People procrastinate for many reasons, it’s not just a one size fits all procrastination.
The goal is to understand what is the root of procrastination to turn it around.
One of the things you can do is ask yourself:
How much do you procrastinate, in terms of how often do you postpone things and for how long?
And, how negatively your procrastination affects you? For example, in terms of whether it causes you to miss deadlines or whether it causes you to experience stress.
Having that in mind, let’s see the four types of procrastination that exist and what to do in each case.
#1: The Lucky Optimist
That is the person who says “I’ll wait an hour before the deadline due and do everything”. The one who waits until the last minute, either because the inspiration or the rush makes him work better or because he doesn’t know how to manage his time.
This strategy works for some (until it doesn’t). After all, unexpected problems can come up. Sometimes a task proved to be far more complicated than expected.
Solution: Divide and conquer
Break down what you have to do to get it done into parts or tasks and move forward instead of all at once. Step by step. One task at a time. This is the best way to not wait until the last minute and start generating progress.
Rambox integrates task-based apps like Metatask, Taskade, Tasks or TasksBoard helping you break down work into smaller, more easily accomplished actions.
#2: The Overloaded
Who has not felt overwhelmed by all that there is to do? And, in the face of this avalanche of things, run away to look at Instagram or a little bird that perched on the neighbour’s window?
With too many things to pay attention to, you pay attention to none — and nothing gets done. To make matters worse, this type of procrastinator is never able to relax fully or fully work.
Solution: Pomodoro to the rescue
Do you know the Pomodoro technique? The only way to reduce anxiety in the face of the enormous number of things to do is to get moving and this will allow you to move forward.
Breaking your day into small 25-minute segments helps reduce anxiety about the number of things to do and start. The idea is that you do blocks of work without stopping for 25 minutes and then rest for 5.
You can integrate Rambox with PomoDoneApp to have your tracker at hand and coordinate it with your to-do list.
#3: The Pleasure-seeking Avoider
This is a type of procrastinator who runs away from the pain of the number of things to do and goes towards the pleasure of doing the things that they like or feel like doing.
Solution: Multiples Workspaces
Within Rambox, you can create multiple workspaces according to each project or interest. The good thing is that you can also choose which notification to receive and when from each one, making it easier to avoid interruptions and annoying notifications. Also, when you are in focus mode, you can block all notifications at once!
#4: The Perfectionist
Are you one of those who prefer to do everything well or nothing? Error. The only way to avoid procrastination is to get on with the task even if it’s not perfect. If everything happens in your mind (in a great way) but nothing in reality, it is useless. You have to take action.
Solution: You’re not alone
The only way to move is to take action and to be sure you are doing all your tasks perfectly get apps to help you along the way. If you are writing in another language, or tend to waste a lot of time checking your grammar, apps like Spell checker can be a great partner.
Rambox already counts on a spell checker to help you finish up the task without wasting time double-checking or correcting.
Getting supported by technology is the best way to move forward.
More ideas on how to get over procrastination:
1. Get organized using Trello for a project, a to-do list app for daily activities and most important Rambox to organize your entire remote working desktop for easy working and optimizing time. You can try Rambox for free here and start now conquer your procrastination dragon.
2. Start with a “quick win” — a small, rewarding, simple portion of the project that only takes a few minutes. This easy victory builds momentum.
3. Used some good anti-noise headphones and concentration music as support when distractions appear
Happy working!
