YOLO BABY! It’s only the most misleading phrase in modern society. Pushing everything to the side for a thril, what can sound more appealing, am I right? Unfortunately, it is one of the surest ways for your quality of life to start dwindling away before you can even blink.
Procrastinating is much like gambling, you make an excuse to put off, or not do something. The more you allow yourself to procrastinate, the harder it is to pull yourself out of this dangerous habit. How bad could it be you say? Well here’s a few consequences:
- Causes anxiety
- Damaged Relationships
- Depression
- Fatigue
- Fear of Failure
It’s so detrimental I will defer to Dr. Itamar Shatz who outlines even clearer just how significant the effects can be one’s life. So how do we slay that dragon procrastination? Just keep on reading.
Acknowledge You Procrastinate
Just like any problem that needs to be fixed, you need to first address the elephant in the room, admit to being a procrastinator. Don’t beat yourself down now, friends according to Talker Research a 2024 study shows that 70% of Americans admit to being procrasitnators.
Some of you might ask, “What is there to gain from simply admitting to procrastinating?” Turns out there are alot of benefits for being self-reflective. For starters, addressing your procrastination can inspire motivation to change your bad habits, and even help create new healthy ones.
Speaking of healthy, acknowledging problems with procrastination creates a space to practice self-compassion. Learning to forgive yourself, and being accepting of mistakes are crucial skills to develop for improving productivity accomplishing goals.
Bad habits such as procrastination can be a more daunting challenge for each person. By accepting your struggle you can invite your family, friends, and even professional help to aid you in your endeavor.
Halt Perfectionism
“I’m not ready yet.” Just one of many things perfectionist say that pauses their ambitions on any scale. This is a clear example of the imposter sydrome; when a person self-doubts themselves, questioning their skills, and even begin to feel like a fraud.
If that already doesn’t sound horrendous enough, it is a big contributor to procastination. You see, a lot of people often times feed their minds false ideas such as, “I’m waiting for the right time.” I ask you, what truly is a good time? 80 degree weather with the sounds of waves slowly crashing on a beach as you work from your two story beachouse?
The reality is life will rarely present you with the perfect environment for you to do the things you wish to accomplish. So should you keep putting it off until the next opportunity falls upon you? OF COURSE NOT! All these phrases and mental blocks you come up with, are truly just excuses to stop you from dipping your feet in the water.
It is one thing to know how perfectionism is holding you back, but how does one thwart such a ingrained quality.
Change Your Environment
If you are like me, then you can’t stand to be home. I prefer to be out as much as possible, and I am much happier when I am. Changing your environment is very important for many reasons, specifically for procrastination.
Being mindful of your surroundings is extremely important, just ask environmental psychologist Dr. Sally Augustin who says “A clean, organised workspace can significantly improve productivity and reduce the tendency to procrastinate.”
Your workspace can be many things, like your room. Is it dark, dirty, or cluttered? Maybe it’s clean, but you work from your bed which your brain is associating with sleep, and doom-scrolling. Small, free adjustments like these can make your productivity skyrocket faster than you could imagine.
You want to take initiative and change your workspace? Great! There are bunch of amazing places to get your work started, or even better, finished! Here is a list of the best recommended places to work from:
- Hotels
- Coffee houses
- The office
- Libraries
- Parks
- Museums
As you can see there is opportunity nearly everywhere to change the way you improve your productivity.
*If you can’t find a way out the house that is okay! Leaving your home isn’t a necessity you can transfrom your home into a workspace. I’m writing this from my dining table.
Control Your Procrastinating
This is for the people who you wont find without the screen in their face or a controller in their hands. Let’s play a game.
Add up the amount of hours you spend on a device, then add the amount of hours you have invested in the things you need, or want to do. Finally compare. I’m willing to bet that a majority of you are shocked at how self-destructive these hobbies can be.
Don’t feel bad, according to google, people around the world are on internet-connected devices on average 6 hours and 56 minutes daily. That’s almost a third of your day. Combined with 8 hours of sleep and a regular 9-5 that leaves a little over just one hour to do anything productive.
Putting off work or goals towards the final hour of your day is an almost certain path to either incompletion, or even worse, not even starting.
Mapping out your day is a simple yet VERY effective way to handle this. Practice dedicating what you plan to do with the hours of your day with a simple rule. “Production First, Leisure Later.” Doing so commits you to your work/goals, increases the likelihood of getting them completed, and makes leisure feel more rewarding. For more goal/work planning tips click this link.
Reward Yourself
One of the many reasons people procrastinate is due to a fear of failure. Honestly, who can blame them. It took me years before I committed to my business, and put my anxiety aside. That is why rewarding yourself is a greate deterrent for procrastinating.
Appreciating your successes will remove that fear of failing, or not being enough. As you continue to reward yourself, you gain confidence in your capabilities, and an eagerness to work even harder and accomplish bigger goals. YOU DESERVE THAT! Imagine how joyful and liberating it will feel to be in control of your time and habits.
The days of waking up and grabbing your phone are finally going to be put behind you. Well- except for your alarm. With these tools, you can conquer your time and your work.
Having so many hours free up for your day allows for so many new opportunities like discovering a new hobby or creating a side hustle.
Most importantly, as you claim control of your procrastination and become more productive, and successful, you spend more time smiling excited for the day and hopefully the future. Cheers to the beginning of a new you.