Are you putting off an important task to read this blog? If so, you’re not alone. Procrastination is a common behavior of putting off doing important tasks for something less urgent or important.
Why do we do it?
According to the Science of Procrastination, this very common behavior occurs because, in our minds, we have a tendency to overestimate or underestimate the value of a reward depending on how soon we’ll get it. In other words, the further away the reward, the more you discount its value.
Even if you have all kinds of good intentions, and you’re motivated because of a change of season, a new year, or a new outlook on life, you still might delay working toward what you want.
For example, imagine that you want to achieve your goal to lose 20 pounds in 8 weeks. That seems like a long time away, and the cookies are right there in front of you. How can you stay motivated?
Here are a few ways to stay on track and stop procrastinating:
Put obstacles in the way of your procrastination
Let people know what you’re up to and publicly declare your goal. Once you put it out there, it will be much harder for you to not meet your deadline because your integrity will be on the line.
Embrace your tendency to procrastinate
Accept that you will probably still procrastinate. It’s human nature to put off what we don’t like for something that seems more rewarding. But you can turn this tendency on its head to make it work for you instead of against you.
Here are a few common habits and how you can embrace procrastination to change them:
How does procrastination affect you? What do you do break the habit?