Overcome Procrastination and Start the Project: But First, Self-Regulate
It seems as though entrepreneurs today feel pressure to be on their A-game consistently. The rise of hustle culture puts pressure on innovators to maintain a rest-when-you’re-dead mindset. As it turns out, hustle culture can be harmful and may lead to various unintended consequences such as burnout and productivity loss. The detrimental effects of the hustle and grind lifestyle impact your ability to start a project successfully, which leads to pressure to procrastinate.
As much as people would like to blame the Internet for procrastination behaviors we’ve seen over the past two decades, putting things off is not a new problem. However, despite what our parents may have instilled in us, procrastination isn’t necessarily indicative of laziness or an absence of care. Experts say procrastination has nothing to do with a lack of self-discipline at all.
What is procrastination?
Procrastination is an issue of emotional and self-regulation. Our brains are hardwired to put up a fight when we take on projects we don’t love. Similar to other compulsive expressions — like eating a treat that makes you sick, or gambling — procrastination occurs in the form of emotion-avoidant behavior when we cling to the immediate reward of not doing an unpleasant task.
How procrastination affects your health (and career)
Research suggests that procrastination harms your mental and physical health. Procrastination can lead to depression and anxiety; it also increases stress levels, causing headaches, digestive problems, insomnia, and other illnesses.
A tweet (that ultimately turned into a procrastination meme) by writer Kimberly King Parsons said: “Took Me Eleven Minutes to do That Thing I’ve Been Avoiding for Three Months: A Memoir.” Why is this quote so hilariously (and painfully) relatable? At some point, we’ve all felt the ridiculous outcome of finally completing something that caused so much unnecessary stress and anxiety simply because we put it off.
How to get started on a project (and finish!)
If you’d like to know how to overcome procrastination and get started on your next best project, here are some steps you can take.
Be mindful: Whether through meditation or keeping a daily health log, it’s time to start paying attention to your emotions. To overcome procrastination and start your projects on time, you must identify when feelings of anxiety, defeat, and self-criticism are triggered. Once you accomplish this, you can manage the emotions and change your behavior.
Create an optimal performance environment: When it’s time to get started on a new project, make sure you have the necessary tools and resources on-hand and set yourself up for success. Develop and support a good team and set the ground rules for robust remote work policies. Avoid unnecessary distractions by planning and blocking out dedicated time.
Prioritize work-life balance: Giving yourself a break, doing something leisurely, and spending time with friends and family allows you to produce good work consistently. You’ll improve creativity and innovation and reduce your chances of burnout. With firm productivity and a fresh mind, you’re more likely to tackle the next project on your to-do list.
Establish a project management lifecycle: Define your goals, outline a work plan, delegate tasks, plan for back-up, and monitor ongoing results.
Work smarter: It’s true, starting a project requires overcoming procrastination. And working smarter will help keep you going and ultimately finish. Consider utilizing time-management tools such as the Pomodoro Technique to break up tasks into manageable segments. Maintain specific office hours, so you know you have to get things done within a specified timeframe. Track your time spent on each task so you can identify inefficiencies in your project management. If you require more time to complete specific tasks over others, determine whether there is a lack of resources or organization.
Only you know what’s keeping you from creating your best work at the end of the day. Do what you need to do to get in the zone, stay focused, and get the job done.
