Why is it essential to find tools to master your procrastination?
Procrastination’s an ancient behavior; it didn’t come along with modern life. But modern life increased it.
It’s reasonable to say that the first bout of procrastination arrived the same day as the first assigned task.
More detailed descriptions of procrastination — its methods and ways of prevention — emerged around the Renaissance. One of the earliest proclamations against procrastination came from the ancient Greek poet Hesiod.
In his poem “Work and Days,” Hesiod addresses his brother:
“Do not put your work off till tomorrow and the day after; for a sluggish worker does not fill his barn, nor one who puts off his work: industry makes work go well, but a man who puts off work is always at hand-grips with ruin.”
Leonardo Davinci completed fewer than 20 paintings in his lifetime, spending 16 years on the Mona Lisa alone, not necessarily because the Mona Lisa was a challenging painting for him. Instead of painting, Leonardo often took to doodling in his notebooks. In form, his procrastination didn’t look much different from yours or mine. His doodles resulted in notebooks filled with inventions such as the helicopter, a metal-rolling mill, and the wheel-lock musket, plus sophisticated designs for bridges, a moveable wall for Venice, and highly detailed maps that were sometimes centuries ahead of their time.
In July 2020, a neuropsychologist diagnosed my IQ was highest than the average with ADHD (Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). These diagnoses first felt like a HUGE ISSUE but explained my behaviors at school and work. Not forgetting that I’m also a divergent thinker with diffuse thinking.
These two diagnoses explained so many things:
Why I could work in a certain way at a specific time? Why do I have an issue with staying concentrated? Why did I have to proofread many times my writings more than others seemed to do?
But most of all, why do I procrastinate on something I love and feel paralyzed on working over them?
As a digital communication facilitator with ADHD, I decided to find tools to be the best version of myself for the customers that trusted me knowing my diagnoses, as I’ve been very transparent about it with them.
Everybody has some concerns with procrastination. Because if you’re working on something, it means you’re not working on many other things. But some people have more struggles with procrastination than others.
I found various tools to help me be the facilitator I’m now and serve businesses and entrepreneurs to succeed in their great missions and goals. I want to share with you one of the tools.
As a lover of neuroscience, I’ve learned that when you look at something that you really would rather not do, it seems that you activate the areas of your brain associated with pain.
It seems that the following steps are happening when you procrastinate;
First, you observe and get a sign about something that causes little discomfort.
Second, you don’t like it, so to make the sensation go away, you turn your attention to whatever caused that unease.
Third, you turn toward something more pleasant. As a result, you feel happier, temporarily.
As procrastinators, we are aware that we always feel guilty about not doing what we wanted to do but didn’t because we are perfectionists or afraid to fail. Procrastination comes very often along with complex and passionate tasks.
Here is a mental tool invented by Francesco Cirillo in the early 1980s, named the Pomodoro (Tomato in Italian). Cirillo struggled to focus on his studies and complete assignments. Feeling overwhelmed, he asked himself to perform to just 10 minutes of focused study time. Inspired by the challenge, he found a tomato (Pomodoro in Italian) shaped kitchen timer, and the Pomodoro technique was born.
Before explaining the easy peasy Pomodoro mental tool, you must think about what is precisely a disturbance for yourself when you accomplish a task.
Besides the ADHD, my creativity and curiosity interrupt me from concentrating; hearing people speaking can also make me lose concentration. It means that I will have to forbid myself from going on another task, even if my creativity brings me to do so.
As I’m a freelancer working remotely, I won’t need to ask anybody to stop talking, but if you are working in an office, you could put on headphones or earplugs to avoid paying attention to others’ talks. For 12 years, my phone has always turned on silence to decide whether or not I want to take a call so that it does not disturb me. Maybe you would like to turn off your phone ring and sounds.
Once you’ve defined what an interruption for you is, Set a timer to 25 minutes, turn off all interruptions, and then focus; That’s it!
Most anybody can focus for 25 minutes. Give yourself a little prize when you’re done. A few minutes of meditation or cardiac coherence, a cup of coffee or tea, a quick shower, or a bite of chocolate, even just stretching or chatting mindlessly, allowing your brain to shift its focus for a while.
To recap for the Pomodoro Techniques:
Step-1 Pick a task
Step-2 Set 25-minute timer
Step-3 Work on your task until the time is up
Step-4 Take a 5-minute relaxing break
Step-5 Every 4 pomodoros, take a longer 15 or 30-minutes break
This is what I did to prepare this sharing for you.
You’ll find that using the Pomodoro technique is very effective. It’s a little like doing an intense 25-minute workout at a mental gym. Followed by some mental relaxation. Give it a try.
Thank you for your time and reading.
