overcoming the habit of procrastination

OVERCOMING THE HABIT OF

PROCRASTINATIONBy TEACHERS

Dr. Dheeraj Mehrotra

Kal Kar

leygey

OVERCOMING THE HABIT OF

PROCRASTINATION

Not now ! ! May be tomorrow….

We still have time, the last date is ____?

Procrastination is a curse,

and a costly one. Putting things off leads not only to lost productivity but also to all sorts of hand wringing and regrets and damaged self-esteem.

* Realize that people procrastinate for all sorts of reasons... so dig deeper and try to understand the real reasons why you are procrastinating and that will help you find the right strategies to overcome it.

Think about why you procrastinate: Are you afraid of failing at the task? Are you a perfectionist and only willing to begin working after every little element is in place? Are you easily distracted?

Break up a large, difficult project into several smaller pieces. Tackle each piece separately.

Set deadlines for

completion. Try assigning yourself small-

scale deadlines ' for

example, commit to reading a certain number of pages in the next hour.

Work in small blocks of time instead of in long stretches. Try studying in one- to two-hour spurts, allowing yourself a small break after each stint.

Start with the

easiest aspect of a large, complex project. For example, if you're writing an academic paper and find that the introduction is turning out to be hard to write, start writing the paper's body instead.

Enlist others to help. Make a bet with your family, friends or co-workers that you will finish a particular project by a specified time, or find other ways to make yourself accountable.

Eliminate distractions or move to a place where you can concentrate. Turn off the television, the phone ringer, the radio and anything else that might keep you from your task.

* Do your best to get started. The simple act of getting started with a small piece of your big project is often enough to break the inertia. It doesn't matter what you do, pick something and get started.

Pick a simple, easy task to get started. Just answer this

question: "What's the

easiest way for me to get started with

this project?" Then DO it.

* A great way to help you get started is to make a commitment to spend just 30, 20 or even 15 minutes working on your project, then you can stop and take a break without any guilt. You'll often decide to keep on working and let your momentum carry you through.

* To make this even more powerful, schedule your 30, 20 or 15 minute block right into your calendar and use it as an 'implementation intention' to take action

* In a recent study, researchers found that simply using 'implementation intentions' (like scheduling a time block in your calendar) makes it much more likely that you WILL take action, so just do it!

* Examine the way you think about and talk about your projects & tasks. We often make a task or project

seem far worse than it actually is, which can encourage procrastination.

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