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Amélie Boukhobza (Clinical psychologist)
Are you tired of putting everything off until tomorrow? Here is advice from a psychologist to finally achieve your goals in as little time as possible.
Postpone, postpone, delay… Procrastination is the art of putting off important tasks until later. However, if this laziness has no consequences when it is temporary, it can persist and have a strong impact on your daily life. How, then, to get rid of it? Advice from Amélie Boukhobza, clinical psychologist.
Procrastination, a profoundly human reflex
Who has never postponed the essential actions they had to accomplish until later? Everyone – or almost. A banal, even normal, reaction when, in the evening, we still have two files to complete, the school pre-registration form for the youngest to fill out and dinner to prepare.
Procrastination therefore, which consists of postponing tasks that seem painful to you by replacing them with more pleasant activities (for example, favoring an evening of Netflix and Uber eats instead of completing papers) is more than logical (even forgivable).
But when the mechanism of procrastination sets in and harms daily life (guilt, dissatisfaction, lack of self-confidence, lateness for work, reduced performance, etc.) it is time to react. Here are some tips to finally get out of procrastination.
Good in his body, good in his head!
Tired of putting everything off until tomorrow? Here are 5 tips to follow
To stop putting everything off until tomorrow, Amélie Boukhobza, clinical psychologist, reveals some practical tips:
- Tip number 1: start small. “Rather than drowning in the magnitude of a task, we divide it into several small steps. Because a simple first action gets the machine started, and each small step forward gives a boost to continue. As with climbing the mountain, we go step by step to reach the summit. It’s simpler!“, confides the expert.
- Tip number 2: eliminate distractions. “Telephone, social networks, anything that distracts from the objective must be put aside. The more we concentrate, the less we push back”, assures the practitioner.
- Tip number 3 : set deadlines. “Not those imposed by others, but those that we choose. It provides a framework and creates a certain productive urgency, without the anxiety of the last minute.” recognizes the specialist.
- Tip number 4: make a to do list. “I always like the idea of the to do list. Concretely, we make a list with realistic and achievable goals, not everything that remains to be done for the rest of our lives. For example, each week, we list the objectives for the week. And every day, we check off what has been achieved. Because checking it feels good!”, underlines the psychologist.
- Tip number 5: become aware of the path traveled. “We must recognize that we have moved forward, even if it is only a step! It motivates us to go further, it gives momentum rather than feeling like a failure!” concludes Amélie Boukhobza.
Slide: Organization at home: how to save time?