– Dr. Latika Vaishak Shanbhag
Everyone puts things off sometimes, but procrastinators chronically avoid difficult tasks and may deliberately look for distractions. Procrastination tends to reflect a person’s struggles with self-control.
Students who are not confident in their academic abilities are most likely to procrastinate, followed by those with low levels of self-regulation. This is logical, as we (a) put off things that we are not good at and (b) are more likely to procrastinate if we can’t manage distractions.
Those with low self-esteem are also likely to procrastinate. One possible reason for this is because procrastinating can be a self-protective strategy, providing a handy excuse to hide behind (i.e., ‘I only failed because I didn’t try).
Here are four tips for overcoming that daunting task you’ve been avoiding, based on science:
1. Pick Your Poison
The key to beating procrastination is the focus. We often give ourselves too many things to do and become overwhelmed. Start by choosing just ONE thing that you’ve been procrastinating and commit to complete that task in the next week.
2. Take a different route to get back on track
We often have a task we think needs to be the next thing we do. For example, I need to finish an article I’ve half-written. If I’ve psyched myself about doing that, instead I might write a new article that I can get done much easily without it being a psychological wrestling match. Leaving work half-finished isn’t a great strategy to use frequently, but sometimes it works. Sometimes we need a fresh start, and a new article I write might be better than the (temporarily) abandoned one anyway. Similar examples: half-finished subjects, files, any work, arts or crafts projects, emails, hobby, or DIY projects.
3. Have a Procrastination Power Song
Pick a song that gets you energized, and play it whenever you want to tackle something you’ve been procrastinating. The brain likes to have a trigger to create a new habit, plus you’re more likely to follow through when you’re feeling good in your body.rwa
4. Get under the hood
Sometimes, it can be helpful to understand exactly why you’ve been procrastinating on a specific task. Are you afraid of something? Maybe you feel overwhelmed and don’t know where to start. Fill in the sentence; “I’m avoiding this task because…” or “I’m avoiding this task because I’m afraid that…” and see what shows up. Identifying your fears can help you realize the monsters in the closet aren’t as bad as you think.
