We have all heard something like this before. Obviously, no one intends on procrastinating; that is, nobody does it on purpose. So how come we keep doing it, even when we are certain of the result which is increased stress, rushed work, and regret? Some people say they keep doing it because they still manage to get their work done. Others say it’s a cycle they are trapped in but don’t know how to break.
Everyone has a reason as to why they procrastinate, whether they want to accept it or not. What not many people have clear, and could motivate them to avoid procrastinating in the future, is the price they pay for postponing a task to be done later. Often times we never really sit and think about a decision as small as choosing to start a task or to put it aside for another time. Thus, when we go with the latter, only after we are in a state of panic and regret we think, “I should have started this earlier“. This is exactly what I mean by the price associated with procrastination — you either endure the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. For any type of task, the pain of regret is always much worse.
It’s hard to re-wire your brain into not falling into the cycle of procrastinating something and then feeling bad about doing so afterwards. A trick that changed my bad habit of procrastination when I was younger is to actually trick yourself into thinking you will only do the dreaded task for 5 minutes. Once you start doing the task, and reach the 5 minute mark, you will realize it wasn’t actually as bad as you thought it to be and continue to do the task. This tells us two things:
- The hardest part in completing a task is starting it
- We like to assume how difficult a task is without even starting it, encouraging procrastination
If this strategy doesn’t work well for you, try to combine it with reasoning the price you will pay if you push something to be done later. Do anything in your power to start the task you have been dreading when you need to with your future self in mind.