5 Proven-Strategies to Beat Distractions and Find Motivation

Procrastination derives from the Latin word Procratinare, which means "delay until tomorrow. It's irrational human behaviour, we delay unnecessarily without knowing the reason. Believe it or not, a lot of the time, procrastination or inaction is a habit that happens without even realizing or regret.

Reason To Get Procrastinate

Research shows that procrastination is tied to being easily distracted, impulsive, and having low self-belief in your ability to follow through on your goals. But there are steps you can take based on science to overcome procrastination and get closer to the life you want or the goal you aim to achieve.

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Learn to bear initial discomfort

Have you ever observed--many times, before we start to tackle a task, we feel bored or have a sense of dread?

But, all you want to grapple with this situation from these uncomfortable feelings and the task that's causing them. Finding a way to make yourself happy in the moment, otherwise, it can affect you in the long term.

Nobody wants to dwell like this. Nobody wants to whine and wish to get better. If you begin to procrastinate regularly, learn to choose instant gratification over distant rewards and future goals. Be grateful for what you have achieved and have in the present moment. Miracle happens when repair your mood quickly and getting stress relief as soon as you feel uncomfortable becomes a priority.

If you truly want to overcome procrastination, instead of fleeing from uncomfortable feelings, sit with them for a bit. Identify the negative emotions that are arising in you as you prepare to work and continue with your task.

Fortunately, feelings are temporary. The more you learn to tolerate this transient discomfort, the more your self-control builds and you start to see yourself differently. You start to see yourself as you were before. Strong, independent, and focused.

Be Optimistic & Practical

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Another option is to choose the emotion you want to focus on. The world is ready to pull your attention and they are good at it. So, you need to take it as a challenge. There are other emotions that we are experiencing as well. We might have a desire to learn something new and become more proficient at our craft or anything, no matter how small this desire is, it's still there.

Keep in mind, that being optimistic and practical can make you feel less stressed. We all have an inner landscape of emotions that we are feeling at any given time, and we can choose positive emotions. So, instead of overthinking, learn to identify and figure out on your own. Once you know deeply your priority, it instantly makes you feel productive.

Do it badly

A surefire way to overcome procrastination and become more motivated is to do it badly. You might feel self-doubt and lack of self-belief or ability to start working on something because you think that it needs to be done perfectly, or that you can't begin because you are not capable enough yet. So you delay, of course.

Try this: Instead of waiting until you are better prepared or feel like it, just dive right in. Doing it badly allows you to take action and makes it much easier to follow through, and you can always refine it later. If you use this method, you'll start to stop focusing and worrying about the things that don't matter to you.

Act now

Procrastination often happens because we think we'll feel more motivated to do something in the future. Studies show we're not great at predicting our future feelings. For instance, when quitting caffeine, we might indulge one last time, thinking it'll be easy to stick to the plan afterwards. However, when faced with temptation, we often revert. We assume our current positive feelings about delaying a task will persist, but they rarely do.

Realizing our inability to predict emotions makes it easier to start a task without waiting for motivation. Surprisingly, as we take action, momentum builds, and motivation starts growing. People mistakenly believe they must be motivated first, but it's the opposite – motivation follows action. Act now, and motivation will likely follow as you build momentum.

Stop daydreaming

To beat procrastination, cut back on daydreaming and wandering thoughts. About a third to half of our daily thoughts don't relate to what we are doing. Mindlessly scrolling through social media or thinking about unrelated stuff that is burning your time, can hurt and disrupt your focus.

Daydreaming is addictive and linked to depression, as it often involves self-reflection on unrealized goals. The solution is mindfulness – focus on the task at hand to live in the present moment and avoid falling into the daydreaming trap.