How To Avoid Procrastination
If you put off everything till you're sure of it, you'll never get anything done - Peale. Now it is important to understand off the bat that procrastination is something that we all do. No one can avoid such a thing. However, it is important that you make sure you spend as little time as possible in that unproductive phase. Being a medical student, I tend to micromanage my time. This meant I spent hours on end procrastinating, constantly stressing myself out. It's crucial that you identify and apply methods to ensure that you avoid those moments and reduce their impact as much as possible. In this blog, I am going to go through some of the most common reasons people, particularly students, procrastinate and how to fix them.
Phone 📱
Being in the digital age, it was only befitting that we rank the mobile phone as the number 1 reason for procrastination. With its endless notifications and huge social media access, it is no surprise that it causes a huge level of distraction. Thankfully being a bit of a tech geek, I have managed to find simple solutions to sedate this everlasting craving of screen time. An easy fix would be to simply place the phone in a different room or far enough that it is out of reach when doing work. This helps eliminate it and push it out of sight. You are also less likely to get out of your comfortable position to grab it. Now if this doesn’t seem to do the trick, apple has two useful features that can keep you in control. First is Do Not Disturb, which helps mute phone calls and messages so that you remain focused (you can unblock certain contacts so that the phone rings in emergencies). As for notifications and apps in general, screen time has proven to be indispensable. With a simple 4 digit code, you are able to set time limits to individual apps as well as temporarily remove apps, block websites and even set limits or block individual actions e.g. music, messaging, entertainment etc. This can really be handy, especially if you are in an exam season phase.
Lack of Planning 📆
The second biggest reason we procrastinate is due to a lack of planning. As the famous quote says, "Fail to prepare, prepare to fail". The solution is simple, plan the day ahead of what you will be tackling. This should take no longer than 5 to 10 minutes. I use Things to plan my day. Now you can use whichever app you prefer or you can go old school and handwrite using a simple mini notebook. The main advantage of going digital is that most apps sync across your devices, making it available everywhere even when you are on the move. Also, you can help keep track of all your goals and achievements over time. Another part of planning is to get rid of any distractions before hand or allocate a time to deal with them. This means scheduling time to deal with emails, telephone calls, replying to messages etc. Also, it is useful to place everything you might need next to you when working or studying e.g. fruit basket, water bottle, blanket, charger, headphones etc. This reduces the number of times you have an excuse to get up and do something that wastes your time.
Fear of Work Load 🏔
Another major barrier to focus is the fear of the mountain of work that you have to catch up on. This happens to everyone, especially when you have been unproductive for a while and you have let your work mount up. The simple answer is to just start!
Start by breaking large tasks into manageable chunks. Take baby steps and just let the rest flow. Any work is better than no work. Do not try and multitask. You might think you will be doing more than one thing at once, but the truth is, all you are doing is a multitude of things at a sub-par level instead of successfully completing one task at a time. Another tip, if you are a perfectionist like me, try to avoid that in this situation. If you are constantly dragging a particular task or project because you keep thinking it can be improved, put it out there and share your imperfect work. We all know there is always room for improvement, but when it comes to certain things e.g. writing a blog, release it on time even if its not perfect. Focus on improving the next one.
Lack of Motivation 📉
Having motivation is core to being able to achieve any form of work. Finding your “why” is paramount for success. Try and identify your source of motivation, otherwise nothing will push you to do the work. For many, this would be proving doubters wrong and for others it may be creating a better life for those dear to them or those less fortunate. It is important to figure this out sooner rather than later, as this will be the fuel that keeps you going.
Health Is Wealth ⚖️
This is something that I unfortunately learnt the hard way. Having put my health as zero priority at one point in time in order to get into medicine, was a mistake I learnt the hard way. Your health works in synergy with you being able to successfully completely your daily objectives and is not a barrier to your success. It is important that you exercise daily if possible, even if it's just 30 minutes. Do not let your health slip just for the sake of telling yourself "I’m being efficient or productive" because one way or another, you are bound to waste time. So, it is better you take time to work on your physical health rather than spend it on a screen watching videos or Netflix. A lot of research indicates that being more sedentary and a lack of exercise can lead to increased levels of stress, anxiety, self-isolation, depression and detrimental psychological outcomes. Therefore, good physical health = good mental health which equates to success. Besides exercising, try and work in lots of 45mins to 1hr and then take a 5-10 minute breaks to stretch out or do some push ups.
That's about it folks, if you would rather watch the video version of this blog feel free to check out my YouTube video on the 5 biggest reasons we procrastinate and how to avoid them:
I wanna hear from you guys, what do you think your biggest reasons for procrastinating are? Leave them down in the YouTube comments for me to have a read.