Delaying, postponing, deferring, stalling, whatever you call it, 78% of workers procrastinate.
People on average spend 55 days per year procrastinating, and 40% of adults say procrastinating causes them to lose money.
Procrastination also costs businesses money, as 86% of workers confess to procrastinating at least one hour a day.
So, how do you break the cycle, stop putting things off and start getting things done?
Try the Eisenhower Matrix. You organize your tasks by what is or isn’t urgent as well as what is or isn’t important, accomplishing the urgent tasks first, starting by how important they are.
So, how do you get motivated? Try planning a “Scary Hour.” Plan one hour a day or week to do all of the tasks you have been putting off.
But where does this drive to procrastinate come from? One TED talk explained it with two characters: the rational decision maker and the instant gratification monkey.
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So, find ways to satiate your monkey. Set rewards for yourself after you complete big tasks, and if the task is long-term, stop trying to do it perfectly and just get it done.
Forbes recommends not labeling yourself a procrastinator because it gives you approval to keep procrastinating.
Instead, treat procrastinating as a part of you, one that you need to show compassion to, instead of constant judgment.
A study of university students showed that students who forgave themselves for previous procrastination procrastinated less in the future.