Pesky Procrastination

I'm sure all we millennials and gen zs are some degree of master procrastinators.

Personally, I'm fortunate to be rather on-the-ball about things, but I still do procrastinate at times. Like thinking about if I should sit down to write this post or not. It's usually a war between "the two week cycle I give myself is up and another post is due" and "but no one will notice if I miss a few days...". You get the point.

For school and work though, I'd say I'm the kind who loves to get stuff done way ahead of my deadlines. Or at least start early enough so I know if anything crops up, I'll still have just enough time to finish my project or deliverable.

Plenty of my friends struggle with procrastination, and I can see why, with the limitless distractions around us all begging for our attention. I've read articles and watched videos on 'how to beat procrastination'. And I'll say some tips are quite legit; I'll go through them briefly here.

For starters, making your work fun goes a long way. Often, we are distracted because there's something more 'fun' that can get us that immediate boost of dopamine which makes us feel good. But if you can convince yourself that what you are doing is fun, and your gratification will come soon enough, then perhaps that's a win.

I've also heard productivity gurus say that procrastination is a thing mainly because of our fear of failure or at least, fear of not being able to do the task well. And because of that, we'd rather not start than face our failures/inadequacies. So, getting over that fear will help you be more willing to get things done.

And if everything doesn't work, just eliminate distractions. Don't think I need to elaborate on this.

Besides those hacks above though, I feel that acknowledging my procrastination and finding the root of the issue is the most effective way to get back on the productivity track.

Or else, discipline also helps. Like setting a schedule and sticking to it. Looks and sounds boring, but hey if it works, it works.

We would ideally want to be always intrinsically motivated to get stuff done, but I recognise not all kinds of work can be everyone's cup of tea. Regardless, I do hope you will find meaning in the work you do this week :)