Procrastination
It’s 9am Monday morning and you have a challenging analysis report due to your manager in less than 7 hours or 4pm. You were about to start on the report, but did not know how or where to begin. Thus, you go back checking emails, answering phone calls and gossiping with your co-worker and next thing you know its 2pm and now you begin to panic. It’s called procrastination, the habit of putting tasks off to the last possible minute. It’s natural to want to put of a project you do not like, such as doing your taxes, visiting the dentist, or writing a challenging report at work. Almost everybody procrastinates occasionally, but if it becomes a habit, it can cause serious problems at home and on the job.
Understanding why you procrastinate is critical if you want to end the procrastination pattern and learn how to complete tasks on time.
Header: Common reasons for procrastination and way to overcome them.
• Your task seems overwhelming.
At times, you are faced with a big or complicated project that you do not know where to begin on completing it. Thus, you begin to avoid the project all together until a few days before the final deadline. However, one way to approach overwhelming projects is by working backward from the deadline. For instance, suppose to have a major report due on April 1st that requires a lot of research. You should set a deadline of March 1st for completing the research, March 8th for writing the first draft, March 15th for writing the final draft, and March 22nd for editing and polishing your work. By using the backward deadline approach, you give yourself plenty of time to complete the task and feel less stressed.
Header:
• You have to do something that’s unpleasant.
Some people have no problem getting started on tasks that they enjoy, but others find it extremely difficult to start on even the smallest task they dislike. If that is the case, then...
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