Procrastination is something that most people do. There are things to do, important things and mundane things, and for some reason it is put off until the last minute. Is it the adrenaline from delivering at the last minute?. What amazes me is the people that make jokes about it and feel proud of their procrastination, the ones that pride themselves of being a world class procrastinator, telling everyone that sure, you could finish that project right now if you wanted to but (yawn) you’re just going to do it tomorrow. Procrastination in simple terms is when we put a task off until a later time, either due to carelessness or habitual laziness. The procrastinator postpones or needlessly delays accomplishing something –just because. Maybe they don’t start getting ready until it’s nearly time to leave or they move so slowly that by the time they should leave for the event, they’re still way behind schedule. Why do we let things slide until we’re in a time crunch and the deadline is looming and we’re not even CLOSE to being finished? Why do we procrastinate?
The behavior of procrastination affects almost everyone at one time or another in their life. However, for some it is a continuous habit, it is like part of their DNA, for others it may be a situational thing and doesn’t affect too many events in their life. Most of the times it is a choice, people put off things they don’t want/like to do. After pondering on the question, why do we procrastinate, I came up with five potential reasons.
1. Fear - No one likes to admit that they fear something, but fear might just be the reason you put off doing what you know you should do. For example the fear of failure. Fear is a paralyzing emotion. It has the ability to stop us in our tracks-literally.
2. Priorities - Many times we procrastinate because we don't think it is that important. We don’t place a high enough priority on the task at hand, it’s not vital and so it’s not worthy of you beginning that task. We know that the task needs to be done and we may already have decided that we are the one who must do it. However, we always find something else more important on our to-do list that keeps bumping that particular job back to the bottom.
3. Not Enough Information - Other times we do not act on a task, because we don't know enough to do it. Instead of asking (fear of rejection) we decide to put it off. You may procrastinate starting a project because you simply don’t know enough about the project/goal in order to complete the task.
4. Distractions - We have jobs, commitments and our lives are filled with noises and distractions which many times get us out of focus.
5. You Just Don’t Want To Do It - Everyone is faced with jobs in life that they simply don’t want to do. They’re either disgusting/mundane, like having to clean toilets, or they’re dangerous, like climbing up on the roof and cleaning the leaves out from the rain gutters. We put off doing the task at hand because we simply do not want to do it. Period. There is no underlying psychological reason for putting it off. It’s that recalcitrant two-year old in us coming out to say “I don’t wanna and I’m not gonna”.
How Can You Change This Behavior?
How are you going to stop procrastinating? Taking a good hard look at why you don’t file your important documents or wait to complete your tax return until the night before it’s due, or why you put off cleaning those rain gutters is the first step in learning how to change that behavior. Below are a few action steps to help you stop procrastinating. Not every tip will work for every person, so take what you can from this list and see what works for you.
1. Take an Inventory - Do you hear a little nagging voice in your head telling you that you need to do something? Can you see a visual in your head about the task you’re avoiding and are you feeling the physical and emotional consequences of what will happen if you don’t complete this task? Look at the clues that tell you just when and how you’re procrastinating and you’ll be able to see that you are indeed putting something off. Sometimes it’s difficult to tell when you’re procrastinating because you’re attempting to avoid thinking about it but if you piece together the clues you’ll be able to pinpoint your behavior in order to get a handle on it.
2. Learn How You Procrastinate - Do you think if you ignore the job at hand it will eventually go away and not bother you? I tried that once with a speeding ticket and nearly lost my license due to procrastination. Ignoring the problem/job won’t cause it to disappear in a puff of smoke.
3. Make Yourself a Productive Environment - For example, if you work from home, create a home office where there’s no distraction from your work. Sure, that baseball game is playing but you don’t have time to watch it because you have a deadline with a client. Removing temptation to do something other than what you NEED to do will help you put a stop to procrastination.
4. Throw Out Those Procrastination Myths - “I work best under pressure” That’s one myth that keep a lot of people from accomplishing their goals. Once you believe that you can only work under pressure, you’re giving yourself permission to procrastinate. This can snowball and create serious problems for you if you have several deadlines looming. “I can’t do this unless I have five uninterrupted hours” This is simply another stalling technique that master procrastinators use for telling themselves it’s ok to not start the project because they won’t have time to finish it. Hello? If you don’t start the task you’ll never finish it. "I can’t do this unless it’s perfect". The problem that most procrastinators have is that we are too hard on ourselves, demanding perfection where perfection is impossible. If you think you can’t start your term paper until you have THE perfect opening sentence, then you have once again given yourself permission to put it off.
5. Break Down the Job - You have a job to do and it looks like Mt. Everest. You could never, ever complete a job that big, so why even start? If that’s your mindset, then you probably won’t finish the job. In order to combat this kind of thinking, break the job or task down into small, manageable chunks. Your kitchen is a disaster, it’s too much for you to handle. Start on one end and clean off one counter. Take baby steps and soon you’ll see that the entire task has been completed.
6. Change Your Attitude - Often times we don’t begin something we have to do because we condition our minds to postpone the task. We fill our minds with the "pain" that the task will bring to us. With this behavior we give ourselves permission to avoid beginning the task at hand. We do not enjoy pain, thus avoid anything that will bring pain to us. When you hear yourself doing this, change your attitude. Be like the Little Engine that Could and tell yourself that you CAN do this, it’s not that difficult. It’s all a matter of mind over matter. If you think you can, you can.
7. Make sure you don’t over-schedule your time and under-estimate the time you’ll need finish a project - Did you know that world class procrastinators have unrealistic views of the time it takes to accomplish something? They will tell themselves that a certain task will only take three hours to complete, so you really don’t have to start it right this minute. What you may fail to realize is that other things can happen along the way to distract you and stretch that three hours into six and pretty soon you’ve missed that deadline. Starting now is a good best option.
8. Make a List - Making a list can also be a useful tool in helping you avoid procrastinating. Write down a list of what you need to accomplish. Put it in order of importance, highest to lowest. Next, start with number one and work your way down the list, checking off items as you go. Not only will this help you be organized, but putting those little check marks next to items you’ve finished will give you a mental boost and help you feel successful.
Basic human nature will always play a role in procrastination. Pleasurable activities are infinitely more enticing than painful or dull ones (pain-pleasure principle). We seek out what makes us feel good and attempt to avoid the things that annoy or bother us. Consciously determining why you procrastinate will help you change your behavior. Don’t expect to transform your habits over night, but do take small steps in the right direction and you’ll eventually get there. If you reward yourself for your little successes in this area, you just might make non-procrastination more pleasurable than full-blown-avoidance-procrastination.
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