Are you someone who struggles with procrastination? Do you regularly put something off or take a long time to do something that needs to be done? Sometimes just getting started can be a real effort!
It doesn’t seem to matter whether you are a parent at home, a student, business person, or a worker, as many as 50% of the general population procrastinate, some naturally more often than others! This figure increases to 90% when it relates to students so can be of real concern and no wonder many parents are often pulling their hair out trying to get their children to do homework and assignments!
What is procrastination?
Often people are not actually even away this is what they are doing. So what actually is procrastination?
Procrastination is primarily avoiding to do something! Unfortunately procrastionation often leads to further stress and anxiety.
Most people who work or study can relate to this, as they sometimes, or often as the case many be, put off writing or preparing something until the very last minute or the night before it is due.
Time to stop the cycle of procrastination
If you are someone who regularly procrastinates then it’s probably time to stop and try to break the cycle. In order to change out of the habit of procrastination you need to know why you do it as this is likely to then help change your behaviour. Naturally you will need to want to do this and as I often tell the students I work with its best to start small and stick to the changes as it can take up to 6-8 weeks for a new habit to form.
So what are the reasons for procrastination?
There can be many reasons for procrastination including:
- not knowing what has do be done or you’ve forgotten
- lack of interest
- you get distracted
- have a feeling of overwhelm or of being stressed
- you don’t know where to start
- you have a fear of failure.
Tips for dealing with procrastination
If you are someone who regularly procrastinates the you might benefit from things like:
- having a plan
- breaking things down into smaller pieces
- having smaller amounts of time to focus on what needs to be done with breaks in between
- starting with something that is easy to get started.
So what will you do? Will you try and make changes and procrastinate less and take away some of the stress, pressure and anxiety that often jumps on for the ride?
If you’d like further assistance please get in touch as we can assist.
