-Nusrat Farhana Naisa
With schools closed in nations around the world, many of us are grappling with how to stay productive and on task as we work from home. Not only is this challenging, but the factors costing us waste of time, energy and resources are quite problematic to analyses and resolve. While the earth is still spinning and days are going by, our brains are constantly changing; habituating itself to lack of socialization and activities that trigger happy hormones. With loads of work burdened upon these monotonous souls- Assignments, deadlines, coaching and hours after hours of screen time – efficiency has lost its existence in our mindset.
There are two trains of thought – One leads to procrastination and one leads to motivation. And somewhere in between, there is a bridge called anxiety causing indecision, lethargy and inability to focus on even the things you excel in. Let’s first look at the procrastination train of thought (at least that’s going somewhere, am I right?). People often think procrastination is about time management, laziness, or a weak will but that is not the best way to understand procrastination. According to research, negativity related work/studies, lack of confidence, poor emotional state cause people to procrastinate. We procrastinate because some tasks put us in a lousy mood and we want to repair that mood to feel better. Procrastination is the gap between intention to work and the action to work.
If you are procrastinating reading study material, it’s probably related to some perceived anxiety based on the outcome of studying. Perhaps, if you start studying, you’ll realize you don’t know anything. Or maybe you’ll feel that you are not smart enough to even begin addressing the study material. Even your ability to concentrate and focus on work is related to procrastination because a lack of motivation and forcing yourself to study is a source of negative emotions. Let’s now look at the motivation train of thought, shall we? No, watching motivational videos doesn’t work. Our brain needs to activate its production of hormones such as dopamine, which makes us feel good; serotonin, reduces depression; and endorphins, produces while exercising, gives us positive feeling. And emotional regulation is the most effective way of triggering these hormones. Emotional regulation doesn’t only mean regulating the core psychological positive structure of mentality but physical wellness as well. This train of motivation depends on your actions and decisions.
Here are some possible insights of emotional regulation to avoid procrastination:
Don’t leave any job/tasks for later as it just piles up the mountain of work already pending. Divide and organizing your work into small tasks also may help you. Get psychologically and physically close to your task and make it realistic and tangible. That’ll allow your brain to accept the goals and rewards more readily. Build resilience and tolerance for negative emotions and find an alternate mood or a reminder so that you can have an incentive to work on. Plan up a fixed schedule for you week depending on the amount of deadline you got and targets to fulfill. Reward yourself with breaks and finally keep calm.
Take one tiny step at a time because the tinier the step feels, the smaller the emotions around it become. This will increase your self-efficacy (belief in your abilities & capacity) and reduce task-avoidance. Baby-steps will help you gradually overcoming habits and building a positive aura of improvement in you mindset and mood. What if no matter how small the task is, it’s still dreadful? No job is perfect. You will always at some point find yourself faced with tedious and uninteresting tasks that you must complete. Sometimes you just need to suck it up and push through. To stay motivated, plan to complete positive tasks along with the negative ones. This will regulate your emotions, and ensure that you don’t only do the things that you “feel like” doing. Always remember to keep your eye on the big picture, which will give meaning to all of your tasks (even the tedious ones).
When you alter your attitude towards your obligations, it will make the tasks seem less tedious. It takes a lot of practice and reinforcement, but eventually it will change your work ethic. Refer to these tips to help you beat procrastination every time!
Comments