There are 24 hours in a day, 168 hours in a week, and an average of 672 hours a month, and yet we still struggle to check off each task on our to-do lists. All those hours, and yet we manage to skip out on a 15-minute reading assignment to spend 45 minutes browsing Instagram. I’m sure we could have typed those three pages of our paper in under four hours, but we decided to watch four episodes of Riverdale instead. I could go on, but I’d rather get to the purpose of this blog post so that you can go and get some work done. Procrastination is a silent killer of our goals. You don’t realize how long you’ve left your goals on the back burner until the timer rings and there is nothing left to show for it. You left them to burn in exchange for a movie, a night in the city with friends, or a longer than usual nap. But do not worry, everyone falls victim to procrastination at some point; However, you can break your procrastination habit with the help of these five tips.
1. Set reminders on your smartphone. A feature on my iPhone that I love is the Reminders app. It allows you to create daily, weekly, and monthly reminders so that you never miss a beat. If you are like me and cannot seem to put your phone down, then this is a great option for staying on top of your tasks. What’s great is that you can set a specific time to receive the reminder, and it will display on your screen at that particular time. An alternative for Android users is the set reminders in a Google calendar. Google will notify you on the day you set each task for.
2. Carrying a planner is another great option for beating procrastination. Having a planner is beneficial in that it is tangible, and you are able to access and add to it at any time. It has also been proven that people who write down their goals and tasks are more likely to achieve them than those who do not. Grab a journal and get to writing!
3. Creating incentives for completing each task. This can be taking a five-minute break to check your social media accounts or watching a show for a few minutes (be careful with this one). What I like to do when I have an urge to check my Instagram or Twitter account is to give myself a timeframe to complete an assignment. If I get the assignment done by my deadline then I allow myself to have a little break.
4. Another tip is to hide your phone. We live in a technologically driven world. So, it’s no surprise how addicting our cellular devices can be. If your phone is getting in the way of taking care of business, hide it. Place it under your bed, in a shoe box, or on top of the refrigerator until you have completed a few tasks.
5. My last tip is to create a daily schedule. This aligns with tip number two. At the end of each day, get a jump start on tomorrow’s tasks by writing out schedule and noting how you will complete them. You are more likely to remember your schedule when you write it.
Although procrastination sneaks up and tries to deter us from our goals, we have the option and power to fight it. By implementing these five tips and doing your part, your procrastination will decrease over time, and your goals will have no choice but to flourish.
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