Procrastination and laziness are the same at first glance, but they are pretty different. Procrastination is a dangerous problem that, unlike sloth, cannot be cured by a magic pendulum. The Online.ua Guide explains what procrastination is, how to detect and distinguish it from laziness, and how to overcome it.
What is procrastination in simple words?
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Procrastination is a psychological problem manifested by a person's tendency to postpone things for later, even if these cases are significant and need to be solved urgently.
As a rule, such behaviour becomes the cause of life problems, stress, reduced work capacity and productivity. It causes a feeling of guilt and negatively affects a person's self-esteem.
What is the essence of procrastination?
The essence of procrastination is that a person finds any excuse to postpone his affairs (work, business meeting, studying some material) for later. At the same time, the procrastinator does not rest - he spends a lot of energy on unnecessary actions instead of concentrating on essential tasks.
A procrastinator gets to work, usually only when all the deadlines start to "burn", which often disappoints people.
How to distinguish procrastination from laziness?
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The causes of laziness are inertia, indecisiveness and lack of initiative. A lazy person tries not to take responsibility, for example, if offered some additional project at work.
When procrastinating, a person does not abandon his duties but deliberately delays time. There is a discrepancy between intentions and actions in this case - "I plan to do it, but I can't start work."
There are several critical differences between laziness and procrastination:
Laziness occurs in the gap between the ideal moment to start work and the moment to decide. Procrastination occurs between the moment when a person makes the decision to start a job and finally starts it.
A lazy person is not going to do the work and does not do it. A procrastinator will do a job but put it off until later.
With laziness, a person rests and gains strength. When you procrastinate, you feel tired, lose energy, and anxious.
It should also be added that laziness is a personality trait everyone has occasionally, while procrastination is a temporary condition. External circumstances cause it, or the situation at the moment.
How does procrastination manifest itself?
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Procrastination has several characteristic symptoms, as evidence that a person has this problem of a psychological nature:
Critically low energy level.
A person understands that a lot of work has accumulated and there is nowhere to waste time, but he feels so exhausted that he cannot get out of bed or a chair to start work.
Fear of taking the first step.
A procrastinator thinks for a long time about where to start work, how to start it correctly, and how to bring it to the end. At the same time, he/she is distraught. It is difficult for him/her to comprehend the entire volume of work, especially if it is a large-scale project.
Children's whims.
When procrastinating, the inner child often reveals itself, acting capriciously, like, "I don't want to do homework. I want to go to the movies!". Children do not like to do what they are forced to do, but this behaviour also occurs in adults.
The conflict between the task and priorities.
This happens when the task that needs to be completed does not fit into the person's plans or contradicts his principles. Sometimes psychosomatic problems may even arise - increased pressure, headache, fever.
How to understand that you have procrastination?
The following signs can detect procrastination:
It is difficult for you to switch between tasks quickly. After finishing one thing, instead of immediately taking on another, you'd rather talk on the phone or watch a TV series. As a result, you are distracted for a long time and start work very late.
Problems with planning time. You can make a long list of tasks that need to be done on the schedule — go to the store, read customers' e-mails, walk the dog, take your son to the pool, etc. As a result, all you have time for a day is to read a couple of e-mails... Such a disorganized and overly flexible schedule leads to stress and constant "jams".
You are always late. Due to constant pauses and spending time on things that are not clear, it is difficult for you to complete work on time and appear at meetings at a clearly defined time. Of course, you will be taken for an irresponsible person and will not be trusted with important matters.
You focus on small tasks instead of significant ones. Instead of filling out a table with a report for the year, you prefer to put documents in a neat pile on your desktop. After all, it's easier. And the report will wait. Of course, sorting documents is also beneficial, but it is incomparable to the problems that arise if the report is not made on time.
How to deal with procrastination?
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If you find that you have procrastination and want to overcome this problem, you can use the following tips:
Divide the work process into small tasks. This will help you get involved in work faster and enjoy achieving small goals.
Work for 25 minutes. You can also reduce anxiety from tasks seeming too tricky with the help of the "tomato method". This is a time management strategy, according to which you need to work in short periods.
Avoid temptation. Remove all things that distract you from work — put your smartphone away and put it on silent mode, close the window, and turn off the TV if it's noisy outside.
As a last resort, if you suffer from procrastination and the above tips do not help you, find yourself a "controller". It can be your wife, a colleague or a friend who constantly reminds you of the need to deal with this or that task on time.
