What To Do When Procrastination Is Ruining Your Life?

You are in bed, sad and unmotivated, while repeating these exact words to yourself: “Procrastination is ruining my life.”

I want to be honest with you; I experienced this situation hundreds of times.

Yes, I’ve always been a procrastinator, so I know very well what it feels like.

You can’t get things done.

You delay each of your tasks and mess around with your coworkers or closest friends.

These are some of the few effects of procrastinating.

Happiness seems like a distant memory, and you regret every decision you took so far.

So, what can you do besides crying on you?

In this guide, I will tell you how procrastination ruined my life and what I’ve done to regain control of my life.

I’ll give you practical and effective advice that allowed me to break out of this vicious cycle.

Key Takeaways

• Procrastination can badly impact your mental health conditions and other areas of life, such as your career path.
  
  You can also feel overwhelmed, especially when it becomes a habit.
  
  
• Start by recognizing your capability of achieving results and take small steps towards breaking the cycle of procrastination.
  
• Introduce healthy habits such as daily exercise, setting achievable goals, and getting enough sleep to combat chronic procrastination.
  
• Use specific productivity tools and apps to track progress and minimize distractions.
  
• A therapist can help you reduce anxiety and defeat procrastination; don’t be ashamed about this situation.

When procrastination is ruining your life?

Procrastination can destroy your life, but sometimes it’s hard to admit we have a problem.

According to recent facts on procrastination, we waste over 55 days a year doing that.

Everyone procrastinates, but you get to a point when it’s just ” too much”.

Here are some situations that made me realize I needed to do something about procrastination.

You’re not working to achieve your goals

What are your dreams?

Do you even have a goal?

When I was 22, I was lost.

I felt like I was living my life without a clear purpose.

I didn’t even have a goal, a dream job, or anything else.

Every day was exactly the same, and I wasn’t doing anything useful for my personal development.

Procrastination makes everything more difficult.

When you keep putting things off, you no longer try because you think, ” I can’t achieve anything.”

When you lack clear goals and always feel bad, it’s time to take action.

You can’t meet deadlines

Your boss assigns you an important task.

But since procrastination is now a habit, you keep putting it off.

Maybe because you think, “I’ll do it at the last minute because I work better under stress” ( excessive perfectionism).

Or you think, “This job has to be perfect, and now I’m not in the right mindset”.

The deadline comes, and you still haven’t finished the work yet.

Your boss is disappointed and doesn’t trust you anymore.

Or maybe you’re a student who can never finish an assignment on time.

As you can see, procrastination may ruin your professional and personal life.

Every time I failed to meet deadlines, I felt bad, insecure, and useless.

And you probably know how awful this situation is.

You feel stressed and anxious

When procrastinating, you can’t focus your energy on specific tasks.

You don’t feel worthy of accomplishing anything, and this causes bad feelings like stress and sadness.

In my case, it caused anxiety and panic attacks.

To get things done, you must create an action plan.

Creating to-do lists and using the  Eisenhower matrix will be beneficial for you, and it’s the best way to get started.

I’ll go deeper into this strategy later in this article.

It’s ruining your relationships

Missing deadlines leads to tension, anger, or disappointment with friends, family, and colleagues at work.

You arrive late for appointments or at work, you cannot finish your work on time, and you begin to lose credibility in the eyes of those around you.

And I can assure you that this sucks.

You feel like everyone is avoiding you, but you don’t understand why.

This damages your self-esteem, and you’re procrastinating even more.

You procrastinate every day

Chronic procrastinators know how bad it is to do it daily.

It’s okay if you feel lazy and unmotivated sometimes, but it can’t be a habit.

 For many people, procrastination seems like an addiction.

We can’t stop feeling those negative emotions, so we procrastinate even more.

Everything seems so difficult, and we keep avoiding tasks and staying in our comfort zone.

Let me ask a simple question.

How do you think you will be able to achieve personal goals if you always put it off for another day?

You’re just wasting time and prioritizing useless activities.

You need to build a growth mindset and take responsibility for your actions.

Yes, you must overcome laziness and act to escape this trap.

You feel weak

One of the most common reasons we procrastinate it’s because we feel weak.

The problem is that procrastinating usually makes us even weaker.

Yeah, it’s a vicious cycle.

This bad habit affects our time management and leads to feelings like stress and anxiety.

If we do not meet our expectations, we experience self-doubt and tend to procrastinate even more.

Do you follow a healthy diet?

