How To Deal With Procrastination As A Gen Z
Have you met the world’s biggest procrastinator yet? If you haven’t, then you have come to the right place. Meet me, I procrastinate like everybody else in the world. I have been making plans to write for close to a week now. It is not laziness that has made me stall. It is procrastination, and now, welcome to my pep talk. Today, I will be telling you ‘How To Deal With Procrastination As A Gen Z’
What Is Procrastination?
Simply, procrastination is putting things off from when you ought to do them to a time closer to the deadline, which may or may not be enough to complete the task. Procrastination is the act of rushing or moving at unimaginable speeds in order to meet a deadline.
Procrastination is a habit that is formed over time. In real life, nobody gets up from bed and says, “Today I will start being a procrastinator.” Procrastinators are not lazy people. In fact, they can do the work way more efficiently and better than non-procrastinators. But Doyinsola is not here to encourage chronic procrastination. Before we talk quickly about what causes procrastination, let me briefly highlight the causes.
What Causes Procrastination?
Procrastination doesn’t just wake up and jump on people. It starts somewhere. Here are 5 causes of procrastination in Gen Zs
Anxiety
One of the top causes of procrastination is anxiety. worry about how well the work will turn out. Worry about how good or skilled one is for the task at hand. The fear of not being able to meet up no matter when the work starts earlier or later. Gen Zs have an increased rate of mental stress, so it brings little surprise to find anxiety as one of the top causes of procrastination
Perfectionist Tendencies
Procrastinators are obsessed with their work. They want to produce good results. So, they are most likely to tweak, tweak and tweak or wait till they fill a burst of energy in a specific direction before they act. Gen Z procrastinators should however not mistake perfectionism for excellence. They are different.
Imposter Syndrome
If you are a Gen Z like me, one thing you will battle over time is impostor syndrome. A feeling that leaves you reeling for days. You’re wondering what went wrong with your last job. Or wondering if this new job will fail as a result of your mistakes.
Burnouts
If you experience burnout, you are likely to procrastinate. It’s either you don’t want to get flustered from work so you pace it out only that, you may succeed in pushing off work. Or you are already burned out but your workload keeps piling up.
Avoidance
Procrastinating in Gen Zs could also be a result of just wanting to avoid work. Gen Zs like to chill and be relaxed while working. We don’t want stress. We want a soft life. Gen Zs are also techies, our workflow half of the time is automated. Any extra work? I doubt we will run it.
There are many reasons why Gen Zs will procrastinate. These are just a few. So, how do you stop it?
How To Deal With Procrastination As A Gen Z
Let me share with you some methods that have helped me overcome procrastination as a Gen Z.
Delegate
Most of the time, our work schedule is just too much for us. It can get overwhelming enough until you eventually give up on everything. Delegate to your subordinates at work. Outsource as a business owner. If you can’t do any of these, ask your friends to join you. It helps.
Use Project Management Tools
What I love about these tools is their ability to make you feel guilty. Alarm clocks, Google Tasks, Asana, or Trello are some tools that can help you. Set a to-do list, create deadlines, and set alarms to keep you on track.
Collaborate
Work with a friend and someone on the same team or field as yours. Collaborate with them and also, do projects together. This method has helped me manage and grow the blog without my tendency to procrastinate and halt things.
Get An Accountability Partner
One way that I have dealt with procrastination is by getting partners to work with. I start off on a new project and then, I tell someone about it. Once, they check up on me, I have to give an update.
Minimize Distractions
Whenever I pick up my laptop to start content creation, I also pick up my phone. Not to work though, but to check a new notification and then I am stuck in the Instagram algorithm and watching reels. Turn off notifications for a while. Do a digital detox as part of your procrastination cure.
Knowing you procrastinate is a big step to dealing with your time management issues. Not to give you excuses for being a procrastinator, but do you know that procrastinators are more creative than those who keep schedules? That’s right. This is because the brain is thinking about the task and working on it before work actually starts, making it easier when work starts.
What do you think about Gen Zs and procrastinating? Please share for others to learn in the comment section.
Now, Dear Gen Z, we are not perfect. Nobody is. Remember, in the words of a famous Non-Gen Zer, we are nothing but pencils in the hand of our creator.
In the words of a soon-to-be-famous Gen Z, a drop of honey for your day.
P.S. Also, sign up for my weekly newsletter here. I send out 1 note every Saturday.
P.S. P.S. I procrastinate, but I meet my deadlines. One of which was to launch my YouTube channel, Bants With Dee, in the first week of October 2022. Watch my first video below.