I glanced through some posts to see what people have written so far, and it chuckled me very well because everyone keeps saying they have mastered how to control procrastination. Is that really true? While there are people who have mastered the art of controlling procrastination, most of us only know the methods to use but still find it hard to put those methods into practice. Yes, this may sound a bit controversial, but it is the real truth. Just like me, I know some of the methods to use to kick off procrastination, and I apply them most times, but procrastination still wins against me hands down... sometimes. I am not bragging; this is exactly how it happens to most people here, except for those who have deeply mastered it.
Being very sincere here, procrastination has dealt with me and is still dealing with me, only that it does not affect me the way it used to because I can control it a bit. However, sometimes, it outsmarts me and wins.
My major cause of procrastination is DISTRACTION.
For tasks or work that I attend to online, the major way procrastination used to steal me away was through social media. Whenever it comes with force, I find myself gradually crawling away from the task I am doing or want to do, into social media, with the mindset of entertaining my eyes or brain a little before returning to the task. Before I know it, I have spent many hours on social media. Sometimes, I eventually go back to the task after satisfying my eyes, but there is one thing about social media, there is no "enough"; the entertainment never stops. So, even when I leave, I still get tempted and find my way back to either X, YouTube, or Facebook. One thing that has saved me to an extent is that I do not use TikTok.
I used to suffer a lot from this kind of distraction, but now I have learned how to control it and only allow it to have its way whenever the task I am doing is not a critical one or does not have a close deadline. I achieve this by either deleting the apps on my phone, freezing them, or turning off notifications and internet access. With these measures, there is no way I would be lured into visiting social media when working on an important task. Moreover, I only do this when the task is very important and requires no procrastination. I mean, when my determination is very high. Otherwise, I may decide to leave everything active and still get dragged into visiting social media.
For offline tasks, I get tempted by friends or family members to gist and skip tasks. You know, when you have interesting friends and family members, their presence is always entertaining, especially when a hot topic is involved. This also applies to the workplace. I used to experience situations where I would skip my work just to get entertained in the midst of friends and family members. But hey, I no longer allow that. I keep off or keep them off whenever I am working and do not get attracted by any of their distractions.
Also, whenever I'm ready to tackle the task, I tend to remove the mindset of "it's too difficult, go for break and do it later"
Like I always say, these rules only come into play when I am tackling very serious tasks.
Thanks.