“Procrastination is like a credit card: it’s a lot of fun until you get the bill.”— Christopher Parker
Even though your goals have a deadline, do you not care about them? Do you wait until the last minute to start something? Do you find it challenging to start the tasks assigned to you? Do you always keep playing the waiting game despite feeling guilty later for delaying your work? If you answered yes to most of these questions, you might be dealing with PROCRASTINATION.
It seems the term procrastination is beyond your comprehension. This is fine, mate. You are not alone in the league of unschooled fellows. Many of you might be unacquainted with the term procrastination and its intellectual sense. The meaning of procrastination is simple — it, in its entirety, refers to avoiding or delaying something important that needs immediate attention and should be started immediately without a second thought.
Reasons that Leads to Procrastination
Despite your desire to achieve great things in your life, you might tend to put off your important tasks until tomorrow. If you do, adding the title “procrastinator” to your name makes complete sense. A substantial body of evidence supports the argument that postponing work is a bad idea that, eventually, turns out to become an involuntary habit, i.e., a habit that is hard to break. Now when you are informed what procrastination is all about, you may be wondering about the aspects that lead you just to be a good-for-nothing soul who keeps postponing every important thing in his cart.
Listed below are the three main types of procrastination, which explain the reasons you get caught up in this tendency of unwillingness to get going:
Behavioural Procrastination
Behavioural procrastination refers to the act of shifting blame and avoiding action. Behavioural procrastination can be viewed as irrational behaviour—delaying a desired course of action despite being aware that this will lead to an undesirable outcome. You may, for instance, do poorly in an exam as you can blame your failure on the lack of time. Furthermore, procrastinators are found to be suffering from low self-esteem and self-doubt about their abilities. Self-defeating behaviour and procrastination create a vicious cycle of self-destruction.
Decisional Procrastination
Decisional procrastination involves delaying making a decision when faced with conflict or choice. High-level decisional procrastinators tend to be perfectionists and fear errors. Rather than making a decision, procrastinators try to uncover more and more information before attempting one. Procrastinators who overestimate the difficulty of making a decision may fall prey to what is termed “optional paralysis,” a strategy in which they create so many options for themselves that they feel they are unable to choose, fearing that they will choose something less than ideal.
Optimistic Procrastination
An optimistic procrastinator usually relays that everything is under control by predicting that you will succeed in completing a task even under tight deadlines. As a result, you do not even think of starting. For example, you might estimate it will take you just five days to write a paper, and you still have fifteen days left; but do not start thinking you have plenty of time. At this point, you are too optimistic about taking a decision. Chances are, when you procrastinate out of optimism, you will never make any progress.
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Procrastination may Lead to Anxieties
One of the main obstacles to living the life you’ve dreamed of is procrastination. Procrastination and anxiety go hand-in-hand as putting off important chores lead to nothing but anxiety in your life. People often tend to hang on to their work till the last minute and experience high levels of stress and anxiety when the deadline comes. Research suggests that 63% of people leave their work until the last minute while engaging in unuseful activities such as social media, Internet surfing, etc.
It is not uncommon for procrastinators to be stressed out. This habit can make your intellectual and psychological being sick. The more you leave your important things for tomorrow, the greater your chances of finding no way out to move forward. So it is wise to get your ways apart from procrastination before you get psychologically mature with the habit of holding back.
Books can be Your Source of Motivation to Conquer Procrastination
A funny definition has been coined for procrastination — an act that ruins your life for no reason. If you don’t take concrete steps to stop procrastination, you will never be able to overcome the habit of leaving things for the next hour. Every victim of procrastination willfully wants to quit the habit but finds himself clueless on ways to get through it successfully. Lifestyle experts find books the best source of motivation when conquering this “I will do it later” tendency.
Our passivity can lead to procrastination at times. It can also indicate that we aren’t working on the right thing. Here are ten experts-recommended books that can help us discover effective strategies for overcoming procrastination before it becomes chronic.
Following Through: A Revolutionary New Model for Finishing Whatever You Start
Author Name– Steve Levinson Ph.D., Pete Greider M.Ed.
Date of Publishing– 1998
Goodreads Rating– 3.80
Review-
An in-depth examination of why people are unable to act on intelligent decisions they make is presented in this book. By not holding people responsible for follow-through failures, the book releases them from a lot of pressure. It argues that failure to follow through isn’t entirely your fault. A human mind’s design flaw primarily causes it. You can also dramatically improve your ability to accomplish whatever you intelligently decide to do if you understand the flaw and use follow-up strategies to work creatively around it, the authors suggest in the book.
The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It
Author Name– Kelly McGonigal
Year of Publishing– 2011
Goodreads Rating– 4.12
Review–
This book discusses how to stop procrastination and increase productivity from a scientific perspective. Various academic studies have been conducted on this topic in recent years. A wide range of research is discussed, including psychology, neuroscience, and economics. In my opinion, this research can be instrumental in reducing procrastination because it contains some of the newest, most cutting-edge information available.
