💡Procrastination is a Habit!

FOCUS
Procrastination

Let’s face it. Whenever we (well, I) procrastinate, I just feel horrible after. There are times when I have to get on and write the (d*mn) report, but instead I spent the time sorting out my inbox, replying to emails, or (not working hours) playing candy crush. Don’t worry, I have deleted the app 😉

The good news is, we are not procrastinators. It’s a habit.

There have been a lot of research done on procrastination, but one really stood out. It’s written by Dr. Fuschia M. Sirois where procrastination is a form of stress relief.

There are many reasons to why we procrastinate:

• We are going through stress at home or work and we need to focus to do something that we may not do very well in.
  For me: going for a run - I’m already worried about work (say I have lots to sort out) and now I have to find 30 - 40 minutes to run, which I’m not a good runner and I’ll struggle - why do I need to go through all of that? 😖

• Low self-confidence / self-esteem.
  For me: writing a report - I always think I won’t be able to write a good report and the process of putting words into blank slides is just so tedious for me. Why do I need to do something that is tedious and I’m possibly 💩 in? WELL - because it’s my job and I get paid to do it 😁

When we analyse procrastination as a habit… Habits are driven by 3 things:

1. Trigger - the stress

2. Pattern - avoid doing something

3. Reward - stress relief

Now we just need to BREAK this habit.

DEEP DIVE
Breaking the Procrastination Habit

☀️ Question: Have you started the 20-20-20 Method

If yes - AMAZING.. do let me know how you get on
If no - Why not? 😊 

🕔 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.. and let’s go!

Let’s try breaking the P-word habit.

1. Let’s acknowledge/identifying the stress

2. Count backwards - 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

3. Then work for 5 minutes

Procrastination is the habit of avoiding something that will add into your stress. All we need to do is just start for 5 minutes.

Once you have started, it is VERY VERY likely that you will keep going.

✏️ More tips to help with procrastination

I have covered some here in my previous post (Procrastinators Unite.. Tomorrow), and here are a few more so you can give it a try and see what works for you.

🔹Organise your tasks (after breaking down into smaller chunks)
Having a timeline and deadlines for when you will complete your (smaller) tasks can also help motivate you to achieve your bigger tasks. This gives you the urgency to act and make progress.

🔹Remove distractions
Your work environment may not be helping with your procrastination (especially if you’re working from home). Distractions can easily derail your progress, like having a phone next to you.

🔹Don’t blame yourself
It can be easy to be harsh to yourself for procrastinating. I do that all the time - saying that I’m lazy or unproductive. In reality, by doing this, it will only make you feel more frustrated and anxious and doesn’t add to productivity. 

💡 What Worked for Me

🍅 The Pomodoro Technique: Utilises fixed time intervals for focused work, usually 25 minutes, followed by short breaks (5 minutes); or 50 minutes focused work with 10 minutes break.

🤸‍♀️ Breaking it down to smaller tasks: Going for a run - in my head, I say this to myself: “I’m just going to put on my clothes, just putting on my shoes.. let’s go walk for 5 minutes and see how I feel. Let’s run for 5 minutes”.. and before I know it, I ran for 25 minutes.

😎 Focus Time: Phone is left far away from my desk, close down all other apps on desktop, put on ‘deep focus’ playlist on Spotify - it’s always the same playlist when I need to focus. It will prime me that it is time to focus.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK
Impactful Words I Hear/Read

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