#How to Beat Procrastination

INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Hello and welcome to the Malkan Show podcast. I am Meghana Malkan, thanks so much for joining me today for this episode of the podcast.

I know your time is valuable and I am really happy that you are listening to me today. I have begun this podcast because after being coached by the world’s best, I wanted to share with you guys what success habits, success tools, and cues have helped me get onto higher levels of performance at work, have great relationships with my spouse and kids and what really helped me stay focused and motivated all the time.

So, guys let’s dive into the next episode. Procrastination something which is a part of our everyday lives yet most of us don’t seem to be doing much about it. Let’s understand first what is the meaning of procrastination.

This is something like intentional postponing of tasks without any specific reason. So, it just a lethargic drifting along without any intention of start doing a task with could either be important or unimportant, let alone completing the task.

The task never gets struck out from our to-do list and that is frustrating. Some common examples, for instance, plans to reorganize the cupboard, iron our clothes, do laundry, call someone we wanted to or send that email, visit a shop or a temple, and so on and so forth.

Everyone regardless of caste or gender or age is a victim of procrastination at one time or another. But what bothers us most is a chronic habit of differing important things that affect our productivity in the long run.

Surprisingly we all claim to have the knowledge of procrastination and its ill effects but regrettably, we continue to indulge in it. However, knowledge is not enough unless it is applied in real life. Remember the principle of knowing vs owning.

You need to own it and just not know it. Mere planning is not enough, concrete action has to follow for the plan to be successful. The habit of procrastination is age-old and universal.

This is the behavioral trait of doing something when something is else is long pending and important. A kind of lack of control over oneself. Scientific studies and findings are filled with evidence that the higher you are on the ladder of life, the greater are the chances that you tend to procrastinate more often.

I believe we could avoid procrastination at any cost because once you hear of its impending dangers you will definitely feel like doing so. If not overcome substantively you will definitely lead to loss of big career opportunities, loss of self-confidence, and respect. Lack of fulfillment, depression, and may also lead to many other mental and physical disorders.

So, let's understand the reason why do we procrastinate in the first place? We all know well that the habit of postponing things is an undesirable habit but still why do we procrastinate. Unfortunately, though, knowing is the beginning of wisdom and not the end. We must sincerely put it into practice.

So let's discover some significant reason for this habit. First and foremost, the reason could be time inconsistency.

There’s a lot of research that shows that time inconsistency is the tendency of the human brain to value instant rewards as being superior to long term rewards. So, to be explicit all of us have two major compartments in our minds.

The present and the future. Say when you set a goal of improving your health by regular morning walks, the rewards, and the future but the action has to start now. There are no immediate rewards that can be perceived in the present. The action gets delayed because the rewards in the future are really invisible right now.

One more example is the goal to consistently set apart a percentage of our present earnings as savings for a comfortable living as we grow older. Knowing well the advantage of this habit we still chose to spend now because it brings immediate pleasure, something called immediate gratification.

The second reason could be your perceived difficulty with a task.

Yes, usually it's just a perception and not a reality.

Your mind weaves a string of difficulties and inconveniences that might confront you if you take up the task right now.

Say the planned task is to enroll and complete a degree course in a university.

The mind suddenly becomes hyperactive and smart in spreading before you the problems you may have to face in new subjects, hard work, the sacrifice of leisure time.

Forgoing pleasant activities like recreation and relaxation and uncertainty of success. Besides it also involves some expenditure which could otherwise be spent on so-called fun and enjoyment. So when you take up the course you cannot meet your friends, you cannot have that fun as often as you are doing right now.

Let's go to the third factor and that’s the fear factor. This is the one that pushes you to procrastinate to the highest. It is a fear of failure, it is a fear of being ridiculed and wasting all your efforts and time that leads to procrastination. Your mind keeps on repeating the statement to yourself, why start this task and face failure and ridicule in the first place. It’s better not to start to be comfortable.

No failure, no ridicule. It forces you to be in your comfort zone. But know for sure these fear factors are totally unfounded. Not even one in ten times it proves to be right. The wrong kind of fear is a sin. As a matter of fact, nothing in life has to be feared.

