Procrastination refers to the act of replacing high-priority actions with tasks of low-priority, and thus putting off important tasks to a later time. Some experts say that lack of motivation, persistence, and lack of time are all factors for procrastination. Putting a task off to the last possible minute may not be a wise thing to do. The task that is pushed to a later date can be important or a major event that can lead to better career and personal life. This essay shows you the tools required to identify the problem of procrastination and a practical solution to overcome it.

Benefits

A task taken but “left at shelve” for a long time. Procrastination is an act of shelving a task later. The reason is simple. The thing that is “left at shelve” does not give any benefits at that point in time. We always search for immediate gratification. We are grown up kids.

Kids love to watch television. This is because there is minimal effort to watch a favourite TV show but the gratification is immediate –there is joy in watching the programme. All games need a certain degree of effort. However, the effort transforms into joy of playing. We get immediate gratification from games. Going out with friends need a small amount of task but the impending pleasure with friends overpowers that small stuff of spending the time with them. These benefits are experiences of the present time.

If you have such a task shelved, think about its benefits it can give upon its completion. I have put off my driving lessons for several months because I did not think about the usefulness of having a car: I can bring my child to school, get to work on time, work a little late, and bring my family to distanced places. In addition, I think about its bad influence in my lifestyle: lack of walking can add on to my weight; have to have an enormous budget to maintain it, and I always thing a car like a metal box bringing it everywhere with me.

If you see that your goal or task had been put off for quite some time it is high time to think about its benefits it can bring to your life if you achieve it. You should also forget about its demerits. Think about its benefits only.

Time Management

Every matter has to have a life span or period. We are not foetus state throughout our lives. We came out as babies, grown and will become old and die. Everything has a time limit. If time is stagnant, there will be rampant inertia.

With limited time, time management becomes part of personal development. We have 365 days in a year and 24 hours in a day. You can do a little every day to reach a specified goal or do a task. Weekends are great to do that little extra to reach your shelved goal or task. I have decided to spend at least 1 hour 45 minutes to spend my Saturdays to learn my practical driving lessons. This is only 9 per cent of my wakeful life on Saturdays – 1.29 per cent of my 112 wakeful life of the entire week!

If you have decided to eat an elephant, what would you do? Slice it bit by bit and enjoy the meal eventually. Time and tide wait for no man. Write it down in your calendar what you are supposed to take action for the day. Perhaps fix a small portion of your day to perform the shelved task.

Overcome Obstacle

A pull factor makes you do the task later. You have to identify the obstacle that prevents you to move towards your task or goal. Write it down and find a solution to circumvent it. You have a great goal but you will want to shelve this to another time. Why is that a good and achievable goal needs to be fulfilled another day? The obstacles to your goal stay hidden unless you ask this question in your heart.

I asked my daughter who is going to take the primary school leaving examination this year on her obstacle to success in the final papers. She had just finished her preliminary papers, which she felt a little upset about them. Her immediate answer is laziness. I thought she had been more productive in her studies and I saw what she was doing when I asked her this question: watching television.

Upon enquiry, she told me that she had allocated her leisure time to watch her favourite TV show. I asked her whether she would prefer it to rename her TV time from a goal to an obstacle. She hesitated to answer because kids love to be effortless and playful. However, she acknowledged that TV time is an obstacle to her goal. She allotted the TV time as study time. She averted procrastination.

Write down the things you do in a day and how much time you spent for each. Strike out those things that are not necessary. This conflicting living is an obstacle to your shelved task.

Comparison

“To compare is to despair”, the saying goes. When you compare yourself with others who have less, you feel gratitude. If you compare with those who have much, you will dim your own accomplishment. This upward comparison if carried out selectively can help you to overcome procrastination.

We seek for information. The natural way is to look at those around us. Upward comparison can be punishing, but you can also look upward to learn. If we believe we can improve and learn by looking at others – not just feel inferior – but being inquisitive and know how those people have done to reach the position they are now, there is no problem in upward comparison.

You can learn from others how they have accomplished the goal, which you have shelved. You can just copy their mind-set, their plans and accomplishment that which you are procrastinating about.

The above tips are easy to implement. If you really want to avert procrastination, try implementing the above steps. Take the initiative to infer benefits of the shelved task, have a period to complete it, overcome the obstacle of conflicting living and compare upwards to push your selves to complete the shelved task now. By doing this, you have a more productive and a valuable code for living. You will grow stronger and confident. That will prevent you procrastinating for another day.