Procrastination[/b]
Mrs. Abhilasha Gaur
Assistant Professor –HRM & Marketing
IILM – Academy of Higher Learning, Lucknow
"Procrastination is 'the art of keeping up with yesterday and avoiding today.' "- Wayne Dyer
In this competitive and dynamic world where the cut throat competition is prevailing. All the organizations keep on increasing the pressure of performance on their employees. No doubt that the performance level of many individuals goes up under pressure. But we find that a lot of individual’s major stumbling block to achievement is their habit of putting things off. One of the most difficult challenges managers face is their and their staff’s, tendency to put off the things, making the tough decisions that allow for action. This tendency, though very human and very common, leads to unfortunate results: stalled projects, missed opportunities, mismanaged collaboration between departments and colleagues--and, if practiced often enough, the breakdown of missions and morale. This tendency is called as Procrastination.
Procrastination comes from Latin, meaning literally "forward to tomorrow." The problem is that unless the task is met with today, "tomorrow" can convert into weeks, even months and years.
The Definition of Procrastination:-
Merriam-Webster: “To put off intentionally the doing of something that should be done.”
Dictionary.com: “To put off till another day or time; defer; delay.”
It can be simply stated that Procrastination is - A chronic habit (caused primarily by fear or discomfort) of illegitimately justifying to oneself that a task does not, should not, or cannot be started now.
Procrastinators have less confidence in themselves, less expectancy that they can actually complete a task, it is not the culprit in fact, perfectionists actually procrastinate less, but they worry about it more. Other predictors of procrastination include: task evasiveness, impulsiveness, distractibility, and how much a person is motivated to achieve. We can not say that all delays can be considered procrastination; the key is that a person must believe it would be better to start working on given tasks immediately, but still not start.
It's estimated that about 15-20 per cent of the general population are procrastinators. And the costs of procrastinating can add up well beyond poor work performance, especially for those who delay filing their taxes or planning their retirement. Motivational failures such as difficulty in sticking to diets and exercise regimes -- frequently the focus of New Year's resolutions -- are related to procrastination because impulsiveness is often at the root of the failure. Temptations that are close at hand are difficult to resist for example So many times we check our email 10 times an hour instead of completing a project.
The good news is that willpower has an unusual capacity. The old saying is true: Whether you believe you can or believe you can't, you're probably right and as you get better at self control, your expectancy about whether you can resist goes up and thus improves your ability to resist.
Ways to overcome Procrastination
Lot of people believes that procrastination is harmless because it doesn't kill millions of people like heart disease or cancer. Most people who really want to stop procrastinating do not realize that it is possible to cure procrastination. Following are few of the ways to overcome the problem of Procrastination.
1. Plan your daily must-do activities Draw up a to-do list; preferably, write it down on paper; or, use a computer if you prefer.
2. Prioritize the activities the more important ones taking precedence over the less important. If there are urgent things to do, but not important enough to be worried about if not done, put them below the important ones. The idea is based on the established principle that 80% of rewards accrue from 20% of effort directed towards accomplishing important work.
3. Estimate the time required for each of the listed activities after analyzing their complexity. Avoid underestimation, as you may not have enough time to do well a particular of piece of work. Similarly, avoid overestimation, for that may leave some activities without enough time. A realistic budgeting of time is a must. Time Management is a skill that is acquired with experience. So keep reviewing and revising your time schedule as you progress.
4. Organize your life that will help you avoid wasting your precious time and leave more time for the actual work. Remember indiscipline causes confusion, even chaos, in life. It eats into your time. Avoid sloppiness. For instance, leave your personal belongings of daily use, like your glasses, your clothing, your computer etc., in the same place. If you do, you won’t need to spend time looking for them all over the place. Apply the principle of doing work first and then taking time for pleasure and relaxation. Reverse the order only at the pain of falling prey to procrastination. You can get time for rest and relaxation if you are efficient in doing your assigned work.
5. Reward yourself - Although it sounds petty, little rewards for doing your work will make you want to do them more. If you complete that project you've been putting off, you'll treat yourself or if you finish the errand you were supposed to take care of, you can allow yourself an hour to play online games. Even just a well-deserved break between sections or treating yourself to lunch or dinner when the job's done. Just simple rewards to congratulate yourself for a job well done.
6. Complete Unpleasant Tasks First - Get the hard stuff out of the way so that the rest becomes easy. And once you start working on the hard tasks, you'll oftentimes find that they weren't as bad as you thought they were going to be!
7. Be Focused - Some of us procrastinate just simply because we're too distracted. When completing a task, make sure there are no other distractions such as Internet, TV, Radio, Mobile or Internet which distract you off from the topic.
8. Learn to cope with anxiety, depression, stress and other similar conditions of the mind related to your problems in life Keep yourself fit, not just physically but mentally as well. Learn and practice suitable mental relaxation techniques such as meditation.
9. Stop relying on willpower - Willpower is limited. Acknowledge that your willpower may not always be up to the challenge of getting you to do things that are difficult, tedious, or anxiety-provoking. Instead, use “if-then” planning to get the job done.
Lot of people believe that procrastination is just a part of them –this the way they are- and there is nothing to be done about it, but if one wants to live a full life and accomplish everything meant to accomplish in this world then one have to shed this thinking. Self Confidence can do wonders if one starts believing that he/she can do more. Standards need to
When one put things off, no matter how petty or important they may be, but it’s like cheating oneself. If we overcome Procrastination then lot of things gets drastically impacted like the Life-Fulfilling Personal Accomplishments, easy road to Educational Achievements, Professional Success, Strong Relationships, which in returns results in Unexpected Life Changing Moments. All the things that make a life worth living, but these are also the things drastically impacted by procrastination.
While using these simple techniques one finds less of a procrastinator. You'll be more productive and your bottom line will increase! Just keep reminding yourself that you are your own boss and get it in gear! And soon after that you won't accept anything less from yourself than getting tasks done in a timely manner.