Three Habits Of Procrastination

This article deals with understanding and identifying when you are under the influence of poor habits. Here we point out three worst causes of procrastination and provide simple solutions for them.

I believe the first and most severe obstacle to any success is procrastination - the habit which makes us say, "Not Now. Wait for the Right Time." What we never understand is that the only Right Time is now. Start this moment, and you succeed. If you wait for the Right Moment in the foggy future, you may be left to wait for that further and this wait goes on.

What makes you Procrastinate?

Once you know who your enemies are, you can keep yourself ready to face them. Procrastination doesn't just exist. It comes and stays till you make the effort to push it out. Its job is just to hold you in abeyance, not letting you go any further towards your goals and awaiting success. Now we discuss three most important causes of procrastination and comment on how to fight them.

1. Waiting for the Right Time

When we're on to a project or important task, we just feel that this is not the right moment. Sometimes we feel there are some prerequisites undone. Or sometimes think someone else would stand behind to support.

What to do: Learn there is no time better than NOW. If you want to start a new project, just begin - call your team, draft the process and work. If you want to start a new hobby, buy the tools required, get a teacher or a good book and start off. Don't wait till the next weekend.

2. Fear

Sometimes we do not do what we must because of the fear of failure. We need some backup and wait for it to appear. Sometimes we just keep on waiting for a guarantee or insurance to appear before we start.

What to do: Fight the fear, and you win. What worst can happen if you fail? At most you'll have to begin again from the start. No, there is no waste of time. An urdu poem said "Why to fear of failure? Even the worst will bring you experience." Edison failed - and we still remember him because he wasn't afraid of failures; he kept on doing for years before success.

3. Indecision

It always happens when we're ready and excited about doing something that we sit at the table, but suddenly we're stuck and don't know how to proceed. Writers suffer from writers' block. I've seen many who pick up a guitar but don't learn anything more than G, C, D chords. Computer programmers get stuck collecting ideas. This is natural and happens even with the experts. The professionals get some solution, but the rest of us feel discouraged and start losing interest towards the target.

What to do: First and foremost, you must have a mentor or a friend in the same field that can help you find an inspiration. Try best to make planners and prepare a track for your course with a deadline. Plan well. If you're writing a novel, write in your planner that you'll finish the character sketch for the hero on Saturday. On Sunday, you'll write about how the hero meets the girl. Same way, prepare tasks for everyday.

These were the major three causes of procrastination. Learn to fight these and keep such situations from happening. Try not to indulge yourself by sitting idle or doing worthless chores. Keep some time separate for each kind of work you have to do every day and stick to it.

By Aditya Joshi