Let us delve into a typical day for Iris, who is a working professional for a multinational. She has at least 6 things on her to-do list. She stares at them, divides them into priorities and works on only 3. She believes she can do the pending work better with more time on hand- maybe tomorrow.
As it happens to the best of us, tomorrow never came for Iris for another week. Each time she took up the work, she would end up thinking about many other questions and finding ways to delay the work. We all have been, or are, Iris. With best intentions in mind, we tend to put away or overthink a matter, which leads to procrastination. Overthinking and procrastination are two sides of the same coin, but often, one leads to the other.
We are often led by our brain protesting to do what needs to be done. We give precedence to that glitch at the moment to close the work and maybe scroll endlessly, mindlessly on our phone. Before we know it, the work pile rises. Many of us fall prey to the tendency to procrastinate more especially when the pending work increases. It builds up stress and ultimately the quality of work suffers.
How do we break this cycle? It all starts with being mindful. We have to learn to watch our hours when there is much to do. Being mindful will also inculcate a sense of discipline in ourselves. Discipline enough to say NO to mindless scrolling or putting off a task simply because we feel like doing it later.
Creating an action plan to approach each task is a job half done. The added sense of accomplishment of putting a little check mark after each step gives a major push towards feeling better. Studies have shown that the tendency to overthink may rise from deep childhood incidents that have left an unhealed wound in the subconscious mind. Therefore, overthinking in other areas of life may also spill into work and work-related spaces. Many times, seeking a professional helps clear the mind while understanding the self in other dimensions.
Another root cause of overthinking can be traced to the fear of failure. Multiple times we end up asking constantly ‘what if?’ questions and end up procrastinating so that we do not end up failing. This fear of not doing well enough stands as an obstacle before even starting. The struggle to win over the mind by saying it is okay to fail or the humility to accept changes as they appear stops procrastination.
Slowly, with small, yet consecutive wins, the habit of putting off becomes an event of the past.
A simple way to stop procrastination is to reduce as many distractions as possible. It might be putting the phone on a DND mode or asking friends/colleagues to limit conversations only to urgent requirements. It will be tough in the beginning, but then the peace and focus start to show positive progress. Soon, the work will start being completed efficiently. To break the chain of overthinking and procrastination, it is equally important to reward yourself with a little break from a pre-decided time. Breaks can help rejuvenate the mind and body. Light conversations with like-minded people can freshen us up and give us a boost to finish the task.
The last yet ultimate straw to ace overthinking and procrastination is to be kind to ourselves. “To err is human, to forgive divine.” And we all have divine in our hearts. There are times when accepting our fallacies and forgiving our errors takes tremendous strength. But that will surely catapult our overthinking process into clarity and begin the journey towards limited thoughts, and more action.