Remember the principle Helen Cohen talks about in his beautiful book, A course of Miracles made Easy. He says there are only two things that exist in life, one is fear and one is love. And they both cannot exist at the same time. So, when you are engulfed with fear, know that it is love that’s missing.

This principle can only be understood, so go forth and confront your fear and it will totally disappear. You can replace it with love straight away.

The fourth, reason can be your obsession for perfection. And this is a personality trait for many of us. The desire to be perfect is of course welcome and a positive trait but the obsession to be that perfect person is so full of misery both to yourself and others around you.

So, if you keep your benchmarks too high, some people look for those real high benchmarks everywhere. But generally achieving a 100% quality standard in a short-targeted date is always a tough task. The thinking that one should do it perfectly well, or not to do anything at all is neither practical nor desirable.

The last one is your attitude which sometimes goes into the negative zone. It’s looking for excuses, why the task should not be started in the first place, or why it's sure to annoy others. Somehow you have the feeling that it’s not proper now to start the task. Just that empty negative feeling without no proper reasons at all.

These are 5 major factor which leads us to procrastinate more, most of the times. Having known the factors let’s get onto the crux on how do you stop procrastinating. If the cause is behavioral then think of this way to handle it. Consciously prepone the perceived rewards. Think of the immediate feel-good factor of your morning walk. Realize the negative effects of overspending in the present.

Your ill-health, reduced savings, false friends around you, etc. So, the first thing first is when you think that the task is difficult, try to understand clearly that difficulty is a concomitant of any achievement worth striving for. Most of the so-called difficulties are just imaginary.

Think of the positive benefits of working on a task, both in the course of doing it and in the end. There’s joy in the journey and you can really enjoy the process regardless of the final outcome.

Learning something new is not only fun but also a brain stimulator. Success, in the end, brings laurels in society and making you capable of earning more by putting in the same number of working hours.

The second one is to analyze and breakdown tasks into smaller components so that it becomes easy for you to tackle them. Breaking down a task into small manageable sub-tasks makes the task comfortable and simple besides beating another obstacle which is bringing the rewards nearer in time.

Above all the difficulty of any task melts down gradually as you start doing it. It's either or both a psychological phenomenon and a divine seek. The mind has this uncanny trait of continuing your thinking pattern and concentrating completely on whatever you are doing.

And the divinity always has the tendency of supporting your activities. Imagine God saying to you just start your task and I will take care of the finish line. The third one now, a very important on it is. When it is a fear factor that keeps you procrastinating know for sure that baseless fear is the only sin.

Most of the fears are only a pyramid of your imagination, they never come true. So, analyze and breakdown your fear into different factors and it’ll crumple under its own falsehood. Realize how your bundle of fears right from childhood and until now have never come true. Believe in yourself and trust in god. Fear does disappear.

Now the fourth one, perfection. Perfection is really a misleading concept. The pursuit of perfection always lands you and others in misery. While perfection is welcome, it is not necessary to be 100% perfect regarding your quality or the target time.

Now, the last one, what to do if negativity comes over. Defeat negativity by thinking positively, concentrate on how the task can be completed rather than digging out all the reasons why it won’t work. Stay committed at all times right from the start until the completion of the task.

And of course, there are many more reasons for procrastination. Like lack of motivation and focus, low stamina, completing tasks which are easier, lack of knowledge and expertise, too many distractions, the wrong thought that postponing things will automatically solve the problem and so and so forth.

Never concentrate over brood over these negatives but think of the solutions and the positives. That’s the way to success. And last but not the least, take advice from the Holy Bhagavad-Gita.

The lord has recognized the starting troubles and confirmed and reassured that if you do your duty without thinking of the imagined adverse consequences, success is guaranteed. You are not to give undue importance to the fruits of your actions but just concentrate on what is expected of you.

Lord Krishna says your right is to work and only do your work never to the fruits thereof. So, do not be the cause of your action nor let your attachment lead to inaction. The message of the Gita is to induce us into action and pull us away from procrastination and inaction.

May 16th, 2020   #The Malkan Show