What is Procrastination

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The Offline English Dictionary defined procrastination to mean to put off or delay an action, this entails postponing what should be done now for later due to reasons known to the procrastinator. These reasons are most times irrelevant. Procrastination begins in the mind, these irrelevant reasons start to pop because we have made up our mind to avoid or delay the task. If we program our mind to put off the task ahead then our action goes in line with such thoughts. We start to put up hindrances by ourselves which serves as a reason or excuse not to carry out the work required at that moment. For example a contest is to be done on Steemingcommunity with the deadline set for the next two days, a procrastinator would not do the task on time, he would rather assure himself with excuses until it is too late. This have consequences;

1. He may not do the task at all
2. He may do the task poorly so as to meet up with the deadline.

Why I avoid Procrastinating

Sometimes we procrastinate when we have doubt in our ability to carry out a task thus we begin to postpone and in the end fail to carry out the task. Procrastination can also be a mechanism to avoid our duties or obligation, this breeds laziness.The fact is we have all at one point in our life procrastinated or even struggle with procrastination. I used to struggle with procrastination and during those times I barely get things done, I keep making excuses to put off what I was to do at that moment for another day and it even affected my studies. So I decided to try out the following and it helped me avoid procrastination. So what did I do?
Here are a few things I learnt that has really helped me in the struggle against procrastinating.

How to avoid Procrastinating

Having the right mindset:

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An adage says if your mind is able to jump the fence then your body will follow. This means what we think affects how we act. Like I said earlier, procrastination begins in the mind. We must first of all deal with a procrastinators mindset. We must think positive within, so the first time we perform a task is within our mind. So we must make up our mind to do that particular task at that specific time. Thus in relation with the aforementioned adage when the task is done in our mind our body or our action follows suit.

Make a Timetable:

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A timetable is a well constructed plan of what we intend on doing at a specific time. A well constructed Timetable helps to avoid procrastination when strictly followed. Timetable gives no room for procrastination because at specific times we have particular task or things to do and we can't put if off for a later date because every particular time has its own specific task. So timetable serves as an anti-procrastinator mechanism. It's one thing making a timetable but it takes discipline to follow the timetable correctly. As a student making a detailed timetable helps me avoid procrastination in my studies.

Avoid distraction:

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Distraction breeds procrastination. Distraction is whatever hinders you from fulfilling the main task you intend on achieving, it could be another work other than the main job. For example we have made up our mind to write a particular contest at 9am we maybe distracted from this probably because of an uncompleted house chores or noise within our surrounding or our electronic gadgets. To avoid these unnecessary distractions, we can complete minor tasks before the appointed time for the main task, we can switch off those electronic gadgets that distract us and move away from noisy environment. So when we avoid things that steal our focus we remain concentrated and focused, this gives no room for procrastination. My own personal experience is that I switch off my phone because it distracts me from reading. So we must identify our source of distractions and then device means of dealing with it.

Set a Goal:

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When we set a goal, we are saying that at this particular point or time we must have achieved this. When we are passionate about our goals we develope this strong feeling to achieve them at the time set. We must understand that the only threat to procrastination is keeping to time. So when we set goals and the time we intend on achieving them then we work strictly with time so as to attain our set goals at that specified time.

Conclusion

Procrastination can become very dangerous when we let it become a part of us and this prevents us from getting our work done. So when we develop the right mindset, set our goals, construct a detailed timetable and avoid distractions we begin to be uncomfortable with procrastination and then stop making excuses. The first step to avoiding procrastination is making up our mind. So to everyone struggling with procrastination I want you to know that it is not a lost cause, think of things we can achieve when we stop procrastinating, that is a right mindset and when we start working toward these we eliminate procrastination.
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