You could end up making another less urgent task, without even realizing you procrastinate
Can you start a boring administrative task only after leaving your home completely clean? Stay to read the most complicated e -mails only at the end of the day?
Delaying a goal or a task – usually doing something less important – is known as procrastination and affects many of us. Most people report procrastination on some occasions, but for others it can be chronic.
Although procrastination is common, it can be frustrating and lead to feelings of shame, guilt and anxiety.
That’s why you could avoid this task and five steps to put it into practice.
Am I procrastinating?
You could postpone the beginning of something, abandoning it before ending or leaving it at the last minute.
Thoughts like “I can update later” or “I will deliver the late work” can be signs of revealing procrastination. Maybe you studied on Google “Why do you procrastino?” while they procrastinate and find this article.
In other situations, you may not even be aware that you are doing it. You can look up and understand that you have sailed on online shopping and kittens in the last minute instead of carrying out your task.
Procrastination is not a failure of the character and does not mean that you are lazy or even bad in the management of time. By framing the problem in this way you can make you feel even worse on the behavior and prevent you from learning the real reasons behind it.
If you want to stop procrastinating, it is important to understand why you do it before.
Why do you procrastino?
Procrastination can be a way to face complicated emotions. Research They show that we remain homework that we consider boring or frustrating, as well as those that we are affected or we have no personal meaning.
We can avoid tasks that generate stress or painful emotions, such as the compilation of a declaration of income tax in which a lot of money must or reorganize their parents’ house after their death.
There are also some deeper reasons.
Procrastination can be a sign of perfectionism. This occurs when an intense fear of failure – to do something wrong – creates so much pressure to be perfect that even prevents us from starting.
People with low self -esteem also tend to procrastinate, regardless of whether or not they have perfectionism. In this case, it is a negative vision of yourself (“I am not good in most things”) combined with little trust (“I probably will not be able to do well”) which prevents the beginning of an activity.
Distraction can also be a factor. Most of us fight constant interruptions, with notices created to redirect our attention. But easily distract yourself can also be a sign that you are avoiding the task.
For some people, the difficulty of completing homework can be a sign of an underlying problem, such as attention deficit disorder and hyperactivity. If you are worried that procrastination is influencing your daily life, talk to the doctor to ask for help.
Is procrastination useful?
Depends.
Some people like the pressure of a term. Leaving a task for the last minute can be a strategy to increase the motivation or perform it in a limited time.
Procrastination can also be a comparison mechanism.
Rubliring Scenddeast Tales can make us feel better at the moment. Avoiding the task may mean that we will not have to face the possibility of making mistakes, nor the emotions or negative consequences it entails.
But this usually only works in the short term and, in the long term, it is more likely to cause problems.
Procrastination can trigger self -employment and negative emotions such as guilt and shame.
In the long term, it can also lead to mental health problems including anxiety and depression. Procrastination has been associated with bad results in education – how to be captured by the copy in the exams – and to work, including lower wages and a greater probability of unemployment.
So what can we do about it?
5 steps to combat procrastination
- Faces the fact: you are procrastinating. Being able to identify and appoint these standards is the first step to overcome procrastination.
- Explore why. Understanding the underlying causes is fundamental. Are you afraid of making mistakes? Is your business list realistic? Or do you love just a narrow deadline? If your procrastination is the result of perfectionism or low self -esteem, you may want to explore evidence -based treatments, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, with a therapist or through self -guide activities.
- The priorities begins. Take a look at your list of activities. Are the most urgent or important things at the top? Did you give yourself enough to complete your homework? Dividing a smaller part task and taking regular breaks will help you prevent you from being overwhelmed. If you are not sure what is more important, try talking to someone. If you tend to make things boring for the last minute and you can never do them, take time at the beginning of each day to carry out these tasks.
- Avoid distractions. Set the phone on “Don’t disturb”, hang a sign on the door, tell the people around you who will be “offline” for a while. The setting of an start and end time can help you satisfy this rule.
- Create prizes. Life is hard work: be kind to yourself. Every time you complete a difficult task or scratch something from your list of activities, this is doing something more fun. The creation of prizes can make the list of activities a little easier.
Catherine Houlihan He is a senior teacher in clinical psychology at the University of Sunshine Coast.
This content was originally published in The conversation. To read the original text, .
Source: Terra
Ben Stock is a lifestyle journalist and author at Gossipify. He writes about topics such as health, wellness, travel, food and home decor. He provides practical advice and inspiration to improve well-being, keeps readers up to date with latest lifestyle news and trends, known for his engaging writing style, in-depth analysis and unique perspectives.
