For many people procrastination is a serious problem. It is one that cannot just be fixed by 
saying that next time you won’t do it. You need to actively take steps toward changing your ways and performing tasks early rather than at the last minute. The most common areas where you see people procrastinating are at school and work. This makes perfect sense because, in general, those are the two places where people are assigned the most tasks. However, it is pretty safe to assume that if you procrastinate in one area of your life, then you probably do in many.
One way to help minimize procrastination, especially of larger tasks, is by creating deadlines for yourself. If for example you need to have a research report written in four weeks, then tell yourself that you need to:
- Make an outline of what you will be researching, and find some core resources for your research within the first week.
- In the second week begin writing your rough draft and make sure you get at least half way done.
- For the third week, complete your rough draft and perform any other necessary tasks such as a bibliography, title page, etc.
- By the fourth week all you have left to do is look over your paper and make any corrections/edits necessary to polish it up.
This is a very basic example, but it illustrates the fact that if spread out your work across the time you have available, you can ensure that you are never faced with a task that cannot be complete. You may still end up procrastinating up until each of your self-assigned deadlines, but this is not a bad thing. This is the first step toward eliminating your procrastination. If you set these guidelines for yourself and stick to them, it won’t be long before they become second nature. You will quickly notice the benefits of minimizing procrastination in your life, and it is likely that you will be eager to completely rid yourself of it.
To eliminate procrastination completely, you need to stop looking at tasks and asking yourself; when do I need to get this done by? What you need to ask yourself is; when is the first opportunity I will have to accomplish this? You need to be eager about getting things done and out of the way. If you have a quick easy task, try to complete it immediately so that it is something you can get off of your mind and you don’t risk forgetting about doing it. If it is a larger task, use any free time you have to work toward completing it. When you accomplish a task early you benefit in many ways. I have listed just a few of the benefits of eliminating procrastination below as an example:
- Show your boss or teacher that you are serious about your work by turning in your assignment early. It is something that rarely goes unnoticed.
- Reduce your stress by having fewer things to worry about in your life.
- Increase your self-esteem and happiness due to your sense of accomplishment.
- Eliminate the risk of something coming up at the last minute that prevents you from meeting your deadline.
There are many more benefits of eliminating procrastination, just as there are many more negative effects of procrastination that I did not mention. If you are a procrastinator, you need to work actively to change your ways. This is not easy, and for some it can only happen with professional help. But do whatever it takes, because you can be assured that if you don’t change your ways, the negative effects will compound and your life will get worse and worse.
Don’t procrastinate the elimination of procrastination!