Are you trying to quit bad habits like smoking or drinking too much?

Are you going to bed at a decent time? 

Lack of sleep is another primary reason you feel weak; not even the strongest coffee in the world can save you if you don’t get enough rest!

All these actions will contribute to procrastination, so start working on them.

Breaking the Cycle: What to Do When You Keep Procrastinating

So, procrastination has done enough damage so far: now it’s time to get up and believe in yourself, taking back control of your life.

Here are some tips that let me escape this dangerous vicious circle.

Start even if you don’t feel ready

The perfect moment will never come.

I wasted so much time waiting for it, and every time I think about it, I get pissed off.

You need to push yourself out of your comfort zone. 

Admit you have a problem, find out what type of procrastinator you are, and start working.

I know that can seem stressful and hard, but you need to start doing things even when you don’t feel ready.

Start with a life audit and analyze your life.

Yes, you can do it even if it’s not January 1st!

Then, you must break down larger projects or goals into smaller achievable tasks rather than attempting single giant steps.

Otherwise, you’ll feel overwhelmed soon.

You can change your life whenever you want.

Overcoming procrastination starts when you decide that enough is enough.

Help yourself with specific procrastination apps

You have two ways to leverage technology.

1) Wasting time on social media envying other people’s lives and becoming depressed.

2) You can use technology to your advantage and become more productive and accountable.

It’s up to you.

Procrastination apps can help reduce this addiction and create new healthy habits.

I still use them because I can get better results and feel more motivated

Which one should you use?

It depends.

If you can’t organize your day, a to-do list app like Todoist will be very useful.

Or if you can’t focus because you’re always distracted, Freedom can be your best ally.

Introduce healthy habits in your daily routine

My favorite productivity advice is to wake up and train: the best way to kick ass from the beginning of your day!

Even on Sunday, I try to do a quick workout, stretching, or yoga session.

Also, maintaining a healthy diet can ensure better productivity and more motivation and improve your health.

This is what I usually do as healthy habits:

• I start each morning with an energizing activity such as stretching or a brisk walk, which helps me release endorphins and feel more productive.
• I make a list of what I have to do during the day, always based on the Eisenhower Matrix.
• I always try to get adequate sleep, like 7 / 8 hours per night. Getting little sleep can seriously affect your performance, especially if you need a lot of sleep like me.

I also found positive procrastination affirmations are very effective in keeping you motivated.

Start doing the same, and you won’t regret it!

Become aware of your capability to achieve results

Accomplishing tasks is a powerful motivation essential to breaking free from procrastination.

You need to become conscious that you can achieve any goal with hard work and dedication, no matter how intimidating it may seem at first.

Becoming aware of your self-sufficiency increases motivation and pushes you out of your comfort zone.

And once you develop this awareness, you will be able to tackle harder tasks that you never thought you would be able to complete.

But the only way to do it is to start with small goals and slowly get out of your comfort zone.

Create to-do lists

The best way to defeat procrastination is to establish a routine.

A routine that works must have a list of tasks you need to do

If possible, prioritize the most important and focus on them at the beginning of the day.

This trick will help you stay more motivated and consistent.

For example, I always try to get my most important tasks done in the first hours of the day because I feel more energetic then.

This way, I can concentrate on essential tasks while motivating myself to keep working.

Don’t forget to put visual reminders of your goals in your house and your office.

Look at them whenever you’re tempted to procrastinate.

They will remind you why you are doing all this

Eliminate or minimize distractions

If you struggle with procrastination, you know very well how easy it is to find the opportunity to watch some videos or check your social media when you have to finish an important task.

Distractions can be anything that takes away our focus and attention and interrupts our workflow.

Common distractions include notifications, emails,  files on your device, being distracted by the phone, TV programs, and more.

My first tip is to put aside your phone or other devices that may distract you when working and turn off push notifications on apps that could break your concentration.

Then, set a study or workspace: dedicate an area where you won’t be distracted by visuals like artwork or time wasters like toys.

If studying or working at home, wearing noise-canceling headphones can block out sound from the outside world.

I suggest you use Freedom if you’re serious about stopping distracting yourself all the time!

Conclusion

You can transform yourself from a procrastinator to a high achiever.

You need to ask yourself: do I really want it?

Don’t let the fear of failure win this battle.

It’s your life, and you must take control of it.

If procrastination is ruining your life, you can’t sit down and cry on yourself.

You must act now and regain control of your life!