This is the subject I found relevant to all of us, particularly in this time of crisis when there are more things each of us have to handle, both things we like and not enjoy to do. In the process, we face one of the biggest and common mistake or challenge - PROCRASTINATION.

We are all guilty of procrastination at some point in our lives. We get caught up in other activities and put some of our most important ‘to-do’s’ on the back burner only to feel crappy about not acting on it earlier when it comes around to bite us on our lazy asses.

Let’s start with a story.

I got a assignment a month ago for doing a presentation about Overcome procrastination. This is what when through my mind

And …. This is me again … after a month.

And …. This is me again … after 2 weeks

Procrastination means putting off intentionally and habitually the doing of something that should be done. Even though the person know that he will be worse off for the delay.

So, procrastinators usually are someone who knows what she or he wants to do, yet doesn’t do it.


People may find things to do that are interesting or even useful, but don't contribute towards the main goal.

Research shows that procrastination is really common and it also breakdowns procrastinator to various type.

Procrastination afflicts millions of people and almost always has negative effects on productivity and sense of well-being.

The following are some of the figures that have been brought out by researches and surveys:
- 60% of people are moderate procrastinators
- 6% of people are frequent procrastinators
- 95% of those surveyed indicate that they procrastinate occasionally

There are various types of procrastinators from those who feel guilty about procrastinating to the ones who are simply lazy and pleasure seekers. Try to identify which of these procrastinator type do you fit in?

Don’t feel ashamed with the thought you are the only procrastinator. We are all at least one type out of the 7 featured, some of us are a mixture of a few of these. Find which one you are, or one(s) you are and get ready to shake your world up with some extra life accomplishments.

Defier - who feel many tasks seem like an unfair or unnecessary use of their time and energy.
Avoiders – Many tasks seem risky or unnecessary, I prefer to stay in my comfort zone and avoid change.
Over doer –’I find it difficult to prioritize and say no to other demands on my time’ – ‘Sometimes I take on too much and then procrastinate on one task for the sake of completing other task’
Self-doubter: the worriers. ‘I have never done it before, I am going to mess it up’ .
Passive aggressive – Crisis Maker – ‘I feel that I work best under pressure’. They enjoy the rush of working under a deadline on a task that might otherwise seem boring
Perfectionists who often find it difficult to begin a task because the thought of getting every details perfect is overwhelming. Once they've started a task finishing it can be hard as I want every detail in place
Pleasure seekers / ‘LAZY’

For whatever procrastinator type we are, procrastination still create damages, not only for our state of mind but also our productivity.

So let look at why we should overcome procrastination

So, why should we overcome procrastination? There are various disadvantages or pitfalls of procrastination. Know the why will provide you with the greatest motivation to overcome it.
1. Putting things off to the last minute almost always reduces your ability to perform at your best
2. Procrastinators often never perform the required or desired task because they wait until it is too late
3. Last-minute pressure produces stress
4. Procrastination leads to stress and/or decreased sense of well-being and/or self-esteem
5. Daily delaying leads to chronic worry

There are more…

6. Knowing that a task still needs to be done makes it harder to enjoy the present
7. Knowing that you are letting yourself down can and probably will impair self-esteem
8. Procrastination limits our success
9. Effective results cannot be achieved if you procrastinate to perform the important tasks
10. Success can only be gained by overcoming bad habits such as procrastination
After know the why, you need to know the WHAT
What are the causes and triggers of Procrastination. By knowing these causes and triggers, it will help us to be more aware and find the way to prevent ourselves from procrastination.

There may be various causes that lead people to procrastinate, such as follows:
1. Stress and anxiety :
Too overwhelmed and worried to even begin working on tasks
2. Rebellion:
You don’t want to do it. You can’t make me do it
3. Difficulty concentrating:
Noisy, phone is ringing, desk is cluttered, etc.
4. Fear of failure:
If you don’t achieve a certain mark then I am a failure.
5. Preoccupation with personal problems:
Focusing on personal problems like financial difficulty, relationship issues, etc.
6. Lifestyle:
An unhealthy lifestyle such as improper eating, sleeping habits and lack of proper exercise may also result in a person becoming a procrastinator.
7. Lack of enjoyment:
You don’t like the task. So, you turn to more enjoyable immediate activities.
8. Unrealistic expectations/perfectionism:
You must always achieve ‘A’.
9. Lack of Self-Confidence:
You may procrastinate when you are not confident about yourself and your skills and abilities to perform the task.
10. Poor time management:
Uncertain of your priorities, goals & objectives.
11. Inability to prioritize:
The lack of prioritizing of tasks may also give a sense of overwhelming which may lead to procrastination.
12. Overload of tasks at a specific time:
You may face an overload of tasks at a specific time which leads to putting off doing the tasks altogether.

Procrastination is often triggered by:

Let’s take a closer look at each of these triggers….

