To reach goal, stop procrastination

Postponing tasks may result sense of guilt, severe loss of personal productivity, as well as social disapproval for not meeting responsibilities or commitments Last Monday, I saw a big queue of students near the branch of a nationalised bank. I found my neighbour's son there. I enquired with him as to what the queue was for and whether they were distributing something? He said "No uncle, we are waiting here to pay my exam fees failing which I will not be allowed to write my final examination." I asked him why did he till the last date as I was sure his father, being a perfectionist might have given him money well in advance to which he replied, "Yes, but none of my classmates pay on time and if I were to pay early, they would laugh at me and treat me as a coward and further, there is no thrill in paying fees well in advance, when there is lots of time left for it. Standing in queue in last minute is fun all together." This is the attitude of present day youth. It is quite understandable if there is a financial reason, for delay in paying fees but if a well to do student is developing this attitude, this will surely have a negative impact on his image, career and relationships.

Procrastination Postponing tasks has become a habit. Everyone has experienced this attitude at some point in their lives. The situation and the issue may differ. According to Sigmund Freud, the father of modern psychology, the Pleasure Principle may be responsible for procrastination. This habit may later result in stress, a sense of guilt and crisis, severe loss of personal productivity, as well as social disapproval for not meeting responsibilities or commitments. Chronic procrastination may be a sign of an underlying psychological disorder. Such procrastinators may have difficulty seeking support from the colleagues and the management and ultimately may lead to loss of job. Such persons develop laziness to avoid tasks and will have low will-power or low ambition.

Psychological and Physiological reasons Procrastination is strongly connected with enjoying comfort zone dependency, easy going attitude, laziness, lack of self-confidence, low self-esteem, boredom, and apathy. The strongest connection to procrastination, however, is impulsiveness, or disliking the task. Research on the physiological roots of procrastination mostly surrounds the role of the prefrontal cortex. Damage or low activation in this area can reduce an individual's ability to filter out distracting stimuli, ultimately resulting in poorer organisation, a loss of attention and increased procrastination. This is similar to the prefrontal lobe's role in Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), where under-activation is common.

Negative effects of A procrastination Procrastination habit can interfere with chances and opportunities which may develop the feelings of low confidence and low self-esteem. The stress that results from not keeping up with assignments and not accomplishing tasks on a daily basis will damage your sense of achievement and well-being. Irrational postponement makes you believe in a false sense of your ability to learn effectively, and makes you enjoy comfort zone. You will lose control over your ability to get things done and will start depending on others.

Check your procrastination level (Tick Yes / No) - Do you ignore deadlines, then at the last minute work frantically to get things done? - Do you believe that the bills need not necessarily be paid on time? - Do you hesitate to leave your comfort zone, to avoid stressful situations? - Do you become irritable when asked to do a task that you don't want to do? - Do you avoid people who give suggestions about how to correct your procrastination? - Do you think a lot about things you want to accomplish, but rarely attend? - Do you visit a doctor whenever you need help? - Do you strongly believe the saying "slow and steady wins the race"? - Do you believe that last minute job is more effective than doing it early? If you have ticked 6 points "yes", you have the habit of procrastination. If you have ticked more than 6 points, your problem is severe

Tips to overcome procrastination 1. Have successful people as your role model. 2. "Steady job" fetches more than "slow job". "Slow and steady" is an outdated motto. 3. "Right mood" or the "right time" policy will not serve the purpose. Follow "Do it now". 4. Prioritise work into three categories-very important, important, Not important. Attend these tasks accordingly. 5. Start working on pending tasks. 6. Brain Tracy, the management guru says: "When you have to swallow two frogs, first swallow the bigger one". Attend to an unpleasant task first, then the pleasant one will always look easy and comfortable. 7. Reward yourself for completing certain task without postponing. Stress will be reduced. 8. List out the opportunities you have missed and unpleasant consequences of not doing the job on time, in the matters of studies, career-building, etc. and rectify.