Confession time, I am a victim of procrastination many times over. However, I am not alone in this affliction. In fact, studies show that 90-95 percent of people struggle with procrastination.
Now that is a sizable proportion of the population.
Reasons for procrastination
The question though is, why do we procrastinate? At the onset, people may dismiss procrastination as simply being lazy. Experts, on the other hand, argue that procrastination is far more complicated than indolence.
For one thing, there is the awareness that not doing something you need to do will have negative consequences. Not only to you but also to those who were involved. Or have a direct or indirect interest in what was supposed to be done.
So, who would voluntarily postpone a task knowing that it would have serious repercussions? Of course, there is the procrastinator.
Why? Because, for one thing, they are unable to manage their aversion to a task. Let’s face it, if we perceive a task to be difficult, problematic, or boring, we will do anything to avoid doing it, right? Right.
The second reason we procrastinate is that we don’t want to be disappointed by the outcome. We procrastinate because we dread the results or outcome of our task or project, whether it is due to low self-esteem or being a perfectionist.
The third reason people procrastinate is that they have difficulty making decisions. They would rather put off the task than have to make a difficult decision.
A simple habit to stop procrastination
But if you want to stop procrastinating. And join the 10% of people who tackle their tasks as if they were born to do it. You’re going to need a lot of willpower.
Either that or develop a habit that will train you to jump right into your tasks.
Interested? Here’s that one simple habit you need to develop to overcome procrastination.
2-minute rule
This rule has two applications. One is that if the task can be completed in two minutes or less, go ahead and do it.
You can be confident that if you complete a task as soon as it presents itself, you will not need to return to it later. Because it’s already been done. And you will prevent these small but necessary tasks from piling up and requiring a significant amount of time to complete all at once.
The second way to apply the 2-minute rule, as described by Joshua Becker, founder of the website Becoming Minimalist, is to devote only 2 minutes to the task you’ve been putting off.
The reasoning behind this rule application is that once you overcome your initial aversion to the task by doing it for at least 2 minutes, you can proceed to completing or completing a sizable portion of it.
And since 2 minutes is such a small amount of time, anyone can devote that much time to a single task, no matter how unpleasant it may be.
It is a mental exercise that will train your brain to view the task as doable because it is time-focused.
This rule’s application includes an escape function that allows you to exit after 2 minutes. And with this function, you are more willing to complete the task you have been avoiding.
This simple habit allows you to just start with the task at hand, which is the toughest battle to overcome in getting rid of procrastination.
Why should you overcome procrastination?
Procrastination has a significant negative impact on our health. As such, we must overcome this behavior in order to avoid the dangers it poses to our mental and physical health.
You will avoid the following health issues if you overcome procrastination:
- Stress,
- Low levels of life satisfaction,
- Depression,
- Anxiety,
- Headaches,
- Insomnia,
- Digestive problems,
- Heart problems, as well
- Lowered immune system
Summary
To summarize, procrastination is a common behavior that most people are susceptible to exhibiting every so often. As a matter of fact, experts say that around 90-95% of the population procrastinate.
And the reason for deferring tasks is not laziness, but rather the following:
- Inability to control negative emotions associated with a task.
- We don’t want to be disappointed by the outcome or result of the tasks, and
- Indecision. We put off the task to avoid making a decision.
The 2-minute rule, on the other hand, can help you overcome procrastination.
This rule can be used in two ways. One is to complete a task that takes less than two minutes as soon as it presents itself.
The second approach is to give yourself two minutes to perform the task. This method reduces your aversion to the task because you know you can quit after two minutes.
This 2-minute rule allows you to simply start on your task, which is the most difficult part of doing something. What’s more, this time-focused approach is very much doable.
Finally, you must overcome procrastination because it is detrimental to your mental and physical health.
Reference/s:
Please share your thoughts or ideas about Simple Habit To Overcome Procrastination in the comments below. And if you liked this article, you might be interested as well in these articles:
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Outside reference/s:
The Simple Tool I Use to Overcome Procrastination
Why do we procrastinate, and how can we stop? Experts have answers.
