Strategies to overcome procrastination from Procrastination Matrix: Explained

1. Vocabulary:

Use a positive choice of words regarding your tasks. Start your tasks on a positive note. Use positive affirmations like “I can do it”, “I will try it” instead of “I hate this task”.Try!

2. Reverse Calendar:

Work your way backward from final-deadline to develop an action plan. Break the tasks into chunks. Work from backward to start.

3. Filling your schedule:

Fill your schedules with non-work related tasks and activities. When all the tasks get mixed up in your schedule, you will feel like you have limited time to work on important tasks. You will start working on essential tasks ASAP.

4. Work in flow-state:

Don’t break the workflow in the name of taking breaks. Resume after quick breaks for clearing your mind. Try taking deep-breath, a quick walk, etc.

5. Fully Embraced Goals:

Try to embrace your tasks. Doing things that you don’t care or not interested in will reinforce procrastination. Sometimes you need “commitment” to finish the task given, even if you don’t like it.

6. Tiny Steps:

Enormous tasks will be overwhelming. Break it down. Achieving smaller tasks will be easy for you to avoid procrastination. Quick wins will motivate.

7. Make your rewards:

Reward yourself after completing a task. It feels good to finish a task for a pleasing reward.

8. Reframe its importance:

Stop thoughts like 'Why should I do it? It doesn’t seem important to me', ‘I couldn’t connect with the task’. Bring the attitude of “It can help people if I do this”. Connect with a task and finish it.

9. Sleep, Eat, Healthy, Exercise:

Health and fitness are important to stay motivated in whatever you do.

10. Uncover Start & End Points:

Identify the starting and ending points of your task. It will be easy to plan things.

What is Procrastination Matrix?

The procrastination matrix is made of two important variables.

First: 5 Major Reasons for Procrastination

  • Fear of Failing
  • Lacking Motivation
  • Lacking Focus
  • Feeling Overwhelmed
  • Unpleasant tasks.

Second: Suggested-Strategies for Overcoming Procrastination

  1. Vocabulary: Using Positive affirmations like “I can do it”.
  2. Reverse Calendar: Starting from Final Deadline and moving back towards the start.
  3. Filling your schedule: Packed schedule gives less time for all task completion. You will start sooner.
  4. Work in flow-state: Taking breaks without breaking the workflow.
  5. Fully Embraced Goals: Unless you strongly commit, no action will execute your work. Embrace what needs to be done.
  6. Tiny Steps: Break your tasks. Work small.
  7. Make your rewards: It’s another way to stay motivated throughout the workflow.
  8. Reframe its importance: A little attitude adjustment can help you in overcoming procrastination with a task.
  9. Sleep, Eat, Healthy, and Exercise: Healthy Mind Starts with a Healthy Body.
  10. Uncover Start & End Points: Identify where you have to start and what’s the end goal of a task. With these, you can easily fill the middle.

How does Procrastination Matrix work?

The Procrastination Matrix suggests appropriate strategies for different procrastination reasons.

  1. Feeling Overwhelmed, the suitable strategies mapped are A, B, C, D, E, and F.
  2. For “Unpleasant Tasks”, the strategies mapped include A, B, C, D, E, and F.
  3. For “Lacking Focus”, the strategies mapped are A, B, C, D, and E.
  4. For “Lacking Motivation”, the strategies mapped are A, B, C, D, and E.
  5. For “Fear of Failing”, the strategies to overcome procrastination are mapped to A to H.

Note: Draw a table. Fill the rows with “5-Reasons for Procrastination”. Fill the columns with “suitable-strategies”. For every reason, start marking a dot/mark on the suggested strategy given here. Try this if you like to visualize the procrastination-matrix.

How does Procrastination Matrix work? How can I use it to overcome my Procrastination?

To beat procrastination, you need to cross three stages. They are:

  1. Identifying the Reasons for Procrastination.
  2. Finding suitable strategies to overcome respective Procrastination habit.
  3. Applying Strategies.

The procrastination matrix helps you in covering all three stages. Let’s see it.

How the Procrastination Matrix work?

Step 1:

The Procrastination Matrix has summarized 5 popular reasons which make people procrastinate namely;

  1. Unpleasant tasks.
  2. Fear of failures.
  3. Lack of motivation.
  4. Feeling Overwhelmed.
  5. Lack of Focus.

Pick the reason that you can associate closely.

Step 2:

By now, you will have a clear picture of what is the reason behind your procrastination. The Procrastination Matrix suggests suitable strategies for each cause of procrastination.

For Ex: If you are procrastinating due to “lack of focus”, the matrix suggests suitable strategies like:

  1. Fill your schedule with all kinds of tasks: By seeing it, you will think about how little time you have for completing important tasks. You will start acting quickly.
  2. Self-Rewards: It brings motivation throughout the task completion.
  3. Maintain good sleep and proper health: It upholds your mental focus.
  4. Work in Tiny Blocks: You can focus more.

Step 3:

This stage is up to you now. You now know why you procrastinate. You know how to solve it. All you have to do is put those strategies into action.

Conclusion:

As far as procrastination is concerned, every technique is like a trial and error. What works for you may not work for me to beat my procrastination habit. The procrastination matrix here is a generic approach. It gives the possible reasons why people procrastinate and the suitable strategies to overcome it. The procrastination matrix is useful in solving the procrastination habit step by step.