Most of us may be quite familiar with procrastination, as it can be described as an act of inactivity and not doing the things that needed to be done despite the negative effects it may bring. The goals may not be easy to accomplish, so they are put off for a later time. The effects of procrastination are never good. When one procrastinates, it only makes the task more difficult; there is more stress on the person, and the task is not properly accomplished.
There could be many reasons why people procrastinate. One of the reasons is fear. The person may be afraid that he or she may not be able to complete it or may not do the job well enough. The lack of ability or required skills may also be a cause of fear. Some may not like to do a particular task, so they try to put it off, which gives them no pleasure. Some might find it hard to start and get off the blocks. They need some motivation or to be given a push to get things started. Some procrastination could be a result of mental illness.
When one procrastinates, precious time is lost in achieving the desired goals and results. Usually, we fall behind schedule due to procrastination. In both personal and professional life, falling behind schedule is a lost opportunity because, because of the delay in completing the task, the goals are not achieved. The quality of the work may suffer sometimes due to procrastination. We are left with little or no time to complete the task and, hence, cannot produce the results. There is an increase in stress due to procrastination, and we find ourselves running against time since there is very little time to complete the task.
Planning your work can help you overcome procrastination. Plan how and when the goal is to be accomplished. The next step is to break down the goal into smaller tasks. Create small achievement check-lists of tasks. This makes it easier to visualise if the goal is attainable. Having a time line to complete tasks helps ensure that the workload is properly distributed and also helps us remain on track with the goals. Continuous monitoring of tasks gives a good estimate for checking progress. Try hard to stick to the schedule, which is very important to ensure you do not fall behind and feel the stress. Once we have a plan, we can be confident that the goal can be achieved.
Here to help
If you think you are being bothered by any of these or any other mental health issues, Ananth Jeevan is here to help. Here’s how you can avail our services:
- If you want to talk to someone, there is a helpline you can contact at +918645687456. We are here to listen.
- You can check your mental health status via our AJ App by downloading it from Android Playstore
- If you want to chat anonymously, you can check out the feature in our app.
- If you want Counselling, you can ask for appointments from our WhatsApp number +917661951444
