For most people, procrastination is a daily occurrence. Perhaps you put off starting your diet or calling back a family member. On their own, these may not seem like major issues. However, persistent procrastination could become debilitating. You can literally lose the drive to go about your day and improve your life in important ways.
If this sounds like you, you shouldn’t feel like you are alone. Millions of people struggle with severe procrastination every single day. While it may not feel like a big deal at the moment, over time, procrastination can lead to regret, lost opportunities, and even mental health issues. So, in today’s post, we are going to look at 4 ways to fight procrastination in your life.
Clarify What You Want In Life
Sometimes, you may put off certain activities because you don’t have a clear goal or sense of purpose. This is why it is extremely important to sit down and figure out your short-term and long-term goals. What do you want to accomplish in life? What do you want to accomplish this year? What do you want to accomplish this week? By simply asking yourself these questions, you can start to formulate goals that you can then work toward.
Prioritize Productive Activities
In many cases, people procrastinate activities that sound unappealing or uncomfortable. For example, let’s say that you need to get heel spur surgery. Rather than putting it off and living in pain, you can simply contact the experts at Northwest Surgery Center for a quick, safe, and effective minimally invasive procedure.
However, for non-health related issues, if you do choose to procrastinate, you should replace that activity with something productive. This way, you can always feel like you’re accomplishing something or moving closer to one of your goals, even if you’re still procrastinating on one aspect of your life.
Get Rid of Distractions
Distractions can come in many different forms. That said, a distraction is generally something that takes your focus away from whatever you should be doing. Social media is a very common distraction for people today. It can take you away from work, chores, and (ironically) your social life. So, do your best to identify and remove distractions. This will give you more incentive to focus on activities that really matter and give you less incentive to put things off.
Break Big Tasks Into Small Parts
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed with big projects or tasks. Generally, the more time-consuming or labor-intensive a task is, the more likely you are to put it off. This is somewhat ironic, since you need more time to do it, but are actively choosing to give yourself less time. So, rather than just putting an important task off indefinitely, try to break it down into individual steps or small parts. This removes the sense of feeling overwhelmed and allows you to make gradual progress toward completing the task at hand.
Are you looking for even more advice on life and personal development? If so, be sure to check out some of our other posts on Keener Living today!