How To Eliminate Procrastination When You Work From Home

Admit it – you have fallen into the temptation of procrastination at least once in your life. Even if you’re generally a productive person, you have put off a task or a deadline until the last minute at some point.

And that’s okay – procrastination is a common condition, and more than 20% of the working population has expressed procrastination tendencies.

But what causes procrastination and how to eliminate it? And how to stop procrastinating and be productive when we work from home? In order to answer these questions, we must untackle the concept a bit more.

What is Procrastnation?

Procrastination is the act of unnecessarily postponing decisions or actions, and it’s strongly connected to self-control.

When we need to get something done, we often entirely rely on our self-control to bring us to do the task. But sometimes, our motivation levels don’t agree with our self-control and will. Due to this overlap, we’re more likely to procrastinate.

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Why do people procrastinate? 

There are many demotivating factors that lead to procrastination. The most common reasons for procrastination are perfectionism, fear of failure, avoidance, and (since recently) lockdown anxiety.

Now that most of us have transferred our work to be entirely remote, procrastination and working from home can be a dangerous duo.

But how to eliminate procrastinating and be productive while working from home?

Well, the first step of overcoming procrastination is to realize and admit that you’re doing it. So what are the red flags in your lifestyle that you must watch for when it comes to procrastination? Let’s explore some of them.

Disordered Seleeping Schedule

People with procrastination tendencies usually have a disordered sleeping schedule. If you get up late, nap several times during the day, or if you’re having a hard time sleeping at all, then you’ll soon find yourself putting off tasks if you haven’t already. 

The lockdown hasn’t made this easier for us. It’s difficult for the mind and body to separate the working and personal life when you’re working from home.

Finding your way out of your home office is key to balancing work and personal life. And precisely this balance is crucial for eliminating procrastination and looking for tips on how to separate work from home when working from home?

Low Energy Levels

Another cause of procrastination is low energy levels. If you have been eating unhealthily or rarely exercise anymore, you may be low on energy. And having low energy makes it easier to fall into the claws of procrastination. 

It’s important to stay active and energetic throughout the day, primarily when you work from home. Here are some interesting ways to stay active when working from home.

Fear Of Failure

The more stressed we feel about failing to reach our goals, the less likely we are to take action towards achieving them. Perfectionist and people who are afraid of failing should shift their attitude towards work. They should remember that making mistakes is better than doing nothing.

Many people have developed an avoidance mechanism when working from home, and it’s hard for them to complete their tasks on time. Distractions such as social media and video games that provide the brain with short-term gratification have a negative impact on work performance. 

To sum up, procrastination is common among people who work from home, and it’s rooted more profound than we thought. But that doesn’t mean you should reconcile with it. Exactly the opposite – you should notice those patterns within your behavior and work towards eliminating them.

How To Stop Procrastinating?

But how do we overcome and eliminate procrastination? How do we avoid procrastination and its big brother – laziness?

For starters, you should distinguish the two concerts as they refer to different behavioral aspects. Laziness is the unwillingness to act upon a specific task, while procrastination refers to the active choice of doing something else instead. 

There are some simple steps you can take in order to stop procrastination. Let’s take a look at some of them.

Keep Your Goals Clear

Firstly, it’s essential to set your goals straight. When you do this, remember to construct your goals as clearly as possible. They have to be achievable and meaningful. Creating a schedule before you start your day is a great way to do that. 

Planning is key to efficient performance. It doesn’t matter if you do it digitally via an app or if you prefer to write it in your paper agenda, planning takes up no more than a few minutes, but it’s a powerful tool for eliminating procrastination. Having a clear overview of what you have to do during the day will lower the risk of procrastination. 

If you’re looking for an easy way to digitally write up your tasks and goals, you might want to do it via Todoist. It’s a great scheduling tool, and it helps you create and maintain healthy working from home habits. The best part is that it’s free. There are other online tools you could try to make the process of planning easier. A quick internet search will provide you with the best options, so there’s really no reason not to do it.

Eliminate Distractions

Secondly, you should reduce distractions as much as you can. Having to deal with potential distractions can make you put off a task, and the number one source for distractions is social media. While some people are good at turning a blind eye to distractions, others find it challenging to do so. 

The best way to eliminate distractions when working from home is to control how and when you can go online for non-work purposes. This is easier said than done. In this case, you can make use of one of the apps designed specifically for this purpose. For example, Offtime is an app that helps you balance digital device usage in your life. It enables you to unplug when you need to by “blocking” your phone for a specific time. 

Another possible distraction that leads to procrastination when you work from home (as much as we hate to admit it) is the people we live with. For some of us, it’s family members; for others, housemates. But we can all agree on one thing – the people we share our space with can sometimes distract us from our tasks. This makes it easier for us to procrastinate.

That’s why it’s crucial to set boundaries. You should make it clear to them that you need uninterrupted working time. Let them know exactly when your working hours are and when you’re available for activities outside of your work. They should respect the fact that you must attend to your professional duties regardless of how you work from home. Setting boundaries will get easier for you to focus on your tasks and, therefore, reduce procrastination. 

Become Pro At Time Management

But sometimes, even that’s not enough to make you stop putting off tasks until the last minute. No matter how many apps block your social media, you’ll still find a way to do anything but what you’re supposed to. Even if you straight-up create a schedule for family hours, it seems like you can never get anything done. 

In this case, the key to getting over laziness and procrastination might be task management related. Maybe you need to figure out which approach works best for you regarding how you handle your work tasks. 

The Two-Minute Rule

For instance, David Allen’s 2-minute rule suggests that if a task takes 2 minutes or less to execute, then you should do it right away. This way, you’ll get rid of the minor responsibilities right away, and it’s a popular work-life management methodology among people who work from home. If you find yourself procrastinating, you might want to incorporate the 2-minute rule.

Parkinson’s Law

Another time management technique explains that ‘the amount of work expands to fill the time available for its completion.

Simply put, Parkinson’s Law means that the more time people have for a certain task, the more the complexity of the task increases.

For example, if you give yourself a week to complete a two-hour task, the task will increase in complexity and become more daunting so as to fill that week. A good strategy, in this case, is to set yourself an ‘internal’ deadline or a deadline way before the actual one so that you get it over with and decrease the chances of putting it off.

When it comes to task management, different strategies work for different people. Sometimes starting with the hardest task could increase productivity and help to eliminate procrastination. For other people, breaking everything down into micro-steps and following them in a strict order is the best approach. Find out what works best for you and what you have to change in your task management methodology to meet your responsibilities on time. 

If Nothing Works: How To Eliminate Procrastination

Nevertheless, at the end of the day, it comes down to the fact that while we’re often waiting to “get into the mood” to do something. What’s missing is simple discipline and dedication to the process. So regardless of how hard it could be, you should simply sit down and get it done. 

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How To Eliminate Procrastination While Working From Home