9 REALISTIC WAYS TO STOP PROCRASTINATING AND STRESS LESS
PEOPLE PROCRASTINATE FOR DIFFERENT REASONS,
BUT THE RESULT IS THE SAME: STRESS. HERE'S HOW TO TACKLE ALL OF THE REASONS YOU
PUT THINGS OFF.
Those
expense reports you’ve been putting off for months? That power yoga class you
never seem to make? Chances are, there are at least one or two projects on your
plate that have taken up permanent residence on your to-do list. You know you
need to get them done, and yet you push them to the side to focus on
something—anything—else, whether it’s diving into a less-urgent work project or
spring-cleaning your entire closet.
In
other words, you’re procrastinating.
Piers
Steel, professor and distinguished research chair at the University of Calgary
and author of The Procrastination
Equation: How to Stop Putting Things Off and Start Getting Stuff Done, puts
it simply: "Procrastination is the difference between what you are doing
and what you should be doing."
Experts
say that people procrastinate for different reasons—they fear being judged,
they’re overwhelmed by the project at hand, or they find the task downright
unpleasant or boring. (Taxes, we’re talking about you.) But the result is the
same: You’re left feeling stressed out.
The
moment you put off a dreaded project and focus on something that’s more
entertaining—like scrolling through food photos on Instagram—you probably feel
a blissful sense of relief. But on some level, you’re still haunted by the task
at hand, knowing in the back of your mind that you still have to complete
it—and that can take a toll on several fronts.
"Procrastination
has physical and economic costs," says Joseph R. Ferrari, professor of
psychology at DePaul University in Chicago and author of Still Procrastinating?
The No-Regrets Guide to Getting It Done. "It has
consequences from your relationships to finances."
Research shows that
procrastinators, especially ones who lack self-compassion (in other words, they
beat themselves up for putting off important tasks) experience high levels of
stress—and that stress can do some serious damage to your health. Case in
point: A 2015 study found
that procrastinators are more vulnerable to hypertension and cardiovascular
disease.
When
you realize all the different ways procrastination can hurt your life, it’s
clear that you should prioritize making at least a little headway in reducing
it.
The key
to breaking out of the procrastination-stress loop is to focus on key parts of
your life where you repeatedly put things off and make small, doable changes to
help you get things done and in turn, stress less. While you probably won’t be
able to kick the bad habit completely—research shows that being a
procrastinator, along with being impulsive, is in your genes—you can dial it
back.
Try
these expert tips for tackling three common procrastination trouble spots.
Do you
have an ever-increasing stack of mail you haven’t opened? A pile of invoices
you keep meaning to organize for your taxes? Whether it’s paying bills at home
or filing your expense reports at the office, these tasks often get pushed to
the side because they’re, well, not fun for most of us. But delaying these
tasks can not only cause us stress but also cost us money—which is why it’s
critical that you try different ways to get these jobs done on time.
Do yourself a favor.
Instead
of picturing a specific task as grueling homework that must be completed,
reframe the situation. Think of getting your paperwork done—or whatever you are
procrastinating—as being a way to do yourself a favor that you’ll appreciate
down the road, says Neil Fiore, author
of The Now Habit: A
Strategic Program for Overcoming Procrastination and Enjoying Guilt-Free Play.
Turbocharge your deadlines.
If
you’re like most people, you’re never more productive than in that last hour of
work because you know that time is tight and you have to wrap things up. Steel
suggests tapping that high level of energy and focus by giving yourself less
time to complete a task than you normally would. Set the clock on your phone
and tackle your financial paperwork with a vengeance. Not only will you have a
visual deadline to get more things done, but it will also be easier to get
started, knowing you only have to do the torturous task for a short amount of
time.
Automate what you can.
Finally,
make financial paperwork easier in the long run by setting up autopay for your
monthly bills, which eliminates the opportunity for procrastination entirely.
