"Procrastination is one of the most common and universal problems students face." That is what Swedish psychologist Piers Steel, author of The Procrastination Equation, says about the everyday struggle with procrastination. It's a problem that affects everyone from teenagers to adults. And it's not just a student problem either: "The average person spends two years or 10,000 hours procrastinating during their lifetime," Steel writes in his book. If you're struggling with this issue yourself, here are 3 tips on how to manage your daily struggles with procrastination so you can achieve more every day!
-Start small and set realistic deadlines for yourself. It's easy to get overwhelmed with the idea of a huge project or goal, so it can be helpful to break up your time into manageable chunks - think in terms of hours rather than days when setting your deadlines! Start by blocking off just 30 minutes from your day (or night) that you know you'll be able to devote to your task.
-Switch up where and when you work on a project so you don't get too bored or burnt out, suggests Steel in his book: "The best way for someone who is procrastinating about doing their taxes might be to spend an hour of every day working on the tax return, rather than to spend all day on it one day."
-Reward yourself with something that will make you feel good after completing a task. Whether this is an indulgent snack or some time spent reading your favorite book, the idea is just to give yourself something nice for sticking with a difficult project until completion and waiting until tomorrow can't be an option.
If you're interested in learning more about how to manage procrastination, be sure to read the full blog post. And if you want some additional help on this topic, take a look at our blog for articles on self-improvement!