How To Recognize Procrastination
How To Recognize Procrastination
The best way to stop procrastination is to realize that you are doing it in the first place. Here are some tips on how to recognize procrastination and stop it so that you can get all those things done that you've been putting off before your procrastination leads to serious consequences.
Other's Reactions
If you have trouble recognizing when you are procrastinating, just look at those around you. No, your wife isn't nagging you to make your life miserable; she just wants you to finally take out the trash. Your boss isn't picking on you when he repeatedly asks you if that report is done, because he knows that you put off things until the last minuet, and he wants it done now. Your kids aren't being whinny when they ask you for the hundredth time to fix their bike; they just want it done before they grow up. Pick up on the emotions of others and respond by actually doing what needs to be done right away.
A To-do List A Mile Long
Another way to recognize if you are procrastinating is to take a look at your to-do list. Does it have dozens of small things that you'd rather do than the task you need to do? If the answer is yes, then skip everything else and jump to the task. Just do it. Everything else can wait.
Project Pile-Up
If you just seem to have more and more work, it may not be the work that's piling up, but your excuses to procrastinate. Have you noticed the honey-do list keeps getting longer and longer? Maybe that is because nothing is ever done to make it shorter. Or maybe your in-box is stuffed to capacity and you are playing solitaire on the computer. These are both serious signs of procrastination and need to be recognized for what they are.
Breaking The Cycle
If you find yourself doing any of the above, then congratulations, you've recognized your procrastination. Now, the next step it to overcome it. Try to figure out why you procrastinate. Next, remove yourself from the things that tempt you to procrastinate, like computer solitaire, emails, chat rooms, video games, and TV. The last step is to just do it! It's never as bad as your procrastinating voice tells you it will be. And just think, when you are done with your task, you can go back to the thing you were doing to procrastinate.