How often do you procrastinate?

Every day, we fill our planners with the tasks needed to be done, immediately or not. And every night, before we go to bed, we tend to imagine ourselves doing that "important tasks" the next day. Then the reality comes in. By the morning, we actually forget how we motivate ourselves last night to get those checklists done. And the day goes by just scrolling through our social media applications, watching Netflix, and forgetting almost everything that we should do.

Let us be honest here. Even the most productive person I know has it in his system, consciously.

How many times do you check your phone? How often do you play games on your computer? And how frequently do you have an energy-drained day, even when you have done nothing? All these things are being unconsciously done even though we are aware that there are more significant and valuable things on our lists.

Here are the three most common reasons why we procrastinate.

It is either:

• the task is too boring,

• the task is too difficult, or

• perfectionism

The task is too boring. In fact, you get bored when that task is not really something that interests you. Or maybe you perceive that task as something that is so simple or insignificant.

The task is too difficult. Overwhelming tasks are more likely to be disregarded from our lists due to their intensity. Generally stated tasks such as "clean the house", "finish writing a book" can exhaust you just by looking at it.

Perfectionism. It is, in my opinion, the most miserable fact in procrastination. We want everything to be perfect, flawless, and fluid. "I am not in the mood, I may not be able to write a great chapter of my book". This state is when we set unrealistic standards yet we are afraid of failing.

Another thing that makes us procrastinate is time.

"Oh, I've still got a week to finish this article. I'll just do it next week."

How to stop procrastinating?

Deleting procrastination in your system does not happen overnight. It is a process, it needs self-discipline and a lot of time. It is not easy, but here are some useful ways to fully stop procrastination from accomplishing and completing your goals.

• Use the Pomodoro technique. If you are struggling to focus on the task, set a timer for 25 minutes and take a 5-minute break after the timer goes off. And when you finally get the hang of it, set the timer for longer periods.

• Slice your tasks into smaller chunks. This helps you from getting overwhelmed with the task at hand.

• Make it exciting. It is not applicable to all of your tasks since some of them require intense focus and seriousness. Play some music when you can, but be wise.

• Reward yourself. Rewards should be diverse depending on the importance of the tasks done. You can only eat your favorite snack after you read 30 pages of that book. Also, be cautious with this one 'cause you might try to fool yourself by setting simple tasks to be rewarded.

A friendly reminder.

Strive excellence, not perfection. Small progress can generate bigger results. Accept your mistakes and continue to improve. Just start, nothing will be done if you don't. And if you feel like you're slowly getting into the slump of procrastination, try to meditate, stretch, or go for a walk. By doing these, you can feel more delighted and motivated to start again.