Your procrastination might be triggered by Resentment if:

You don't like to say 'No' even though you know you don't have time or capabilities to do it.
You feel you need to please people even though what they ask you to do is not within your capabilities or timeline.
You may even be bullied to do things and in the process you feel a subconscious resentment that holds you back from doing it.
Even if you feel that what is ask of you to do is not within your capabilities or fair on your timeline - you are not brave enough to confront the person who gave you the task.
You may even feel the person giving you the task is taking advantage of you or you think that what is given to you to handle shouldn’t be part of your job.

Well there is a way to fix that….

……
The next trigger

Your Procrastination may be triggered by Confusion or Uncertainty, if

You do not even have a clear idea of the concept and results required for the task.
You have no clear idea of the process to even get started
When you have not idea of the concept, the process to get started and the result required, you will feel totally hopeless.
That will more often then not lead to anger because you feel it is unfair that you are required to read somebody else mind.

Once again you can fix that...

When you are confused, take the time out to try to create the possible vision or objective first, then try to analyse what you find unclear. If you can't figure it out, then you just have to ask - either the person giving you the task or share your confusion with someone - as the saying goes sharing a burden tend to half it. However, it would be more effective if you find someone who has done it before, because almost any successful person will gladly give you advice and show you how they succeeded. If you cannot find that successful person and you cannot go back to the person that has given you the task so some reason or other then working backwards will be useful - start with what the outcome or results required and then work backwards to identify the process that need to be in place to get the results.

The next trigger

A fear of failure often prevent us from accomplishing.

You just need to change your mind set and realize that everyone, even highly successful people fear failure and yet with the fear they still manage to be successful. How did they do it?
Move out of your comfort zone, which is the things you are familiar and can do well already, and challenge yourself to take a small step at a time to overcome the fear of the unfamiliar.
While taking the challenge to take small step may still result in failure, this is the time you need to rethink failure as a necessary step to success. It doesn't matter how many times you have failed in the past. It only matters that your are willing to try again.
However, many people still have historically accumulated fears that hold you back. In this instance, you will need to examine you thoughts and feelings and find ways to overcome them.
You will be surprised to note that not only do many have a fear of failure, many fear success even

but why...

Some people think that even if I succeed, I still won't be happy. People with such an issue will have to re-examine their vision of success - if accomplishing a work successfully is not something they feel happy about then perhaps they should not be working or this job may not be right for them.
Some think I won't be able to live up to the expectations. Somehow they feel that if they achieve one success then then they would be expected to do more the next time. Realistically, you should realise that every task or job need to be accomplished successfully and having accomplished one task will leverage you to be able to accomplish another easier and not harder.
There are yet others that think that the minute I achieve success I'll will make some mistake and screw it up. This is the necessary journey in life and you should give yourself permission to try new things, be creative and make mistakes.
There is more….

It is really common that many think the more successful you are, the more people will dislike you. Instead of thinking that why not reverse that thinking and imagine how your success might inspire others.
Some think that everyone will think I'm stuck up. Well success breeds jeolousy, so instead build a support network of people who appreciae and love you for who you are and ignore those who are jeolous of you.
Yet some think ' I will have to step all over people to get ahead' In most cases, true success does not require exploiting others but instead successful people support others to become successful.

The next trigger

Your procrastination may be triggered by a Skill Deficit, if:
You put off doing a task because you feel that you lack the necessary skills and abilities.
You use your resentment, confusion and fear that you have not managed to overcome as an excuse
You are over critical of yourself and even consider yourself as stupid.

Let’s see how you can fix that

As the saying goes 'don't try to eat an elephant' break up the work into sub-steps and then check what skill is need for each step. List the skills needed for each sub-steps and for the skills you don't have then you simply need to go find it or if you are in the the position to be able to then pay or hire people to perform the skill that you lack. On the other hand, identify the skill that you lack and don’t let this hold you back , challenge yourself to learn it or find a coach who can teach you.

The next trigger

Your procrastination may be triggered by unrealistic time estimates, if:
You do not even bother to make time estimates of what the job will take. Once again using resentment, confusion and fear you cannot overcome as an excuse for not having the time. Or you have the habit of always being consistently late in whatever you do or you do not manage time well.

We have covered all the triggers and cause for procrastination, let’s move on to take a look at the cycle of procrastination

You start by feeling anxious so you put off what you need to do and in the process you get a temporary relieve. Followed by an empty promise or self-criticism or distraction which will lead to non-performance and even more anxiety.

It does make sense for all of us to change. But as we all know to change is always difficult so let's have a look at how to deal with change

What is ambiguity – it is what you don’t know, what you are not sure about or some new to you.

Change is the first step in our journey to achieving success in our job by overcoming procrastination. However, the effort must continue with ways to beat procrastination

…………
Since procrastination has everything to do with time, it make sense to use the necessary tools to help us use time more effectively

Creating a personal timetable to keep track of your tasks.
It allows you to keep track of what you have achieved, therefore, saving you mental energy to remember. When planning your timeable be purposeful and realistic so that you can really meet the deadlines and keep up with the work. On the other hand, you need to also factor sufficient time for relaxation in a way that can allow you to complete the task without feeling guilty and worried.

If time is of such importance, then perhaps we need to see time as money

An important thing to keep in mind is that procrastination is an expensive habit. One of the ways that will stop us from procrastinating is to figure out the money value of something that was not done because of procrastination.

