Almost everyone is held down by what some call “the silent killer”. Procrastination strikes everywhere. We all want to avoid the pain or discomfort of doing something we feel is boring, stupid, pointless, hard, complicated, risky, possibly really emotionally painful and so on.
But even though we know that we will have to do it eventually and that we’re just deluding ourselves we still put it of. Often with reasons we know deep down are weak and we really just made up. We get stuck in a vicious circle of doing too little of both what we want and what we don’t want. We get stuck. Here are 7 ways to squash procrastination and move forward.
1. Recognize that there is more pain in procrastinating than not
If you have procrastinated a lot (like me) you might have discovered that:
You procrastinate to avoid doing something that is boring, hard or something like that. You want to avoid that pain.
But after having some experience with procrastination you’ll probably realise that procrastination itself causes your more pain than actually just doing what you were supposed to. Realising the true amount of pain in the two choices will make it easier to get things done.
2. Force yourself to do it before you really absolutely have do it…
…and your self-esteem will go up. And the next time you feel like procrastinating remember that you forced yourself, but that you felt better when it was done. There was a nice reward when you were done. Whenever you feel like procrastinating remember this to get you to start moving forward.
3. Create a flow
Instead of doing nothing, begin with doing something. Clean your desk, take out the garbage, wash the dishes. Just stack a couple of simple actions to create a flow, a momentum. When you’re in the flow, in that forward motion, getting started with what you have to do will be much easier. Also, cleaning up can get you too feel more motivated. A messy work-environment seems to often reinforce procrastination.
4. Get some leverage
Sometimes we procrastinate on things that aren’t just dull tasks in the office or school. Maybe you are stuck, not able to take the next step fearing some deep personal pain. If you are thinking about changing jobs or career or taking a next step in a relationship you are probably focusing on what could go wrong. Instead, get some leverage to both push and pull yourself forward.
How to: Take a pen and a piece of paper. Write down as many things as you can come up with that you will miss out on, not just now but the next few years if you don’t take this step now. Really dig down into yourself and feel that pain that you will feel not just tomorrow but in a year and the next five or ten years.
Then write down all positive and wonderful things you will experience if you take this decision and move forward to where you want to go. Think about them and write down all those things you will experience and feel, not just in the next few days but in one year, in two, in five years or ten. Get the stick and the carrot to work for you. And put the problem in a longer time perspective to really give it an emotional punch.
5. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time…
Don’t look at everything you have to do. One of the common sources of procrastination is feeling overwhelmed. Break it down into smaller tasks. Write them down as a list on a piece of paper. Focus on just getting that one small task or part of the big thing done. Then move on to the next. Take it one step at a time and don’t think about the rest. Before you know it you’ll be half way there.
6. Change your beliefs
The problems that repeatedly put you into a procrastinating state might disappear if you change your view on reality. Examine your beliefs. Ask yourself if you could see things in a more beneficial and effective way for yourself.
Realise you can choose you beliefs about yourself and the world. The past is not the future. You don’t have to hang to limiting beliefs based on past experiences if you don’t want to. You are here right now and you choose and can change your habits.
7. Make a small deal with yourself
Here is an effective one I first heard from Ed Bliss (well, actually now that I think about it I probably first heard it from a teacher back in school about ten years ago. It kinda rings a bell).
Here’s how you go about it: Promise yourself that you’ll work on something for just 5 minutes. After those 5 minutes you can do something else if you want to. But make a note on your schedule when you will come back to the task and work another 5 minutes with it. As Bliss notes, not matter how unpleasant a task may be, you can often talk yourself into working 5 minutes on it.
I’ve found this one to be effective to make a dent in those tasks you have put of for a longer while. After you’re done with those first 5 minutes the next 5 minutes will feel a little easier. And after that the next 5 minutes will feel even easier. Or maybe you raise the bar to 10 minutes of work. Getting some actual work done on that task, if only for 5 minutes, gives you a rush of exhilaration. Making a game out of how much work you can get done in those 5 minutes can also be a small but in its own way fun challenge.
