Stop Idling Away Your Time. Let’s Start Working.

Most of us have faced the situation when we need to get things done, for instance, a task that should be turned in on a certain time, but it is always done late for reasons you don’t understand or don’t know what to do about. These people are called procrastinators; their favorite word is “tomorrow”…

When tomorrow comes…

Most of us consider procrastination to be a simple deferment of actions or tasks to a later time but it is not quite true. Very often procrastinators get things done on time sacrificing a lot of time and going through totally unbalanced working process. How does it usually happen?

Before getting down to work there is a so called “starting run” process which includes creating a problem to be tackled, getting ready for it and having a cup of coffee or tea. Procrastinators allow too much time for “starting run” process during which they are engaged in doing needless things and wasting a lot of time for it. Procrastination is the seemingly never ending battle to get things done on time and the torture a procrastinator goes through to get them done at all. Procrastinators feel they waste a lot of time; the oppression from the unfinished work; and the guilt for not completing the task that should be done.

There are procrastinators who pay little attention to that and live in harmony with this trait of character. They do not feel guilty for being late and always find good excuses for not being on time or not meeting the deadlines.

Anticipating a disaster

The first feeling before getting down to work may be the feeling of despair: “I will not be able to do this!” This could be the way of thinking of confident people who do not suffer from the fear of failure. A task may be viewed as an unassailable fortress that seems not possible to concur. What to do? Try to break the task down into manageable pieces. Set priorities and think what can be done automatically, and what requires your full energy and attention.

Time management

It is known that there are people who can work on several projects simultaneously and those who can not switch their attention from one task to another. The latter have to work hard for along time on the only task and nobody should disturb them.

How people turn into procrastinators? It may happen while taking risks of working on a project from dusk to dawn, i.e. being incapable of allocating necessary amount of time for fulfilling the task. Since a task is to be done in a week, a procrastinator will use the whole week for finalizing it. How to fix this situation? Never delegate the management of your time (and live at large) to somebody else. Break the task down into several pieces and set the time for the fulfillment of each piece. Make a list of another much pleasant and important tasks that you wish to complete in the near time. This strategy will keep you in the timeframe of your “major” task. It is also worth to use a time register.

Hidden reason

Sometimes it is not easy to get down to a certain work since you may have a distaste for it. Although the task may seem to be pleasant. The matter is that you will have to deal with an unpleasant person during the course of the task fulfillment who you do not feel you want to deal with at all. How to cope with this? Again, make a list of pleasant and unpleasant things to do. By the way, they may be unpleasant due to unclear, not achievable and unrealistic objectives… They may be problematic rather than unpleasant. In this case you need to find the core of a problem to tackle it easily.

Fear of losing time

Sometimes you do not feel you want to start working on a certain task at all and none of the lists make you get started, on the contrary, it makes you feel disgusted. Deep inside in you mind you feel you will have to spend your precious time on trifles. This is the fear of wasting time and energy that could have been used for much useful things. What shall be done to fix it? Stop feeling sorry for yourself and replace the “I have to” affirmation with “I want to do this because…” There could be numerous reasons for it such as not to let certain people down, to harden your character and etc. If nothing helps it is worth to think over the advantages this work may give you for the lost time and energy. If the answer is “it gives nothing to me” you may reject fulfilling the task at all.

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