This will help you to better understand that ‘time is money’. This alone can serve as a strong motivator not to procrastinate again.

As with money, how you use your time it is also critical to ensure success as an example take the hours in the day as money given to you by god. So out of 8 working hours you waste 4 hours on procrastination every day. At it up for a week, month and year and see how much that time is worth to you.

Use your time effectively by prioritizing. It is a process of deciding which of all the tasks that you need to do is more important than the other. Realise that the priorities that you set today may change tomorrow depending upon the values and the goals you hope to achieve with each task at different times.

Let's take a look at a matrix, which is a combination of the different nature of important and urgent tasks

There are 4 matrix to evaluate your task whether urgent or important or not urgent and not important. The first category is called the quadrant of Managed activities and it includes things you need to do in a crisis or pressing problems and projects that are deadline-driven. which falls under the nature of urgent and important.
The 2nd is called the quadrant of Leadership and Quality activities and these are activities that you do to prevent problems, build relationship, to recognize and maximise on new opportunities, time spend in planning activities and time for recreation. which falls under the nature of important but not urgent.
The 3rd quadrant is of Deception activities. These are activities that appear to be urgent but in actuality is not important. such as interruption, some phone calls, mails, reports and Meeting or matter that appear pressing but will not produce high value results. Finally is the quadrant of Waste Activities which includes trivia- inconsequential things you need to do, some mails and calls, work that actually waste your time and other pleasant activities which is known to be not urgent and not important as well. ( Eg: the colleague has problem with bf or gf, invite you for coffee or dinner to talk about their problems)

Effective time management recommends that you prioritize your focus and time on tasks and activities within the quadrant of Leadership and Quality and then followed by the quadrant of Managed activities. Leaving the balance 2 quadrants, which is the least of your priority to either do it when you have spare time or totally eliminating it.

Procrastination has also got to do with your thinking and feeling, therefore, it is necessary to understand how we think and feel

Look at the examples to understand how your thoughts create feelings which in turn leads to procrastination……

Hope can you cope

If you can identify the thought and the feeling that together are leading you to procrastinate, you can choose another way to cope……

You then need goals to direct and motivate your thoughts

Let's have a look at an easy and effective way to set goals

The best defined goals are ‘SMART’ goals, which are:……….

Remember the 5 golden rules when setting goals

The goals that you set should follow these golden rules for them to be effective. …..

Finally, let me share 10 useful tips to overcome procrastination

Self-Evaluation: The biggest reason that you procrastinate is because you yourself choose to procrastinate. You should remember that everything starts and ends with the self-evaluation. So, the sooner you accept that procrastination is your fault, the better you’ll be able to overcome procrastination.
Self-Assertion: Say to yourself, “I DO NOT want to procrastinate anymore”. Such assertions are important as once you accept that procrastination is your weakness, the next step is to eliminate this weakness. Your desire to not procrastinate anymore should be sincere and must be started by changing small daily gestures.
Take Responsibility: Take responsibility of your failure and understand that if you fail to achieve a particular goal or a given task, it’s because you procrastinated. By admitting guilt, you take ownership of your actions. Continue working on not procrastinating after accepting responsibility of your failure.
Identify Ways in Which You Procrastinate: Ask yourself, “In what ways do I procrastinate?” Sit down with a pen and paper. Write down the ways in which you think you procrastinate. By writing them, you will be able to focus and identify them more clearly.

Estimate the Money Value of Missed Opportunity: It is important that to overcome procrastination you tend to think of time as precious and valuable. Think of time as ‘money’. So, install a permanent calculator in your brain and calculate how much that missed deal meant in terms of money value. If you make it a practice to tag a money sign for each of our procrastinations, you are sure to procrastinate less.

Prioritizing: Prioritizing all your tasks will help you to filter the essential from the petty tasks. So, prioritizing will help you to decide which of your tasks need immediate attention and those that can be done later in the week. So learn to prioritize and decide which tasks should be assigned top priority, and then act.
Put It Down on Paper: It is a general belief that people tend to understand better when they read things in black and white on paper than when they just plan in their thoughts. So, when you read things on paper, you’re able to act logically; this is much more effective than just thinking out how to avoid procrastination.
Discard old habits: Old habits tend to die hard. So, even if we know that a certain activity is no longer cost effective, we continue doing it anyway. A good way of breaking free of old habits is by looking for alternatives.

Do a Self-Check: Every morning, do a self-check and decide what tasks you would complete by the end of the day. At the end of the day, do a self-check again and see if you completed all the tasks you had listed.
Do Not Stop: If you fall back a few steps in your effort to not procrastinate, do not stop. Start again. If you’re a chronic procrastinator, you will experience problems staying on course for the first few weeks. So, even if you miss completing some of the tasks on your list, do not get disheartened.

We have covered quite a fair bit of information, let me summarize what we have learned so far…

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And to conclude my presentation

Nike say it well ‘JUST DO IT’ don’t worry about what you said yesterday or the day before JUST DO IT.

Because you don’t’ know what opportunity will come to your hands tomorrow and you don’t want to lose that