Stop Procrastinating

As we are arriving at the latter part of the year, now is an excellent time to reflect. Have you achieved all that you set out to accomplish this year, and if not, why not?

Life can have a habit of getting in the way, as we have all seen in the past couple of years but looking inwards at the goals you set out for yourself, is it life that has stopped you from achieving them or is it barriers put up by yourself?

I have always liked to set goals for myself and work towards achieving them. Still, when life comes on top, and with a heavy workload, it is very easy to push things to the right and look to complete these goals later… the only problem with this is whether the actual task or goal you have set yourself gets completed or gets forgone completely?

I have learned that the more you put things off, the more significant the task pile can become, and you can quite literally make a mountain out of a molehill where in the end, you accomplish nothing.

Procrastination leads to reduced productivity which can cause us to miss out on achieving our goals. In addition, if we procrastinate over a long period, we can become demotivated and disillusioned with our work which causes unneeded stress and, in some cases, can lead to depression.

So what is procrastination? Procrastination is the act of delaying or postponing a task or set of tasks. It is the force that prevents you from following through on what you set out to do. In layman’s terms, procrastination usually involves ignoring an unpleasant but likely more important task in favour of one that is more enjoyable or easier. At some point in our lives, we have all struggled with procrastination and putting off what we know we should be doing for the choice of instant gratification.

Do you find procrastinating stops you from achieving your goals? Do you find yourself in a continuous pattern of checking your social media instead of getting tasks done? Did you roll

over this morning instead of doing your planned workout, promising yourself you would do it tomorrow? If the answer is yes to all the above, then now is the time to act!

Being a Protector, it is second nature to look after our Principal and their every need, yet whilst being great in that role, we can sometimes forget to look after number one. If this is the case for you, it may be time to press the reset button and give yourself some tough love. 

Why you need to stop procrastinating?

1. Take Back Headspace – I dislike running yet every time I go for a run, I know that when finished it feels great!  It gives you a sense of achievement that you have completed something positive even though it’s not necessarily your favourite thing to do.  Spending time lying in bed thinking about going through with the run, then not actually doing it burns up energy and creates clutter in your mind whilst you to and fro with your decision.  The same goes for all other tasks you like to put off, stop needlessly burning energy, causing yourself stress, get the task done and take back some headspace.
2. Protect Your Health – Scientists discovered there is a link between procrastination, hypertension and cardiovascular disease. It was hypothesised that procrastinators punish themselves over unfinished projects and over a lack of control in their lives. In a post-pandemic ever-stressful world, anything that can reduce stress in our daily lives is worthy of consideration.
3. Show Yourself in Your Best Light – Delaying work then throwing it all together at the last minute is never as polished as when you have completed a task or assignment in good time and have given yourself the time to review the final product before submission. Regardless of how much time you think you have, try and finish the task in front of you, get it done. Present something you know you are happy with that you have had the time to review and show yourself in your best light.
4. Start Enjoying Life – Delaying the inevitable, putting off tasks that you know need to be completed in favour of the short term “Easy wins” is not good for anyone. It will leave you with less time to spend doing the things that you enjoy. The less time you spend procrastinating and the better you become at “getting things done” will leave you more time and headspace to do the things you enjoy and become more effective in your work.

How to Break the Cycle?
First, there needs to be recognition of the fact you are procrastinating. For example, putting off a task to re-prioritise a workload is not procrastination. However, putting off tasks indefinitely or moving focus to avoid completing a task is.

We can all successfully overcome procrastination by implementing techniques that allow you to deal with the issues that cause you to procrastinate in the first place.

 

Quick Tips

• Remove Distractions – Take away the things that are a barrier to you completing the task at hand, turn off your social media until you have ticked some items off that to-do list.  
  
• Reward Yourself – Reward yourself for getting started and embarking on your journey to beat procrastination. This can be relatively small but only take it if you have stuck to your plan and have earned it.
  
• Small Steps – If you were to act right now, what small steps / easy wins can you take? Chalking off these easy wins will give you the motivation to carry on.
• To stop procrastinating in the long term a systematic approach is needed –
  
• Set SMART Goals – SMART being the acronym for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-based goals.  If you Google SMART goals, there is an array of great websites to help you with this.
  
• Be Honest – Look inwards, work out when, how and why you procrastinate.  Look deeper at the situations that prevent you from achieving your goals because you put them off. 
  
• Form a Plan – After looking inwards and setting your SMART goals now is the time to formulate your plan keeping it relevant to the nature of your procrastination and the goals that have been set. 
  
• Implement and Monitor – Now the fun part, implement the plan you have set, monitor your progress along the way and don’t be afraid to adjust your approach if you find some of the techniques aren’t working for you.  It is a learning process work to out which strategies are the most effective for you and go with that.
  

Anti-Procrastination Techniques

• Break your tasks down into smaller bite-sized chunks.
• Keep a to-do list.
• Set deadlines and stick to them; make yourself accountable. 
• Remove all distractions from your working environment.
• Pause and take some deep breaths if you get the urge to procrastinate.
• Start small and block yourself some time where nothing else enters your space whilst you commit to working, even if for only 15 mins then look to extend the time.
• Mark streaks of days when you complete all your tasks.  This can become quite addictive and keeps you motivated.
• Reward yourself for sticking to your plan and ticking off those goals.
• Avoid the perfectionist mindset. Spending too long on a task can be counterproductive.
• Visualize your future self being confident and free of procrastination.
• Research task and time management apps see if any work for you.
• Focus on your goals instead of on your tasks.

Procrastination restricts potential and can, in turn, limit what you can achieve in your career. It can reduce morale, cause stress leading to depression and in the worst cases even end up in job loss, so it is essential to recognise if you suffer from it and work on and discover techniques that work for you to help prevent it.

If you are a procrastinator, hopefully, some of the techniques mentioned above will help you beat it and become more effective in your work and achieve your goals.

 

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Stop Procrastinating
By Shaun West

Shaun West is an experienced ex-military, security consultant and business owner. Shaun is a Director of the British Bodyguard Association and is the Editor of the industry leading publication, The Circuit Magazine.  He has extensive experience directing security operations internationally across an established high-profile client portfolio.