There are also apps that can help you log your expenses immediately, making it
far less painful. Ask your company what is compatible with their systems, or
try Expensify or Shoeboxed—both are free and can scan your receipts rather than
making you manually enter them. You can even mail in your paper receipts to
Shoeboxed and they’ll itemize them all for you.
You
know you need to exercise and you really, truly have the best intentions of
doing so. Yet somehow you never take your run or get to that spin class you
already paid for. You know working out is a good stress reliever, but instead
you find yourself stressing out over not following through with it. Here are a
few tips to help get you going:
Ease into a routine.
hardest
part of working out can be simply getting out the door, especially when you’re
trying to motivate yourself to take a one-hour cardio sweat-fest at the gym and
your sofa looks so comfortable.
The
solution? Just put on your sneakers—it helps to leave them right by your bed or
front door—and tell yourself that you’ll only work out for 15 minutes and then
you can come home. Chances are, once you make it to the gym, you’ll stay
longer. It’s also helpful to not set the bar too high. "You can tell
yourself, ‘I don’t have to do that intense 90-minute class at the gym, but I
will do something along those lines," says Steel.
Call in the troops.
Creating
accountability and social support is a savvy way to help defeat
procrastination. You’re much more likely to show up for a run if you have a
friend depending on you or a personal trainer you’ve committed to seeing. Also,
focus on the bigger picture. When you have a goal to work out three days a week
and Netflix is calling, ask yourself, "Does this action help or hinder my
vision?" suggests Fiore. If you have a goal for yourself, think about how
this one workout can help build toward it.
Many
times, when we’re facing a behemoth project at work, we find ourselves at a
loss as to how to begin. When you’re feeling overwhelmed, it’s easier to put
the whole thing off. "It’s an avoidance strategy," explains Ferrari.
Focus on short bursts of productivity.
By
divvying up the project into smaller, doable chunks, you can make it less
daunting and gain a sense of accomplishment that will keep you motivated. Fiore
should know—he wrote most of his books and his PhD dissertation in short, 30-
to 40-minute bursts with breaks in between. "I would achieve a couple
hours a day, totaling 15 hours per week," he says. "If you get
started for 15, 30, or 60 minutes before breakfast or lunch, you’ll have the
motivation to come back to it [after your break]."
Remember, language is power.
"How
you talk to yourself is one of the major causes of procrastination," says
Fiore. "Saying to yourself, ‘I have to do something’ means you don’t want
to do it. You may not even realize it, but with that word choice, you may be
sparking rebellion and resistance within yourself. Replace that with, ‘I choose
to start for 15 minutes, doing a rough draft, with plenty of guilt-free play
built in.’"
Dial back your perfectionism.
Being
afraid that you won’t do a good job on the project or striving for perfection
is a sure-fire procrastination trigger. Instead, try holding yourself to the
80% rule, suggests Ferrari, and commit to doing a good but not necessarily
"perfect" job. "When people say, ‘I have to do this perfectly,
and then they fail, that’s part of the excuse-making," he says. "What
if it’s not 100%, but it’s 80%? If you can get 80% of something done, then
you’re successful."
Focus on what’s best for the team.
Thinking
of others can also help motivate you to move forward. Ask yourself, "What
are the consequences if I don’t get the project done?" Will you hold up
your coworker who is counting on you? "If you don’t finish something, the
next person won’t be able to finish their task," says Ferrari. Many of us
rise to the occasion when we realize how many people our actions will impact.
But
most importantly, try not to beat yourself up too much when you do slip up and
procrastinate. A 2010 study found
that forgiving yourself for putting off a specific task makes it more likely
that you’ll complete that same task in the future.
The
moral of the story is, if you just can’t get around to something today, give
yourself a break and try again tomorrow.
BY RACHEL GRUMMAN BENDER
http://www.fastcompany.com/3056134/work-smart/9-realistic-ways-to-stop-procrastinating-and-stress-less?utm_source=mailchimp&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=fast-company-daily-newsletter&position=2&partner=newsletter&campaign_date=02022016
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