Are you postponing all business on the last day? The reasons why you should stop doing it!

When people take work home, there are too many temptations that allow you to postpone everything at the last moment. Even if you are already tuned in and sitting down at your desk, this does not mean that procrastination will not swallow you into your grasping embrace. Your attention instantly switches to more interesting things. You are interested in cinema novelties, incoming letters in the electronic mail box, notifications in social networks and gossip about celebrities. In the end, you understand that you want to eat, then you are attacked by a sense of nap. After you have slept, you decide to postpone the work for tomorrow. And tomorrow this scenario is played out anew. It's a familiar picture, is not it? Unfortunately, procrastination can sow real chaos in our lives. But why do we always postpone important things?

What is procrastination?

Before you is a scientific term for "evading your own obligations." In everyday life, we have replaced this word with a simpler and more understandable - procrastination. Many of us are waiting until the last minute, when they want to buy a birthday present for the sister. But in this case we do not get pleasure from the buying process. We deliberately drive ourselves into a stressful situation. The reason for procrastination lies in the feeling of "impunity". Many people do not know how to rationally manage their time. And if it worked once, it works again and again. So there are chronic procrastinators.

For this is responsible limbic cortex of the brain

When you begin to postpone important things, think about the fact that all the inhabitants of our planet are subject to this habit. This is not an excuse, but a biological statement of fact. In fact, our brain is designed to tolerate procrastination. When you make plans for the future, you engage the frontal cortex, but when it comes to implementing these plans, the limbic system comes into play. The limbic cortex of the brain reacts to the environment and emotions, it has a more powerful effect on the nervous system. You, of course, are happy to take on a new project, but now you are loitering about the office, communicating with colleagues at ease. The frontal cortex does not have such power over your feelings and desires. You have to convince yourself that delay will have a detrimental effect on the final results. Do not use biology as an excuse to postpone the work for another week.

Procrastination is expensive

Postponing important things to a later date, you expose your body to powerful stress. Unfortunately, many of us do this on a regular basis, but this negatively affects all areas of life. Just think how much disorganization in your actions: you postpone the purchase of gifts, payment of bank accounts, the collection of necessary documents for filing a tax return. You delay general cleaning in the house, visit your parents, call customers and work on a quarterly report. Even going to the doctor, it seems, is about to be canceled, because you suddenly felt relief in the lower back. If we summarize all these delays, a sad picture emerges. Man himself with the help of laziness and lack of organization worsens the quality of his life as a whole.

Procrastination makes you less productive

When you do not follow the daily to-do list or allow yourself to indulge, you do much less than planned initially. Some people argue that slowness is necessary to them as air, in order to work better. This is a category of employees who are used to working "under pressure." They thrive in an environment of increased stress. But in fact, even convinced lazy people can not reverse this stress for themselves. And chronic procrastinators have to deal with a lot of distracting factors, the main one of which is access to the Internet. Social media only worsen the situation with delays. If you are also under the influence of distractions, then you put your brain in front of a constant choice: to do work or to wander through the vast spaces of the World Wide Web. The best thing you can think of is to completely eliminate the influence of the Internet during the work process.

Procruciating nerves

Scientific research shows that chronic procrastinators experience more stress and feel less emotional well-being than people who simply move forward. Even if you put off work on the project for only one night, your nervous system will have time to react to this circumstance. It seems that you calculated everything, took into account the average speed of your own performance, but did not take into account the influence of force majeure factors. And this means that the last hours before delivery will push your body with great stress. Did you never have a thought in your head: "Why did not I get to work earlier? Now I would calmly do my job. " Despite the fact that you like to work under pressure, you can not control all processes. Therefore, you are nervous much more often compared to other people.

This affects the heart

Of course, the chronic backlog of timing and constant stress can not but affect the work of your heart. And the first physical confirmation of cardiovascular diseases has already appeared: high blood pressure, increased heart rate, frequent headaches, digestive problems. You become more often cold and sleep worse. You are used to postpone work for a later time, so if you find the symptoms of hypertension or stomach upset, do not write to the doctor at the reception the same day. Procrastination has become the image of your life. Unfortunately, in your case, the risk of serious chronic diseases is high.

What can you do?

When you become a slave to the habit of putting everything back for later, it's difficult to see the way out of the situation at first. If you already have a lot of unrealized projects before you, is it possible to get ahead of time? In fact, there is nothing unreal in this. To begin, just get started. The best way to change any habit is to immediately destroy it. If you are going to have a difficult job, give yourself only 10 minutes to get acquainted. You will see that you are drawn in and devote much more time to the project.

Be honest with yourself

Procrastination is a serious problem as long as a person does not admit to himself honestly in his own weakness. Surface estimates will not help you heal. Instead, try to look deep into the problem and become familiar with the reasons that cause you to delay. Perhaps, deep down you do not rely on your own strength, consider yourself not a very qualified specialist, or you are convinced that you will never be able to do it at the proper level. And it does not matter what the reason is - in lack of knowledge or low self-esteem, after discovering the cause of downtime, you can put an end to self-deprecating behavior.

Development of a plan

Start fighting with delays with the development of a realistic plan. This will help you ease the anxiety and simplify the task. First, sit down at the table and break the project into smaller controllable segments. Then, distribute all the tasks received as a matter of priority and estimate how long it will take to complete them. Mark in your calendar the exact deadlines. You can continue to move forward only if you see a tangible goal before you.

To lovers of distractions

If you are inclined to be distracted, arm yourself with the following method: break your work into short 20-minute stretches. This will force you to be as focused as possible and will help to achieve some progress.

A special schedule for each task

Finally, a special schedule will help to defeat procrastination, in which each task and terms of its fulfillment will be fixed. This will allow you to focus, since you will not jump from one project to another. Starting work should be the biggest and most difficult task. Then gradually lower the importance of tasks. Thus, at the end of the day, when you feel tired, you will have to perform the easiest part.