Putting Off Work? Overcome It with These 4 Tips!

Putting off work is a habit that should not be taken lightly. “Later, just five more minutes; after all, the deadline is still far off. There are still two weeks left, so it can wait.” Before you know it, time passes, and a two-week deadline becomes two days. When the time left is only a matter of hours, putting off work becomes a source of regret. Why delay when you can finish earlier?

You may have experienced this before, or even often. Putting off work feels more enjoyable than doing the work itself. You watch videos, open social media, play games, read the news, shop online, while your responsibilities and tasks are left neglected. As a result, you get scolded by your boss, are not liked by coworkers, or end up with tasks that keep piling up.

So, how can you overcome this?

Stop the Habit of Delaying

Putting off work (procrastinating) is a common problem among adults. According to a 2013 study, 15-20% of 22,053 respondents were found to habitually delay their work. In fact, twenty-five percent of them said that putting off work was a prominent trait in themselves.

So, you are not alone. Many people out there, I am sure, are struggling against the habit of procrastinating. If you have already tried many ways without success, the following four tips may help you:

1. Make Clear Plans and Priorities

The first and most important thing you should do before working is to make plans and priorities so that the work can be completed on time. 

Make a list of the things you need to finish at least one day before you begin your work. Plan firmly: which things are truly important and which are less important. Remember, not every task is important.

Proverbs 21:5 says, “The plans of the diligent surely lead to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to lack.” Its English version (NLT) gives a more practical perspective. “Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.”

So, careful planning is one of the keys to stop putting off work. Surely you do not want to be constantly rushing to meet a tight deadline ? That is why you need to see work plans and priorities as important.

2. Break Work into Easy Steps

Imagine you are given a cake and allowed to finish it right then and there. Would you eat it whole, or take a knife and cut it into small pieces? It would certainly be much easier if you cut it into several pieces.

The same is true with work. Your task will look easier if it is divided into small portions. You will also be more motivated to finish it. That is because our minds see small portions or parts as easier to handle than large ones. 

For example, you have an assignment that must be completed in three days. Create a strategy by breaking it into three parts. Each part should be finished within one day. This will focus your mind on a one-day span, instead of seeing that the task needs three days to complete.

God Himself has given an example in this matter. He created the world and everything in it in seven days, not all at once (Genesis 1:1 - 2:7). So, it is far better to do something gradually, step by step, rather than all at once.

3. Minimize Distractions

After making plans and dividing the workload, we come to the difficult part: dealing with distractions (distraction). Focus is one of the important keys that enables us to finish work efficiently. And to stay focused, we need to remove distractions. 

I used to prefer opening tabs in a search engine and reading things on the internet rather than quickly finishing my work. After realizing how much time I spent on that, I regretted it. Why had I not just worked wholeheartedly from the start?

In the end I took drastic steps to get rid of this habit. I disciplined myself not to open any site before all my tasks were finished. I also turned off notifications on my phone. When necessary, I keep my phone away to make sure nothing can steal my attention. The result was that my focus improved, and my work was finished on time. Bye-bye, distraction!

Indeed, with so many phone apps, along with their notifications, it is hard for us to say no to distractions. However, the control is in our hands. You can choose to focus, so that your work results can be maximized. 

Proverbs 4:25-27 emphasizes this: Put away crooked speech from you, and keep devious lips far from you. Let your eyes look straight ahead, and your gaze be fixed right before you. Make level paths for your feet, and let all your ways be established. Do not turn aside to the right or to the left; keep your foot from evil.

4. Hold to Your Commitment and Do It!

The plan has been made well, the task has been divided into small parts, and distractions have been removed. But no matter how good a plan we make, we need commitment to carry it out. It is useless to keep making plans without ever doing them.

If you have already planned, “I must exercise every day from 07.00-07.30,” hold to that commitment and do it. Without commitment, without action, a plan remains only a plan.

How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest” and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man. – Proverbs 6:9-11 

God’s Word strongly opposes delay. One day, we will pay the price for these delays and regret them. Therefore, let us commit ourselves to our schedules and plans by carrying them out. Plan your work, work your plan!

Use Your Time Wisely

The time we have in this world is very precious. Every second wasted in vain will never come again. Therefore, live wisely as it is written in Ephesians 5:15-16: Therefore, pay careful attention to how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time, because these days are evil.

If you often put off work and want to change, practice the four tips above. Make clear plans and priorities, break things into easy steps, minimize distractions, and commit yourself and do it. In this way, you can become the kind of person described in Proverbs 22:9: Do you see a person skilled in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure people. - Related Articles:

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