Why are you procrastinating?
How to deal with and manage procrastination
So what?
No matter how dedicated, eager or proactive you are, we all procrastinate at least one or twice (or more) a day. Dealing with and managing these moments will allow you to:
- Get more done;
- Kick more goals;
- Have more self-control;
- Not miss opportunities;
- Avoid regrets; and
- Get people to trust you more, even yourself.
What is procrastination?
Procrastination is defined as “the action of unnecessarily and voluntarily delaying or postponing something despite knowing that there will be negative consequences for doing so”. One important thing to note here is that you will avoid negative consequences of your procrastination when you don’t procrastinate.
What causes procrastination?
There are two main causes of procrastination: false sense of security and need for motivation and inspiration.
- False sense of security: You underestimate time required to perform tasks and overestimate your ability to complete them.
- Motivation and inspiration: You wait for motivation and/or inspiration to strike for you to tackle your tasks.
Other causes include: - Don’t know how;
- Lack of care;
- Have a habit of delaying;
- Forgetting;
- Blaming others; and
- Needing time to think.
Procrastination management
Below are simple steps we have curated for you to take in order to manage your procrastination.
- Create a to-do list to prioritise tasks and tackle them one at a time.
- Remove distractions that causes you to procrastinate.
- Take small steps as opposed to drastic measures to deal with procrastination. You will likely fail at implementing drastic measures.
- Be aware of warning signs of when you are about to procrastinate and learn to avoid them.
- Reward yourself for taking on and completing what you were about to delay doing.
My experience
I don’t tend to procrastinate but when I do, I procrastinate hard. It ends up being me lazying around for hours or even a day. I use these times as a fuel to being more productive when I’m back on track.
What now?
- Remove distractions.
- Start small, take small steps.
- Have a look at Getting Things Done by David Allen if you’re after a practical approach on getting things done. If you’re after a more scientific approach, The Science of Getting Started by Patrick King will be worth a look.