Is procrastination a human condition?

The procrastination blog post, which I’ll write....tomorrow?

procrastinate
verb

To delay, put off doing something, postpone action, defer action, be dilatory, use delaying tactics, stall, temporize, play for time, play a waiting game, dally, drag one's feet/heels, take one's time; hesitate, vacillate, dither, be indecisive, be undecided, waver; Brit. haver, hum and haw; Scottish swither; informal dilly-dally, shilly-shally. 


According to my Thesaurus, there are many words/actions to describe delaying doing something. Even with calendars, reminder apps and sticky notes, inevitably I end up procrastinating certain things all the time. Unpleasant phone calls for example, certain accounting tasks, even this blog sometimes falls victim to my procrastination, unfortunately. Not because I don’t like doing it; I love it! So why then? 

Well, that same dictionary consulted earlier states: “fear of failure is often the reason why people procrastinate”. But research shows that’s not always the case. Other reasons for procrastination (plus how you could overcome them) are:

• You perceive the job or task at hand to be unpleasant, and you’re trying to avoid having to do it. Oftentimes you’re better off just getting it done and over with, so you can continue with things you enjoy more, or with more pleasant/fun aspects of the task. Like ripping off a bandage: quicker is less painful! Also, many procrastinators overestimate the unpleasantness of a task, but many times, in hindsight, you find it was not nearly as unpleasant as you had thought.

• You may be disorganised. More organised people are better able to prioritize tasks and schedule them in order of urgency or importance, and because they have prioritized to-do lists that cut the task down to manageable blocks of time, they don’t get caught with tasks overdue and avoid the stress that comes with being late to deliver. 

• Even though you are organized, you may feel overwhelmed by the task or job at hand. Maybe you have doubts whether you have the skills or resources to complete the job, so you delay getting started on it and spend your time on other, less important things in stead. But if that job you’re procrastinating on is important, it won’t just go away. So start with the parts of the task that you do feel confident about, and that you know you can complete succesfully. You’ll often find that once you’ve started, the rest will come too. Make a realistic schedule, taking into consideration the time needed to complete each segment, and stick to it. If needed, ask for help from people you know have the knowledge, and you’ll expand yours. There is no shame in learning along the way! 

• You may also fear success as much as failure. For example, you may worry that success at this task will lead to you being overwhelmed with more requests to do this type of task, or that you’ll be pushed to take on things that you feel are beyond you. Surprisingly, perfectionists are often procrastinators, as they tend to think "I don't have the right skills or resources to do this perfectly now, so I won't do it at all." Focus on one task at a time. Also look at all the potential outcomes: what's the worst that could happen? In many cases, reality is unlikely to be that bad! Learn to think more positively: it is a powerful tool to build your self-confidence and neutralise self-sabotage. If all else fails, have your Plan B ready, beforehand. No matter whether the outcome means success or failure (which is in the eye of the beholder and subjective to begin with), you are ready to deal with it. 

• One last reason for procrastination could be because you have an inability to decide. You just can’t make up your mind what to do, so you delay the decision, in fear of making the wrong choice. If you are really torn between your options, and your gut feeling is also not helping you, check out this guide from Mind Tools to help you develop decision-making techniques. 

Are you a procrastinator? If the answer does not come to you immediately, you can try this procrastinator self test. 

What's the most outrageous 'reason' you've ever given yourself to delay something you did not want to do? Share in the comments below. 

Have you ever used some of these ‘reasons’ to delay doing a task or job? There are a million of them, to be sure, these are just a few:

• Filling your day with low priority tasks from your To Do List (laundry, making a grocery list, organising your closet, etc.).
• Reading e-mails several times without starting work on them or deciding what you’re going to do with them.
• Sitting down to start a high-priority task, and almost immediately going off to make a cup of coffee (“I’ll get coffee now, that way I’m ready to sit down and work without interruption later.”).
• Leaving an item on your To Do list for a long time, even though you know it's important.
• Regularly saying "Yes" to unimportant tasks that others ask you to do, and filling your time with these instead of getting on with the important tasks already on your list (“Sure, I’ll help you sort your filing system!”.
• Waiting for the “right mood” or the “right time” to tackle the important task at hand (“I’ll start my work-out routine tomorrow, I don’t feel in the mood to work out right now”).

I know I have on occasion used one or more of these ‘reasons’ to delay an important phone call (“I’ll call later, when they’re back from lunch”), a confrontation with a staff member (“I have to check my emails and update the Facebook page first before I reprimand So-and-So for coming in late again.”) or yes, even writing of this blog (“I need a few hours to write and I have no inspiration right now”). 

Personally, I’ve found that making to-do lists that indicate priority helped me a lot. There are a lot of Apps out there that can also help with this, and Apple’s Calendar has built-in reminders that  you can set, as well as a Reminders app. Those are the ones I use the most, you may have your own favourites, please share them in the comments below? 

Another method that works well for me is to reward myself with something fun, once I’ve done the task I’ve been procrastinating. For example: complete a blog post, then I can go play tennis! Or update my jewelry sales spreadsheets, then spend a while (a.k.a. two hours) on Pinterest or Facebook :-)

In any case, most experts agree that procrastination is a deeply ingrained habit and is not easily broken. Like any habit (good or bad), it takes a long time to develop or break, so you should not expect results overnight. 

But if you tackle procrastination at every encounter, you’ll find that over time, you start recognising when you’re procrastinating and as soon as you do, you have an opportunity to identify why you’re procrastinating and and take the appropriate steps or actions to overcome the block. 

Well, I am off to play some tennis! ;-) But when I come back, I’d love to read your comments, your personal experiences and your suggestions! Thanks in advance for sharing.

Your Style Insider,

Cristel
Thanks go to www.mindtools.com for much of this post's background research.