译文:
七种方法改掉拖拉的毛病
几乎每个人都被一种“沉默的杀手”所控制着。拖拉的习惯无所不在。我们总是想逃避做某些让我们感到厌烦、乏味、无意义、困难、复杂、危险的，也可能仅仅只是情绪上的困扰等所带来的痛苦和不适应。
虽然我们自己也知道我们是在自欺欺人，到最后我们还是要做这件事情，可是还是会拖延此事。我们总是有理由相信我们内心深处是软弱的，有待弥补。对于我们想做的和不想做的，我们总是陷入了对两者都无能为力的恶性循环。总是无法自拔。以下的七条方法有助于你粉碎这样的拖拉习惯，让人生不断向前。
1. 要意识到一直拖拉其实会带来更多的痛苦
如果你的拖拉习惯很严重（就像我），你可能会意识到这个问题：
拖拉是因为想逃避做那些使人厌烦、困难等事情。你想逃避痛苦。
但是经过几次拖拉后，你可能会意识到拖拉本身给你带来的痛苦比按时完成本该做的事情要大得多。意识到两种选择的痛苦程度，就能更容易地解决问题。
2. 强迫自己在需要做以前就先去做……
你的自信心就会增强。下次你想拖拉的时候，想起你曾经强迫自己去做，但是在完成后感觉非常好。当你完成后就觉的是个很好的奖赏。无论何时想要拖拉的时候要想起这个，让自己前进。
3. 创造动力
不要无所事事，而应该做一些事情。清理一下你的桌子，倒掉垃圾，洗刷下碗碟。做些简单的事情给自己一些只制造些动力。当你处在这样的动力和惯性中，开始做一些需要做的事情会容易很多。另外，周围打扫干净会使自己更有动力。一个肮脏的工作环境会使拖拉更拖拉。
4. 找寻杠杆作用
在办公室和学校里，有时候我们不是因为任务的无聊而延迟故意拖拉。可能你陷入了困境，为了避免个人痛苦而不采取下一步的行动。如果你正在考虑换工作、职业或者某些事情的进一步行动，你可能把焦点集中在了事情会往哪些坏的方面发展，而不是寻找一个杠杆来推动自己往前发展。
方法：拿一支笔和一张纸。写下你将可能失去的尽可能多的东西，如果你现在不采取行动，在将来几年内，而不仅仅是现在，你将要失去的东西。深度地挖掘你自己，让自己去感受那样的痛苦，不仅仅是明天的痛苦，而是接下来的一年，五年或者十年内的痛苦。
然后写下所有你将遇到的积极的和美好的事情，如果你现在就下定决心向自己心中所期望的方向前进。思考一下然后写下所有在未来一年，两年或者十年，而不仅仅是接下来几天你将经历和感受的。让这些想法真正为自己所用。把问题放在长远的视角上，用情感去征服它。
5. 怎样吃掉一头大象？一口一口吃…..
不要把注意力盯在所有事情上。产生拖拉念头的最通常的原因就是感觉喘不过气。把它们分成更小的任务。在纸上列成清单。集中在分开的小任务或者大事情中的一部分上。然后再向进行下一步。一次一步，不要想其他的事情。不知不觉中你会发现已经走了一半。
6. 改变信念
如果你能改变看世界的角度，那么使你一而再再而三出现拖拉的问题可能就会解决。审视一下自己的信念。问问自己是否怀着更积极更有效的方式看待问题。
应该要意识到你可以选择看待自己和世界的态度。过去不代表将来。如果你不想，你根本不需要让自己限制于过去所产生的信念。现在的你有自由选择的权利去改变你的习惯。
7. 有个很有效的方法，
开始的时候是从Ed Bliss那得知的（既然我现在想起它，很可能是十年前最先从一个学校的的老师那里知道的。铃声响了）
以下就告诉你怎么做：告诉自己将花五分钟时间做一件事情。五分钟之后你可以做其他你想做的事情。在时间表上做好下次什么时候回来继续花五分钟做这件事情的记录。就像Bliss所发现的，不管这件事情有多么让人不乐意，你总能说服自己花五分钟时间去做。
我发现这个方法对长久地拖延一个任务能起到很好的消弱作用。完成第一个五分钟后，下个五分钟就会感觉容易很多。下下个五分钟就会更加容易。或许你还会把时间增加到10分钟。完成一些实际性的工作，如果只有五分钟时间，你会觉得很兴奋。用游戏的心态想想在五分钟时间里你能完成多少工作，这也是个对自身来说很小，但是也很有趣的挑战。