Procrastination is one of the biggest traps that adults can fall into. Inevitably there are projects at home or tasks at work that we don’t want to do. They’re boring, difficult, or just seemingly unimportant. Even as kids, we had moments of procrastination; after all, how many times did your mother have to hound you to clean your room?
We live in a world where quick entertainment is at our fingertips. Switch on the television, turn on music with Alexa, or everyone's' favorite pastime of grabbing their phones. All of these fun alternatives can ultimately prevent us from completing the tasks at hand. But of course, this gets us nowhere, fast!
What is Time Management?
All people are granted only 24 hours in any given day. How you choose to use that time is what differentiates the procrastinators from the proficient time managers.
Learning time management techniques will help you plan your day and know precisely what has to be accomplished. It’s much easier to get motivated in the morning if you know what your day holds. Otherwise, you’ll spend valuable time puttering around in your pajamas, trying to decide what you feel like doing, and all of a sudden it's lunchtime, and your morning was wasted.
Denial won’t cause your work to go away; instead, it only makes your life more stressful if you have to hurry to meet a deadline. So rather than stress yourself out, let’s discuss some ways to kick the procrastination habit and become more productive with some time management tips!
Time Management Requires ACTION!
All procrastinators beware: to succeed at managing your time and being more productive during the day, you MUST take action!
It sounds simple, but finding the desire to take action is usually where we get hung up.
With any new habit, you will want to start off easy with a few basic tips. Start making just one change a week, and you’ll see results quicker than you think!
Here are a few tips for you to try out this week.
1. Start your day early. Do you roll out of bed each morning after hitting the snooze alarm five times (I'm a three times type of gal) only to discover you’re already running late for work? How about on the weekends? Do you sleep in both days?
Forcing yourself to get up on time, without rushing, will leave you refreshed and less stressed. Keeping this schedule on the weekends will grant you more hours of productivity. So get up, get dressed, and get going!
2. Limit your distractions. Are you addicted to computer solitaire or have a habit of checking your email or instant messages every five minutes? Keeping email and IM turned off, and keeping background distractions to a minimum while working, can help you focus on the task at hand. You’ll be surprised how much more you accomplish when you’re not distracted every five minutes.
Some people will argue that music helps them to think and concentrate. If that works for you, there’s no reason to turn the music off, unless you find yourself singing more than you’re working. That’s a pretty clear sign that you need to refocus your efforts without the music.
3. Take advantage of energy bursts. There’s no right or wrong time to start a project unless you’ll get in trouble for breaking your neighborhood’s noise ordinance! But if you feel like mopping your floors at 10 pm when your family’s asleep, then do to it. Want to battle your insomnia by organizing your kitchen pantry? What’s stopping you?
Even if your energy is short-lived, you’ll feel much better having accomplished a small task.
4. Set reasonable goals. Which is more likely to get you motivated: cleaning out the basement or cleaning out a corner of the basement? If you haven’t gone into your basement in 20 years, what makes you think you’ll clean it out all in one day?
Strive to break down seemingly unconquerable tasks into smaller, more manageable chunks. So, for example, when it comes to a messy room, choose one little corner, and clear out only what’s in that corner. If you move quickly, you might have the energy to conquer another small section. If not, cross that task off your to-do list and be proud of yourself!
5. Prioritize your tasks. It may be best to get the hardest job out of the way first. If you start early in the day, you’ll have more energy to complete the task, and you’ll feel more accomplished and less stressed when the big project is out of the way. The best time managers believe that finishing a lot of smaller jobs first is better because you’ll be able to build momentum and cross more off your to-do list, which will help you feel more productive.
In the end, there is no right or wrong way to prioritize your tasks; whichever way motivates you to do the work is the best way. Once your spirit is lifted, you’ll feel more optimistic and be more productive.
Even taking one step will begin to build your momentum and start to break the procrastination cycle. Try one or all of these tips this week and see how they can help you.
Part two of this series will be giving tips on organizing your day to help you be successful in reaching all your goals.
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