Anyone can be a victim of procrastination, it's an easy way that everyone gets stuck. Sometimes you may not even realize you are actually doing it because you keep on creating reasons in your head on why you can delay the task at hand. However, what you need to understand is that procrastination goes a long way than just simple time management and this is one of the focused principles of Tim Pychyl, a psychologist and associate professor at Carleton University.
Pychyl dedicated more than 2 decades for the study of procrastination, to better understand the reasons why people put off some important tasks.
According to his research, one of the most important things you have to do is to recognize that people have the tendency to procrastinate because they do not want to feel bad about a burdensome task ahead.
"First, you have to recognize it's about feeling good in the short term," Pychyl tells Business Insider.
"That's the place you have to start conceptually," he says.
So that means that all you have to do is to decide by yourself to start. You simply just have to start, whether it's turning on your laptop, picking up a clutter, flipping a page of a book, anything that will serve as your first action.
"And when we make an action concrete," Pychyl says, "we believe that action now belongs to the present and has a sense of urgency."
Another danger of being a procrastinator is when it develops as a habit and repeat it for days and weeks and months. Pychyl says the only remedy needed is for you to be specific. Set a specific time and date for when you will do your tasks and act on it.
"You set a stimulus for action into the environment," Pychyl says. Turn those goals into a reality by making them happen. Start engaging in a task and commit to finishing it, and you will realize how you have accomplished something you never thought you would.