Solving the Procrastination Puzzle: A Concise Guide to Strategies for Change
Author Name– Timothy A. Pychyl
Year of Publishing– 2013
Goodreads Rating– 3.69
Review-
The next book that holds the spot in our list of best books to overcome procrastination is “Solving the Procrastination Puzzle: A Concise Guide to Strategies for Change” by Timothy A. Pychyl. The Canadian academician has tried well to put his psychological perspectives in the book to unpuzzle the complex course of procrastination that an individual unknowingly might go through. The author provides procrastinators with a comprehensive guide to tackling the habit of humming and hawing. The book is a quick read and contains clear and concise methods and strategies that are useful for procrastinators to combat postponement and the habit of avoiding accomplishing a task.
The Productivity Project: Accomplishing More by Managing Your Time, Attention, and Energy
Author Name- Chris Bailey
Year of Publishing– 2016
Goodreads Rating– 3.94
Review-
One man’s year-long journey examining what drives procrastination may appeal to those who would like more scientific detail. Some of Chris’ techniques might be helpful to those who fail to thwart procrastination through “traditional” means. He took substantial time and effort to study procrastination and possible antidotes to fight the problem.
The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business
Author Name- Charles Duhigg
Year of Publishing- 2012
Goodreads Rating– 4.12
Review-
While this book does not explicitly discuss procrastination, it provides insight into how and why we behave in specific ways. It contains valuable insight into changing how you perceive and approach your day and the course of your life, whether you are struggling with compulsive gambling, procrastination, or even brushing your teeth in the morning. This excellent book provides a lot of helpful information about remodelling life on both personal and professional fronts.
Do the Work: Overcome Resistance and Get Out of Your Own Way
Author Name- Steven Pressfield
Year of Publishing- 2011
Goodreads Rating– 3.95
Review-
This book offers some of the most valuable insights into procrastination psychology, so you will not be left without anything to do with it. In its natural state, procrastination is not much of a force unless we feed it with our negative thoughts. It also means, in many ways, that we hold ourselves back from achieving what we really want because we are our biggest enemies. Don’t let things stand in your way, and start focusing on what matters by giving a thorough read to the book.
Exceptional: Build Your Personal Highlight Reel and Unlock Your Potential
Author Name- Daniel M. Cable
Year of Publishing- 2020
Goodreads Rating– 3.80
Review-
On the surface, this title doesn’t seem to have anything to do with overcoming laziness. We guarantee that anyone can benefit from the lessons it teaches. The key to overcoming procrastination isn’t just understanding how to do it. Working with your potential also requires that you never let it fade under the charm of idleness. The book by Daniel M. Cable is one of the most read books you can use to learn how to master this skill.
Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity
Author Name- David Allen
Year of Publishing- 2018
Goodreads Rating– 3.80
Review-
Is procrastination always the first thing you prefer to go with when you see your to-do list? Postponing things to do later is normal as it gives an individual a protective setting to avoid the fear of accomplishment to be made and the commitments to be delivered. However, there are ways to help you play hard, no matter how hard the game is. This best seller from David Allen sheds some insightful light on how one can set his mindset to go strong for anything that he commits to complete within a set time frame. Giving a read to the book will bring you some useful ideas to develop a productive lifestyle, i.e., to put up a fight against procrastination.
The 5 AM Club: Own Your Morning. Elevate Your Life
Author Name- Robin Sharma
Year of Publishing- 19
Goodreads Rating– 3
Review-
Robin Sharma, who is one of the renowned Indian authors, spells out his well-thought-out views on setting a disciplined path to a punctual life. He explains the importance of the morning routine, i.e., when and how you get up after a whole night-long sleep and spend the early hours of your daytime. What the author stresses in the book for an individual is to be a morning person. To feel motivated and productive the rest of the day, you need to revise your morning routine. Thousands of people have already benefited from The 5 AM Club. Ready to discover how magical mornings can be? Leaf through the valuable thoughts of Robin Sharma in this well-written book.
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
Author Name- Daniel H. Pink
Year of Publishing- 2009
Goodreads Rating– 3.95
Review-
Motivation and inspiration often work like twins to simultaneously transform your life. However, it never seems to be predictable when they will show up. But every time, you are surprised when they leave. Motivation can undoubtedly drive your life’s path to have a positive influence to take a leap ahead, and the book by the renowned American author can lick your mind into shape to set the right pitch for motivation. Daniel H. Pink’s book Drive explains how the mystery of motivation can be decoded. Even though the book has got its spot last in the list of the best books for procrastination, nothing makes it less credible and valuable than other books when it comes to getting your ways right to stop procrastination.
Conclusion
Hopefully, the above 10 books for procrastination can be your aid against your idleness, temperament that drifts you to postpone things, and negative energy that leads. Get through the whole text 0f any of the above books to mend the ways leading you towards a contemplative life that gets you stuck in the waiting game full of procrastination and unknowing resistance to act.
