Procrastination symptoms and how to stop procrastinating

Author: Zuzana Kocáková

Lifestyle

8 reading minutes

Do you postpone tasks for later? Try our procrastination tips and stop procrastinating! I’ll do it tomorrow. Maybe you say these words more often than you’d like, too. You are constantly postponing your responsibilities for the next day, week, month… If you know this situation intimately and instead of solving tasks you fill your time with other activities, you are a procrastinator. Procrastination, however, is not laziness. Read our procrastination tips and techniques on how to fight it effectively.

What is procrastination?

The meaning of the word procrastination comes from the Latin word procrastinare, which translates as “for tomorrow”. The definition of procrastination is literally the morbid postponement of responsibilities. But it is often mistaken for laziness.

A lazy person puts off tasks and responsibilities so that they don’t have to do anything. But a procrastinator does unimportant things instead of their tasks and duties. They then feel guilty and lose energy. The opposite of procrastination is activity, action, diligence.

Procrastination causes – why do we procrastinate?

You know that moment when you have so much to do that you don’t even know where to start, and you’d rather put off your responsibilities until later? Did you plan your tasks badly or not at all? Are you afraid of failure, or are you just having a bad day? There may be several reasons why we are procrastinating. Did you know that 55% of procrastination is caused by mobile phones and chatting? Social media, gossip and visits from colleagues also ranked quite high. Now that you know what causes procrastination, let’s take a look at how to deal with it.

Proven procrastination techniques

Although procrastination itself is not dangerous, it is worth eliminating at least partially. Although many times we find browsing the news on social media more important and interesting than our duties at any given moment, nobody will give us back this time. These few tips will help you beat procrastination.

Try the Pomodoro technique

No one can concentrate on one thing for long. That’s simply impossible, especially when the phone next to you is literally screaming at you to pick it up and check your Facebook newsfeed. Never mind that it’s the fourth time in the last hour and there’s nothing interesting in the news anyway. This is how procrastination arises. You can avoid it by using the Pomodoro technique, where you divide a half hour of work into two parts, namely 25+5 minutes.

For twenty-five minutes, give your full attention to your work and take the remaining five minutes for a break. You can stretch, take a walk, make coffee or tea. After four “Pomodoros” in a row, there is a longer pause. You can, of course, adjust the alternation between intensive work and breaks. If you’re comfortable working longer and then taking a longer break, use the longer version of this technique – 50+10 minutes.

Try the three-minute technique

The three-minute technique is similar to the Pomodoro technique. The key is to do a job where you’re at risk of putting it off for just three minutes. Of course, it’s clear that you can’t finish the task in such a short time. But the important thing is to get started and break out of the pattern of procrastination. Three minutes soon becomes six or nine. This rule makes even the most challenging tasks feasible.

Use your rest time wisely

Whether it’s a Pomodoro Technique break or a lunch break, don’t spend it staring at your laptop or phone. Not only do your eyes need a rest, which don’t benefit from constant screen time, but your head needs a short reboot too. Besides, being overwhelmed with private emails or negative messages won’t have the effect you expect from a break. “Afternoon coffees and debates are priceless,” says software developer Jaro. According to other colleagues, the ideal way to spend some time off is outside the office, with colleagues for coffee or relaxing in the fresh air.

To Do List does real miracles

Although task scheduling may seem like a cliché, it really works. The To Do List is commonly used as a productivity tool. In simplified form, paper and pen are all you need, but there are also a number of apps you can use to record your responsibilities. Good advice – try writing down time estimates for each project. At the end you can compare whether it was correct. It will help you in your future planning.

Our test manager Pato works efficiently thanks to Outlook Tasks and Xmind. “You can also set reminders in Outlook or use the invitation function,” he says. If you’re “old school”, like our office manager Zuzka, who likes to write her tasks down on paper, you won’t go wrong. You don’t have to plan a whole week in advance. Just plan your activities for the next day in the evening. This increases your efficiency.

Clean up your desk

Remove from your reach or from your desk any technology that could unnecessarily distract you from your task. A desk cluttered with stuff offers plenty of opportunities for distractions. If you’re serious about procrastination, create a distraction-free environment, which means – keep things tidy! An organised desk increases productivity. If there are too many objects around us, the brain tends to focus on other thoughts and we easily lose concentration.

Find the right work pace

Some tasks are less enjoyable than others. As is usually the case, the less pleasant ones usually have the highest priority. Start first thing in the morning with the most important task that awaits you that day. If you have more complex tasks on your To Do List, alternate them with easier ones. You won’t lose your work pace and your work will go faster.

Whether procrastination is just a consequence of today’s online age or a real problem, we can all agree that it greatly affects our efficiency and work. Start fighting it means having better organised time, less stress and feeling good about yourself.

Do you know how to allocate your work tasks and manage your time efficiently?

Be sure to check out our job position Project Manager, or if you’re IT Talent with German Language send us your CV and we will tailor a job offer for you.

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Procrastination symptoms and how to stop procrastinating

Zuzana Kocáková

At msg life Slovakia I take care of the company culture, events and I am part of the marketing team. I like a job where I can be creative and contribute to making my colleagues at msg feel good. I regularly prepare for you not only news and interesting things from the world of information technology and insurance, but also from behind the scenes events at msg life Slovakia.