Procrastination (from Latin’s “procrastinare”, that translates in to: the prefix pro-, ‘forward’, and the suffix -crastinus, ’till next day’ or ‘tomorrow’) is the avoidance of doing a task that needs to be accomplished. – Wikipedia.
Perfectionists are master procrastinators; because the idea of falling short is worse than not finishing a task. Or believing that when something is not easy, you are probably not smart enough, unwilling to suffer the anxiety and discomfort of learning something new.
The way out? JUST DO IT. Ok, that’s easier said than done. However, you can train yourself on a daily basis to get out of the procrastination trap that leads into a possible mess, a lot of stress and you feeling bad about yourself.
How? All the tasks you have to do on a daily basis, finish them, just finish them. Coming home and taking of your shoes? Put them directly in the shoe rack (or wherever you keep them). Making yourself a peanut butter sandwich? Put the jar back in the cupboard, the butter back in the fridge and the bread back in the container. Getting yourself ready for the night? Put your clothes back in the wardrobe or in the laundry basket. Finished your food or drink? Put the plate/cup/cutlery in the dish-washer or wash it off.
This sounds annoying and exhausting, but by training yourself on a daily basis to finish these tasks will over time help you to get out of the procrastination trap, because we train our minds to become less resistant to do the things we do not feel like doing. And the funny thing, often it takes surprisingly less effort to actually finish a task than you think.
Try it and let us know what happens for you.
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