize a plan to make it achievable. Simply stating your goals and not actually creating actions means that it wasn’t that important and it will lead you to no results. So when you really want to do something, put it into your priority list and organize a plan to execute it. Not Having Enough Energy Many scientific studies have shown that exercising can help a person feel better mentally and physically. I agree with this 100%! I worked in a fast food restaurant chain for ten years and recently swapped it for an office job. Instead of running around for 8-12 hours straight, I now sit for a minimum of 6 hours staring at the computer and I find it surprisingly more draining and tiresome. When I get home, I have so many other things I want to do but the majority of the time, things either go undone or I procrastinate because I’m drained from sitting at a desk. After working in an office job for 1.5 years I have decided that I need to maintain an active lifestyle to boost my energy. I started practicing yoga in September 2017 consistently and I noticed my overall energy is much better! I am less tired and more alert which drives me to be more proactive with the things I want to do. No Incentive Get it Done Lastly, I find that I procrastinate to do certain tasks because I don’t find value in completing them or I don’t get any instant gratification from it. For example, I often put off weekly laundry until I literally am on my last pair of underwear. It’s probably one of the easiest things to do since it requires little to no energy, plus the machine does the actual work. So for me to do this task, I decided to reward myself with two hours of TV time to relax and let the laundry run its course. Another example here is me as a student. I procrastinate to complete my assignments either the day before of the day of the due date. Now I try to set goals and give myself little treats so that I prioritize time to complete the assignments earlier. Sometimes it would be as simple as having a specialty coffee instead of regular coffee. I am not saying to reward yourself for every task you do but a little reward does help to get the process started. Procrastination exists every day and even when we are more self-aware of our own procrastination, we can still have a tendency do it. The next time you procrastinate think of why. Could it be a lack of organization, low energy, and/or you simply need to find an incentive to do it? Laziness (even though we deserve rest) should not be the excuse of our inaction. Hopefully, my post will bring a little change in your lifestyle. ~Serena
1 Comment
Leslie
3/8/2018 07:38:36 pm
Great realizations! It seems like you have firmly set your intention to remain organized and this will keep you on track! Thanks for the inspiration 👌
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