Procrastination
At Its Finest
Last
Week, as I said to my post before this is that I’m working on a project for my
Uncle’s House. I’m having a difficulty about the site. I can’t see any single
soil of the site. Everything is in concrete and I mean the WHOLE village is
concrete, not even a single tree. I have no idea what kind of soil they have and
they said that the vicinity of that place experience a lot of flooding but not
exactly on my uncle’s place.
Because I
was afraid of making a mistake, I wasn’t always on the mood to continue my
project. By that time, I’m done presenting my design and on the next step where
I should create a working drawings. I’m gonna admit, usually I procrastinate
when I know I have a time. Since I am on vacation and the said project doesn’t
have a certain deadline, my procrastination skills got better. I kept on moving
my own deadline for that project that it took me weeks to finish it when it
only takes 3-5 days.
Why Do We
Procrastinate?
Most of
us are having the same problem…and the same reason why we procrastinate.
Fear of failure and Perfectionism. Like what I said, I was afraid
of making a mistake. I’m not that perfectionist but I want to make it right, we
need to do it right. And because it’s for my uncle, I don’t want to be a
failure either. Those feelings like insecurity can make you procrastinate in no
time.
Cramming. Some people believe that best
ideas and great work comes out when one is under pressure. Some of my
classmates really experience this when they’re not even procrastinating. It
happens when they’re about to finish our plates and then *poof* great idea
comes in (they just don’t have the precious time). I believe this works for
some but for me, the idea that I can't do a work until the deadline is just an
hour from now is a bit frightening.
Disorganization. Messy room, scrambled schedule,
waffling between projects and disordered priorities and goals.
Tips To Stop Procrastination
Change
your scenery.
If you
don’t have a time to clean your room yet, find a best workplace that would suit
your work technique or study habit. Your desk might have a lot of distractions
or looks like a tornado hit your desk. Sometimes, I would get my laptop and
work somewhere else.
Get rid
of the Internet or your Facebook.
Sometimes
I would say to myself that I would check my account for only 5 mins, and before
I knew it, I’ve been spending almost 2 hours in some social sites. When you don’t
really need an internet connection to get your work done, then turn off your
connection and start working. Eliminate that distraction!
Quit
waffling between projects.
Working
on several projects at once would seemingly take forever to complete.
Prioritize. Certain tasks will always hold
more priority than others. If none of your projects are urgent, pick the most
difficult one and get it over with. The easier ones that follow will seem like a
piece of cake in comparison.
Keep a
detailed to-do list.
Instead
of putting a huge, month-long project down as one line item on your list, break
it down into action items you can check off frequently. Usually, I create my
to-do list for everyday. Writing down a to-do list would also help you to a
better time management.
Don't
expect perfection.
Just don’t.
Give your best and that alone is perfect.
Assess your avoidance. Figure out which tasks you don’t
like and why. Wanting to achieve productivity means getting to the root of the
problem. Chart your common avoidances and
find out which are leading you to procrastinate the most.
Make time for breaks.
Working on a task for a long period of time is really exhausting. This makes
procrastination inevitable. To avoid a burnout, schedule regular intervals of
breaks but be careful, most of the break time gets us to procrastinate. You can
also consider this as a small reward for yourself.
Evaluate your timing. Assessing how long it takes you to
finish a variety of tasks will help you learn the severity of procrastination
habits. This will also allow you to improve your speed and time management
skills.
I hope this helps.
I don’t really like cramming and it’s a great feeling when you finished a task
and you have an extra time before the deadline. It’s better than sneaking a
time for yourself and feeling a bit guilty while you know you have to do something
and by the end, all the stress and pressure would come to you.
Usually, some girls uses strapless bra for this but you can also use one-sided strap in this kind of clothes. It offers more support.
