Nine out of ten people suffer from procrastination: that habit-forming tendency to put off things you don't want to do! Sounds like the perfect topic for an article – and guess what, it is!

The Four Reasons For Every Day Procrastination

The four main reasons for procrastination are-

Distractions - These can take many forms, from surfing the internet or checking social media or texts to housework or chores. The key is identifying the particular type of distraction and either curtailing usage of distractions or learning how to handle them better
Apathy - This is when tasks seem too difficult and we don't feel like putting forth any effort
Impatience - When there's no sense of enough urgency
Perfectionism - This occurs when people are able to be successful at many tasks but they view failure as unacceptable

Solution To How We Overcome Procrastination

The problem with procrastination is that it's not just self-defeating: It acts as a magnet for unhappiness. The cycle goes something like this, according to a Psychology Today article, "As we postpone what needs to be done, we feel worse and worse about ourselves because of all the pressure and obligations building up." And this makes us want to avoid our tasks even more, which means more procrastinating and the cycle continues until things end with failed projects or deadlines at work or school.

Helpful Tips To Avoid Procrastinating

Set Short Term Goals
Make Procrastination Unappealing
Invest in a To-Do List/Tracker
Keep Your Desk Clear
Start Early
To beat procrastination, set a deadline
Even when the task feels either boring and/or difficult, putting yourself on a timeline will make it seem less daunting
Find the right time of day to work on your task. Some people find mornings to be more productive while others prefer evenings or early in the morning. Consider what type of environment is most conducive to achieving your desired creativity. This will depend on the task at hand, but you might need to consider things like temperature and caffeine intake
Finally, try rewarding yourself after completing an assignment swiftly with a fun activity

Stopping Self Destructing Goals

The best way of stopping this is to put in place a system that alerts you when you are off task. If procrastination is a big problem for you, set an alarm every 50 minutes so that if you find yourself distracted, the jingle will help you focus. Alternatively, if an unwanted thought pops into your mind, take note in your notebook and then move on to something else. Learn to cope with negative thoughts but don’t allow them to drag you away from being productive.

How To Be More Active In Our Lives

We all know that telling ourselves to stop procrastinating can be like telling ourselves not to smoke, we want to do it. Procrastination for some people is a way of life. A pattern that starts in their childhood years when they may play instead of doing the work set by their teacher, it's a way of life that then develops into adulthood without them even noticing. This can happen when an adult sets goals and doesn't accomplish them due to feeling guilty or like they have too much on their plate so they make up reasons as to why they won't start that goal which are in reality excuses. For this person there may be one overarching theme which is fear of failure; breaking free from procrastination takes hard work.

For some people procrastination is about fear, fear of starting as once they started on a task when it comes to doing that next thing or step, then there could be criticism or judgement from others or maybe they feel they don't have all the facts before they take their first step towards their goal and it could affect how they feel in a negative way. For these people whose main reason for procrastinating is fear, the very word procrastinate has such an easy ring to it.