More on Procrastination
Introduction
"...you cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading today..."
Abraham Lincoln as quoted by Elaine Houston, 2024a
Commonly people mistake procrastination as a sign of laziness or poor time management. However, the causes of procrastination are many and can include factors like pleasure seeking, boredom, fear of failure, low self-confidence, etc
It has been found that around 25% of adults identify themselves as procrastinators; with employees
"...spending between 1.5 to 3 hours on non-work activities during working hours......workplace procrastination can have negative consequences for employees and their work.....Procrastinators tend to perform below their capacity and with decreased efficiency, often taking more time than necessary to complete requisite tasks.....Workplace procrastination is associated with anxiety, depression and stress..."
Elaine Houston, 2024a
When you are procrastinating, you tend to focus on low priority activities, avoiding difficult tasks and waiting until the last minute to start something.
Some common procrastination behaviours include:
"...- waiting until the last moment to start the task
- spending too much time planning how to complete a task
- spending longer than needed to complete a task or project
- not starting something because it needs to be 'perfect'
- not completing something until it is 'perfect'
- working on non--important/non-urgent tasks
- delaying or avoiding difficult tasks
- delaying or avoiding boring tasks
- waiting for the 'right moment' to work on a task..."
Elaine Houston, 2024a)
It could result in you missing deadlines, feeling overwhelmed and frustrated as you are not achieving things; loss of motivation as tasks pileup.
"...Procrastination can also decrease job satisfaction, hinder progress and increased workload..."
Elaine Houston, 2024a
Luckily procrastination can be handled.
Some common causes of procrastination are
i) perfectionism or fear of failure (the desire to complete every task perfectly is setting yourself up for disappointment and frustration; setting high standards is not necessary but striving for perfection can stop you starting or completing tasks; statements that reinforce this are
"...- rather than risking failure, I am better not doing anything at all
- everything I do must be perfect, otherwise others will think badly of me..."
Elaine Houston, 2024a)
ii) fear of the unknown (this can result in you delaying starting or completing new and unfamiliar tasks; with the uncertainty and unpredictability of the future delaying things will not that help you; statements that reinforce this are
"...- I don't want to start this project because I don't know how it will turn out.
- would be better to avoid this task rather than risking it going poorly..."
Elaine Houston, 2024a)
iii) pleasure seeking (avoiding boredom by doing something that is pleasurable rather than the task you need to do; statements that reinforce this are
"...- life is too short to be bored, and I'm going to do something I enjoy
- life (and work) should always be fun. Why waste time with the boring stuff..."
Elaine Houston, 2024a)
iv) need to control (some people need to feel in control, ie do things their way; individuals might not do certain tasks so that it eases the feeling of powerlessness and avoids things imposed on them by other people; statements which reinforce these behaviourd are
"...- I shouldn't do things others tell me to do.
- I need to do things my way, not how others tell me to..."
Elaine Houston, 2024a)
v) lack of self-confidence (some people feel inadequate and doubt their abilities; this can result in delaying and/or giving up; statements that reinforce this are
"...- I'm inadequate and can't do this, so why even try.
- why bother when I know I'm no good at this..."
Elaine Houston, 2024a)
vi) feeling overwhelmed (this can make you feel paralysed and unable to take action, ie don't know where to begin; this can create a cycle of procrastination, ie
"...you feel overwhelmed because you are procrastinating..."
Elaine Houston, 2024a
Statements that reinforce this are
"...- my to-do-list is intimidating and long. I have so much to do that it feels impossible to start anything
- I don't know where to start, so I won't..."
Elaine Houston, 2024a)
Some ways to eliminate procrastination:
i) plan rewards for when tasks are completed
ii) introduce restrictions and remove distractions so that you are able to focus on the tasks at hand
iii) set a time limit on tasks
iv) allow yourself to make mistakes, ie think of mistakes as positive learning opportunities
v) scheduling/setting time limits for each task
vi) adjust unhelpful assumptions (be prepared to challenge your own rules and assumptions)
vii) do the least enjoyable tasks first
viii) divide tasks into manageable chunks.
(the more details, see elsewhere in the Knowledge Base)