Before I became aware of my habits and emotions, I was always procrastinating. I did my homework the night before it was due and I always left my house 5 minutes too late only to find myself rushing all the way to my appointments. Maybe you know how it feels like? You end up stressed out and frustrated because you did not manage to get today's work done effectively.
After realizing that my tendency towards procrastinating was the biggest block on my road to reaching my goals, I decided to get my problem handled. I decided to do whatever it took to stop my neverending desire to procrastinate. I started to looking for answers for why some people seemed to have an innate tendency towards procrastinating. This article is about what I found out and the strategies and techniques I used to completely eliminate procrastination from my life!
To understand why we procrastinate, it is important to understand what governs our emotions and actions. Research have shown that our brain - through our emotions - always seeks to avoid undesirable or painful experiences. So, in fact, the basic reason why we procrastinate is because we do not do what we enjoy and makes us feel good. Even though you might do things because they are necessary for your living, you can by simply being aware and planning your life correctly avoid a great number of the situations you try to avoid through procrastination. Say all members of your family have been assigned specific household chores that you have to have done by the end of each week. In my family, I used to be in charge of vacuuming the living room.
I absolutely hated it and I would usually postpone the vacuuming for weeks always promising to do it even more thorough this time. While I hated vacuuming our living room, I enjoyed cleaning our bathroom. I enjoyed the fresh smell of a freshly-cleaned bathroom and the acoustics of the room that made my singing voice sound quite delightful. I therefore asked my sister if we could switch, so she would take care of the living room while I would then take care of the bathroom. Accordingly, the first advice if you want to eliminate procrastination from your life is
1. If you do not enjoy what you are doing, simply stop doing it or find a way to exchange the undesired work with something else you like more
This is so simple that most people don't even think about it. Before you do anything you don't like, ask yourself: If I don't like what I'm doing, why then am I doing it? Can I somehow find a way to work with something I enjoy? And this goes for anything. If you fill your life with things and people that interests and excites you, you will find yourself procrastinating far less than you are doing now.
But what if you are procrastinating things that you know you have to do in order to reach a bigger goal. A goal such as graduating college or have your work ready for the meeting in order to get a promotion? Well, if you have decided you want something, it should not be too hard for you to get the homework or the work done. But what if that television show or that interesting webpage is pulling you into its web of great entertainment and you simply feel that you cannot escape? I know how you feel, and fortunately, I know how you can claim back your mind. You simply need to learn how to direct your mind towards a longer-term goal rather than immediate pleasure.
Sometimes, it feels like our body just doesn't want to carry us in the right direction. First, you need to understand that you are in absolute control of your mind and body, and that no matter what happens, you can direct your mind in the right direction. Let me prove it to you. If there was a man pointing a gun to your head threatening to kill you if you did not do the homework at once, do you think you would manage to do it? Of course you would. The reason is that such an event makes such a great impact on your mind that it is compelled to act right away without hesitation.
In order to take possession of your mind and direct it towards your work, you need to impress upon your mind the consequences of not taking action right away! You need to associate not taking action right now with such huge amount of pain that not taking action right now simply becomes impossible. If you are procrastinating writing that essay, first stop, sit down and think. What will happen if you fail to hand it in before the deadline? Will you be able to graduate?
Close your eyes and visualise your classmates celebrating their graduation while you're sitting in a corner feeling sad because you were not able to graduate with your friends. See, feel and be in the moment in your mind. Feel the incredible pain that you eventually will suffer if you fail to successfully finish your essay. Make this extremely painful picture as real as possible in your mind and realize that it is this sort of pain you will eventually suffer if you are not able to act now! The moment your action becomes a necessity, your conscious as well as subconscious mind starts to work on a way to effectively solve your task. It is simply serving you in avoiding tremendous pain.
If applied properly, the above mentioned method can in itself boost your work moral and have you achieve great things. However, since we are striving to reach a larger goal, fear should not be the only driver for us to obtain our goals. If you are able to impress upon your mind the highly desirable state of reaching your goal, your forces can become virtually unlimited and you will eliminate procrastination forever! Say you're procrastinating an essay for next week. You know you should start now because if you don't, you know you'll end up stressed and not satisfied with your work. Apart from applying the technique above, you can impress upon your mind the situation of total achievement. First stop, sit down and think. Again, fast-forward to your day of graduation and fill your mind with the picture. See, feel and be in the moment.
Have a look at your classmates and share with them the happiness of having achieved a result that is at your absolute peak. See your proud parents and teachers and feel the cheer of the crowd as your name is called and you receive your Diploma filled up with straight A's. Feel the satisfaction and security of achieving grades that open whatever door you desire to enter. Impress upon your mind this moment of complete fulfillment and happiness and know it can be achieved if you take action now!
Therefore, the second step to completely eliminate procrastination from your life is
2. Develop the ability to sacrifice short-term pleasure for longer-term fulfillment and satisfaction that come from reaching your goals!
If you use the techniques I have outlined above, you will inevitably develop this ability and eliminate procrastination from your life for good!
To your success and immediate action!
Martin
Martin
Martin Henriksen is a Danish college student devoted to empower other students with his knowledge about how to achieve academic excellence while living a joyous and fulfilling life as a student. He believes that our youngest years should not be wasted worrying about our academic performance. He is therefore committed to help other students and people who might need his advice to succeed and live with ease.
A full collection of all Martin's advice is available on his blog The Successful Student, http://successtudent.blogspot.com
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