How to Overcome Procrastination - Part 1

Procrastination is the habit of putting off tasks until the last possible minute. Unfortunately, this can be a problem in both a career and relationships. People suffer the side effects of frenzied work hours, stress, resentment, guilt and missed opportunities. The root of procrastination is not clearly defined by psychologists but have been found to exist in overwhelming stress and anxiety, perfectionism, anger and frustration, lack of motivation and poor time management habits. Some of these reasons are more simplistic than others and any successful management of procrastination will come from the underlying reason.

People who have overwhelming feelings of stress and anxiety find it very difficult to work productively. In some situations, procrastination will actually be a coping mechanism to keep stress under control. The wisest decision is to reduce the amount of stress in your life in order to improve your productivity. Many people find that when they take the time to play and exercise they burn off the excess stress and enjoy their lives more. Other ways of relieving stress are to listen to relaxing music, burn candles, work in a relaxing environment or interject leisure time into the work day.

Perfectionism is a common form of erroneous thinking that leads to procrastination. People who believe that things must be perfect is a recipe for stress. You’ll associate the stress with the task and low and behold, you’ll procrastinate. If you have no specific deadline then perfectionism can cause you to delay indefinitely.

The solution to dealing with perfectionism is rather simple but difficult to achieve-give yourself permission to be human. We are all imperfect and an imperfect job completed today is always superior to a perfect job that is delayed indefinitely.