We are sure that everyone has work that is more important than others and that they need to finish. While there was still time for the work to be completed, he said, “I’ll do it later.” There are definitely moments that we just ignore. This could be a project that needs to be handed in, an assignment that needs to be done, or even a message that needs to be sent.
However, minutes before the completion of the task, it becomes so big in our eyes that we sometimes feel bad for procrastinating. However, there is a method to prevent this.
The method that those who have the habit of procrastinating should give a try: Structured Procrastination
John Perry, a professor of philosophy at Stanford University, is actually the first person to put forward this concept. According to Perry, the structured procrastination system is the art of making this bad habit work for us.
This procrastination system aims to reshape the person by disrupting the structure of the tasks he has to do. Tasks are ranked by importance. Tasks that seem very urgent and important are at the top of the list, but the things that need to be done are added to the bottom of the list. When a person finishes and crosses off the things he added in the last row, he feels like he has accomplished something.
So how exactly does ‘Structured Procrastination’ work?
Actually, it’s a bit simple. When we make a to-do list, we usually write the tasks that need to be completed at the top of the list. However, because we procrastinate, it becomes too big for us, we cannot take action, and we begin to fail to handle even tasks that are less important. This is exactly where this system starts to work.
The first item on the list should be one of the things that we enjoy doing and that does not harm our tasks that are of high importance. For example, it could be browsing social media, watching a favorite scene of a TV series we like, or reading a news story. In the second item, there must be something that we really do not enjoy doing and think would be okay if we did not do it. For example, organizing the bookshelf, clearing the desk, or removing the dishes from the machine.
The crucial part starts with the third item.
We talked about what we should include and what we should do in the first two items of the list. Now we come to the third item.
Added to this item is a task that you should have done but never started doing because you postponed it. The important thing is to find something that is less worrying than the task with the highest importance. For example, paying bills or completely deleting e-mails that you put in the trash in your e-mail account. After the third item is accomplished, the motivation required to complete the more important task is achieved, albeit slightly.
Now let’s get back to the main task that needs to be done.
Kevin Systrom, one of the founders of Instagram, has a useful approach on this subject. “If you don’t want to do something, make a deal with yourself to do it for at least five minutes. After five minutes, you’ll have done everything,” Systrom says. says.
In other words, he says, make the necessary suggestions in yourself to do this job and condition yourself to finish this job.
But what if we can’t push ourselves for five minutes?
This is where structured procrastination comes into play. Rather than finding ourselves in chaos and exaggerating things when looking at a news item we need to finish, a book we need to read, or dishes that need to be washed, it may be useful to focus on tasks that do not harm the to-do list when completed. Because when we cross off an item on the list, we feel like we have accomplished something and we can better focus on the task we need to do.
In this way, we can end the day more efficiently and prevent procrastination, at least a little, with this method.
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