Procrastination – the art of putting your AAT studies off

Man looking at a mobile phone

 

What is procrastination?

You’ve decided that you want to be a qualified Accounting Technician, you’ve took the first step and invested a healthy sum of money in an AAT course.  You imagine the excitement when your certificate arrives in the post and you’re grinning like a Cheshire cat!

Well that’s how you imagined it to be!  But you may find, in reality, that you keep putting off your studies, you might not be making the progress you’d hoped, and now you’re beating yourself up about it – you’re procrastinating.

So what can we do about it?

I am a procrastinator, so I can fully empathise with those that find it hard to get going and stay focussed.  For me it’s part of my personality.  I can’t change my personality, so I have to find ways to overcome procrastination.

Here are three steps to overcoming procrastination:

  1. Recognise that you’re doing it
  2. Identify the reasons why you’re doing it
  3. Identify the steps you need to take to overcome it

1. Recognise that you’re procrastinating

This week, we’ll look at step one, as recognising that you’re procrastinating is actually a very challenging thing to do.  You need to be self-aware and honest too.

I know I’m procrastinating when I…

  • Keep looking at my phone to see if there’s any activity on social media
  • Decide I need to make more coffee, when I only had one 15 minutes earlier
  • Flick through my emails again, even though there’s nothing new or anything important
  • Provide excuses such as “I don’t have time, I’m too tired, I can’t focus” but then I find the time to lay in bed, have an extended lunch in the café and go home at 5.30pm on the dot to watch TV
  • Volunteer to do tasks that aren’t as important just because they’re easier, less demanding or more enjoyable

Your challenge for this week is to start to notice what you do and make a list.  If you find yourself providing reasons for not doing tasks, write them down too.  It doesn’t matter if they’re true or not.  Just write them down.

Next week we’ll look at the next steps so do pop back!