Posts Tagged ‘procrastination’
Understanding Procrastination: How to Get Going
People who procrastinate are often viewed by others as being lazy. This is not necessarily true as many people develop behavioral traits that cause long term procrastination. These behaviors can stem from childhood experiences that form into long-term habits. These habits are difficult to change as they have been hard-wired into the person’s brain for long periods of time. Deviation from these habits can cause anxiety that have lasting effects on a person’s mental and physical well-being. Understanding procrastination is the first step to recovery.
Psychologists have found that the study of procrastination can be subjective as people procrastinate for different reasons. It truly is not an exact science, however, understanding procrastination and how it effects you can be a life-saver.
People may use procrastination as a way to avoid responsibility. Having accepted responsibility means that the person is willing to live with the outcome. It is difficult for people to think about failure, therefore making it easier to simply not do a task or put it off until the last minute. Procrastinators have a unique ability to make excuses for their own short-comings. This somewhat appeases them mentally, yet still has lasting effects that can be detrimental to the immune system, sleep patterns and can increase stress. By making excuses, you are cheating yourself.
Another vital piece to understanding procrastination is that procrastinators usually care about how other people view them. They are very concerned that the task may turn out badly and will make them look bad to others. This prevents them from doing tasks altogether. What they do not realize, however, is that many times they are viewed as being lazy by not starting anything at all. It is imperative to overcome those feelings in order to move forward in life. The Spotlight Effect in psychology is the belief that people are paying more attention to our behaviors and appearance than they actually are. Challenging yourself to new tasks no matter what the outcome will result in a learning experience if nothing else. Learning from our mistakes leads us to success the next time around.
Understanding procrastination, its effects and ways to conquer it is the first step in recovering from a lifetime of disappointment. Breaking away from those life-long bad habits that can imprison us is vital. Self-evaluation and perseverance is a key element when wanting to overcome procrastination and get your life going in the right direction.
Small Steps to Preventing Procrastination
Procrastination can be a huge problem in everyday life. Putting things off until the they are due, the last minute or even past the deadline can and often does leave a person feeling completely annoyed and frustrated. Not only does it effect your moral well-being, it can also effect personal and work relationships. Preventing procrastination in your life can lead you to personal success as well as financial freedom. These preventive measures can alleviate stress and chaos in your life and enable you to have a sense of balance.
The first step to preventing procrastination is to simply start. You may find that after just getting going on a task, it is much simpler to finish it. Even if you are not completely positive it is being done in a correct manner. Starting the assignment early will allow you to make corrections at a later time.
The second step to preventing procrastination is to evaluate the task fully. Many people procrastinate because they are afraid to fail. Understanding that one task does not determine who you are as a person will help in preventing procrastination in the future. Learning from your failures will allow you to improve each time a new task is started. Procrastinators with this mindset actually tend to make the task more difficult mentally than it actually is. They seem to make the task more stressful than it actually has to be. Try to focus on the task itself rather than the outcome.
The third step to preventing procrastination is to do a self-evaluation. Understanding our own behaviors when it comes to procrastination can help eliminate procrastination from our lives completely. Struggling with everyday tasks can have devastating results which compromise our ability to start new ones. Knowing how you feel about certain tasks is essential when it comes to goal setting.
Finally, challenge yourself. Taking on new challenges that may be difficult for you and completing them is a real confidence booster. This is important in preventing procrastination as it helps to conquer those feelings of inadequacy. Not only does it trick your brain into thinking more positive thoughts, it also boosts morale.
Taking on these simple, easy steps to prevent procrastination can have life-long positive effects. It can mean the difference between success and failure in your life. Making subtle changes on a daily basis can improve your outlook and make for an interesting, organized and successful lifestyle.
I Will Go to Therapy for My Procrastination – Well, Maybe Later
Procrastination has been associated with an array of illnesses ranging from cardiac stress, high blood pressure, anxiety and depression. Since people with these types of conditions tend to put off going to therapy for procrastination, recovery from its damaging effects are rarely seen. Good therapy for procrastination involves developing a sense of mindfulness, gratitude and personal responsibility.
When there is something that we dislike doing, it is truly remarkable how we can come up with any reason logical or otherwise to avoid the situation. For most people, they are completely aware of this phenomenon. Our brains think of any reason to excuse ourselves from doing the task at hand. Internally, we know that we are doing it but perhaps there is some dark realm in the corner of our brain that prevents us from tackling these issues head on.
We also know that procrastinating just makes us feel worse in the long run, but we keep making excuses. Sometimes this behavior spirals out of control and before long, our life feels incomplete. Putting things off is the easy part. Stopping this behavior is the real challenge.
Developing insights into your own thoughts and behaviors may pose a difficult challenge for many people. We have all heard the reference, “on the outside looking in.” The same is true for those seeking therapy for procrastination. Not only is it difficult to see your own shortcomings, it is also hard to explain why we purposely sabotage our own accomplishments. That is why it is imperative to find a program that best suits your individual needs to overcome procrastination issues. Having this type of wisdom set before you by someone else is a great way to start recovering.
As conventional therapy is often difficult and time consuming, it is perhaps not the best way for procrastinators to get the insight they need. As I have said before procrastinators tend to put off therapy for procrastination. This makes conventional therapy an unviable option. Simply put, procrastinators may take some time to make an appointment, then may miss a few and so on.
There are better options for those seeking therapy for procrastination such as Emotional Freedom Techniques or EFT. EFT encourages procrastinators to break the cycle of denial and deal with their own issues on a personal emotional level. It eliminates the need for therapeutic appointments which can be a costly venture. Not to mention time, travel and appointments that need to be kept.
To learn how to stop procrastination with EFT. Click below:





