The other day a client expressed anger towards his son’s behavior of procrastination. He was furious that his son delays most of his tasks till they get overdue, not only putting himself in trouble but, at times, others as well. In fact, the boy didn’t maintain a proper study schedule, cramming topics near exams, ending up getting bad grades.

This habitual or intentional tendency to delay things, in order to avoid doing them, is called procrastination or, in layman’s terms, laziness. Many people have this tendency, despite being well aware of the negative consequences of procrastination.

A study done at the University of Vermont revealed that 46% of students always, or nearly always delayed writing papers, almost 1/3^rd of the students delayed studying for exams or completing their assignments on time. And around a quarter of the respondents agreed that procrastination was a problem for them regarding some tasks.

Why do people procrastinate despite knowing its negative consequences?

There are many reasons, some of which are as follows:

1. Trying to avoid certain situations, people or places
2. Blaming others for one’s own incomplete tasks
3. Finding excuses to not do certain tasks
4. Not paying enough attention to the task at hand
5. Uncertainty of outcome
6. The feeling of inadequacy or deprivation
7. Lack of self-awareness

Overcoming Procrastination

There are many ways to overcome procrastination.

1. Learn and implement better time-management skills, it means setting aside time for every task according to their priority and then abiding by the schedule.
2. Learn self-management skills, which will keep you from indulging in activities that lead to procrastination.
3. Prioritize your tasks in terms of importance and urgency.
4. Change your mindset to a victor mindset. Instead of blaming others, finding excuses or outright denying the problem, decide to overcome the problem using elements in your control.
5. If a task seems complex and impossible, break it down into smaller parts and work on the small sections instead of focusing on the whole task at the same time.
6. Seek professional help from an expert like a Life Coach. These experts help to identify the root cause and then work with their clients to remove the obstacles, keep them accountable and in general get rid of procrastination.

Procrastination might not be easy to get rid of, but with some planning, dedication, and consistency, it is very much possible to get better at time management, completing tasks in time; thus, effectively ending procrastination.