7 Ways to Stop Procrastinating Habits and Start Doing Things Now ...
By Amber • 4 Comments
By Amber • 4 Comments
We all have those days where we just want to sit around all day in our jammies, eating junk food and watching entertaining movies, but unfortunately, this feeds right into the wrong ways to stop procrastinating. Not only that, but this perpetuates it! While I do enjoy these days, they are almost always a setback in my list of things I have to do. It can be a hard habit to break though. As a college student, I should know. I am no stranger to my good friend procrastination. But, these surefire ways to stop procrastinating should give you motivation or at least some good ideas to help you get off your butt and get going!
Distractions are those things you just HAVE to do. You get so fascinated with them, as though you had never seen them before you started or tried to start whatever it is you needed to take care of. Yes, that’s right. I’m talking about your electronics. Your phone gives you instant access to people/fun via social media, texting, phone calls, etc. Not to mention you might have an iPad, laptop, TV, video game console,or any other entertainment fulfilling electronic. You really want stop those bad habits and stop procrastinating? Well, then, get rid of them-- from plain sight that is! Try hiding them from your view or moving them to another room so that you can do the necessities. When you’re done with your task, then you’re free to go back to your ways! It’s one of the most effective and easiest ways to stop procrastinating.
If you’re like me, then you might need a little kickstart to get you moving. Setting an alarm that specifies what you should do, at the time you should do it is a great way to not only remember what you have to do, but to actually get it done. The good thing is that you can set the alarm at a time you know is convenient. Plus, if it’s set at different intervals, it will be just annoying enough so that you CAN’T ignore it, and you just have to do it so it can be silenced until you set another one.
If you have a hard time trying to figure out what to do, why not set goals for yourself to accomplish on the road to non-procrastination land? Say your intention is to go to the gym three times a week, but you just keep finding more “important” things to do. If you set a goal to make it happen, you’re much more likely to do it. Don’t feel bad if you have to start slow either. If you can only go once, then do it. Starting small is better than not starting at all. Write it down on a paper in checklist format to help you keep track of all the goals you’ve completed or that are in progress.
Take a minute to examine exactly how much time you really spend procrastinating. How many hours does that add up to? 2, 3 4, 5 hours? If you calculate it, and see just how much of your precious time you’re wasting, it might just make you reconsider what you spend your time doing. Instead of wasting time doing frivolous things, you could be getting a head start on school work, picking up a hobby or honing your skills. There are so many things that are beneficial that you can accomplish if you spend more time on you and less time doing things that serve no real purpose.
One of the best ways to stop procrastinating is to see just how much these bad habits negatively affect you. You have to think to yourself, “What impact would this have on my life if I put this off?” If the answer to the question is quite serious, then you should consider changing those habits! When you realize just how negative and stressful putting off that 5 page paper, cleaning your bathroom, or preparing a speech can be, it’ll change the way you think about your time. You don’t want to end up regretting any of the choices you made later in life. So, don’t let procrastination become a part of that!
So, sometimes, you just don’t have the right time constraints for you to gather up your alarms, create a goal checklist or exam the amount of time wasted to get moving. You just have to get things done. This method can be super hard, but the good part of just doing something is, after about 15 minutes, you’ll be focused and engaged in what you’re doing. So, the next time you just need to do something, think of it this way!
Rewards can be anything really. It can be a yummy treat, or even a ten minute break. The key is to give yourself a reward for setting out to do something, and going for it. The fact that you accomplished something after being used to procrastinating for so long is definitely something you should encourage and celebrate. So reward yourself, you little busy bee, you. You deserve it!
Procrastination is one of the worst habits to have. It literally makes things harder for you in the long run. If you want to have less stress and feel more organized, you should definitely take these ways to stop procrastinating into account. Are there any methods you use to stop procrastinating?