BEATING PROCASTINATION: Tips For Taking Action

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I know what you are thinking right now!  

Dead that idea, don’t even think about reading later!

Well, had you scrolled past this piece, I would have understood you because I have been there myself; procrastination had once been my reflection. I can relate with that phase when I had piles of tasks to do but I chose to lay down on my bed, eat chips and watch reels while thinking about my undone tasks, feeling guilty, panicking internally but not taking any action. I continued strolling, one reel at a time, laughing out loud at the funny contents or awwnning at the loved-up ones.  I could go on and on about this but the notable thing I learnt was that, for every task left for later, I met them just the way I left them but by the time I got the motivation to do them, it was almost deadline and then I started to panic, and because I wanted to meet deadline, I had to rush through and you know what that means? You are likely to end up doing bad work!

Why do this to yourself? Why put off your tasks when you could complete them and then freely enjoy your 'reels' without guilt? Why enjoy the short-term pleasure you get by submitting to your distractions, only to feel regret for enjoying them later?

In 6 points, let me walk you through how I dealt with this habit:

1. Eliminate gateways to distraction

Imagine your mum tries to test your self-control by asking you to sit in one spot for an hour without moving, then she goes ahead to place a mouthwatering array of crispy fried plantains (dodo), juicy fried and stewed chicken laps and a chilled bottle of 5 Alive; tell me, would you concentrate for the whole hour? I’m sure you are already salivating at the thought of it.????

The point is that if you actually want to be rid of procrastination, you have to build your level of concentration. In order to do that, you must purge your environment of everything that could shake your concentration. I know you might think that you can handle the distraction and that maybe you would just welcome it for a few minutes and drop it… No! Do not underestimate the power of distraction. It would gradually grow from 5 minutes to 10 minutes and before you know it, you have spent 3 hours; the thought of leaving your task till later would have set in and you would give in. So, the first step to getting rid of this habit is to get rid of every single thing that could distract you at the moment, freeze those apps, switch off your phone (it’s hard but just do it) or put it away.

2. Start Immediately

My secondary school principal told us every day during assembly that ‘you don’t pass in a day and you don’t fail in a day’. In other words, it takes a brick at a time to make a fence. When I was learning how to bake, I had the mindset to not practice on my own until I had at least 50% of my baking equipment at hand. I unlearned this mindset when my teacher told me I could start even if all I had were coals, woods and a pot. If every baker waited till they could afford a quality oven, maybe no one would bake at all. While you claim that all you need for a task is not complete, you could go on with other things relating to that task. If you are given an assignment, start researching on it immediately, if you want to build a house, start laying your foundation, if you want to cook jollof rice and the person bringing the rice is running late, start frying the chicken! ????

3. Join a productivity group

Aristotle once said that ‘man is a social animal’, meaning that we cannot exist by ourselves and we need the help of other members of our society to survive. This, for him, makes us humans, not beasts. This realization reminds us that we are not alone, hence if you find it difficult to get rid of procrastination, you can join a productivity community. For example, you can join challenges on social media like 10-day LinkedIn challenge, or Instagram challenges; basically, productivity challenges that would motivate you to form a good habit. I do not mean video challenges please???? Identifying with a community helps better in forming good habits as the community would not only help to keep track of your tasks, but you would also have people who would check in on you, encourage you and/or even challenge you.

4. Break tasks into small steps.

 One of the things that makes an individual procrastinate is seeing what you want to do as a big task. Some feel that the task is enormous and cannot be done within a short period of time. As a result, they adopt an all-or-nothing approach, opting to do nothing at all rather than breaking the task into manageable chunks and making gradual progress. You don’t have to wait for when you would have the whole day to yourself... Instead, why not break the tasks into bits? For example, if you have to complete a 1000-word assignment within the next three days and you feel it would take you about 3 hours to do it. It would be better to break it down and set a timer when you do it. Breaking the assignment into introduction, body and conclusion, working on it an hour per day till the deadline date makes the work much easier and presentable than trying to take on a 3-hour non-stop marathon in the face of a deadline in a day.

5.  Have an accountability structure

 Being accountable to someone keeps you on your toes always because you are aware of potential consequences of not doing the task as promised. This does not only help you comport yourself with diligence, it also helps you have a sense of responsibility. Consider a scenario where you are given a project that is being overseen by a supervisor who expects your proposal submission within a month. The possibility of being sanctioned for any delay motivates and prompts you to prioritize the task at hand to avoid that. It also helps to avoid or reduce laziness. Moreover, being accountable to another friend, such as a friend or mentor ensures that you maintain your integrity as being reliable. It also helps to foster personal growth, minimize procrastination and improve productivity.

6. Improve your work environment

The last tip I will be sharing with you in this article is improving your work environment. I will start by saying that to achieve this, you have to know yourself, what kind of person are you? What kind of environment is best for you to work in? When and where do you feel like working the most? I was having a conversation with one of my friends one day and he mentioned to me how he was angry with his roommates because they littered the room. He had to leave the room to go to another place so that he could focus on work because he won’t be comfortable working in a dirty environment. While some can work in a noisy environment, some people cannot withstand it; they rather prefer a quiet place or somewhere there is solemn music going on in order for them to achieve productivity. You can also cultivate the habit of creating a workspace in your home, this gives you a sense of work and responsibility. Having a place set apart with a table and chair and writing materials or your computer bring you into a work mode rather than lying on the bed which brings your body into a relaxed mode.

Procrastination is a thief of time and potential, does not only encourage laziness, it also leads to other bad habits like non-diligence, unseriousness, dishonesty, non-dedication and it ultimately impedes growth, and robs you off opportunities for success.

Sometimes Procrastination is the enemy of progress! Do you know what this implies? I’ll leave you to figure it out.

CO-WRITTEN WITH : AJAYI TAIWO IFEOLUWA