Procrastination is, unfortunately, a very common issue that affects people in all walks of life, and across all dimensions of life.
From time to time, all of us hesitate and delay for longer than we should when it comes to things like dealing with household chores, responding to an email, or booking a dentist appointment.
In a professional context, however, procrastination has the additional potential to totally throw off whatever project you’re working on, and even undermine the future of your business, as a whole.
Here are a handful of tips to help you stop procrastinating professionally.
Delegate and bring in outside help if and when appropriate
In many cases, procrastination is driven by the simple fact that there is a difficult or unpleasant task at hand, that we lack the individual expertise and resources to handle.
In these sorts of situations, other considerations play into procrastinating– such as uncertainty about how to proceed, and the open question of whether it would be best to try and resolve the issue “on-site,” in any event.
If you find yourself in this kind of situation, it’s often a good idea to delegate and bring in outside help, in order to get the main issue dealt with as soon as possible. Doing so will help you get the job done so that you can resume whatever it is you’re doing and can enjoy positive momentum once more. With household tasks, look for a professional with experience.
Commercial plumbing services, for example, can quickly and skilfully deal with all sorts of issues that would be impossible – or extremely difficult – to address in a more personally hands-on way.
Take a second to get yourself out of your own head and back into the present moment
Perhaps the leading cause of procrastination, is the tendency that many of us experience, of getting caught up in our own thoughts and struggling to reconnect with the present moment.
After all, if you are constantly trying to brainstorm the best and most efficient way of taking action, or are imagining just how annoying and dull the task itself will be, it’s no wonder that you would end up procrastinating on it.
This process of becoming overly caught up in our own heads is what is colloquially referred to as “analysis paralysis.”
To help escape from this procrastination trap, take a moment to pause and get yourself back into the present moment. One way to do this is by focusing on your surroundings, engaging in some physical activity, or following your breathing for a moment. Giving yourself a mental break is actually a good way to get back on task and finish the work at hand.
Actively visualize a more positive, rather than negative, outcome
In addition to trying to move more of your awareness into the present moment, actively visualizing a more positive outcome to the task at hand – and a more beneficial process, as well – can sometimes work wonders in terms of enhancing your motivation and momentum.
Procrastination is essentially driven by a desire to avoid an unpleasant experience. So, if you can paint a picture of a more positive experience for yourself, it will likely be a lot easier for you to actually move forward and get things done.
