Handling Procrastination

I remember well the sleepless nights of a student desperately trying to complete a major assignment due in  a few days time, silently cursing that I hadn’t started on the project many months ago when it had first been issued.

Procrastination is deliberately delaying taking action, even though you fully expect such delay to hold negative consequences for you.

How strange that we would even consider it! And yet almost all of us indulge in procrastination at some time or other.

[box type=\”shadow\”]“Procrastination is the thief of time, collar him.”

― Charles Dickens (David Copperfield)
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Handling Procrastination (continued)

Sadly, some people are far more prone to procrastination than others, even to the extent that it can even impede their normal functioning.

Here are a few reasons why we procrastinate and what to do about it:

Being a perfectionist

This might sound like a peculiar reason for putting something important off but it’s true – perfectionists often procrastinate because they feel they are not yet ready to complete the task to their full potential or in the way that does it proper justice.

Perfectionists will look at a task and fathom that they need further information, skills or tools in order to tackle it to their high standards. When those commodities are hard to come by, they drag their heels.

The solution, of course, requires a change of mindset. Instead of looking to produce a ‘perfect’ result or ‘output’, the perfectionist needs to redefine doing justice to the task as doing it to his or best current capabilities regardless of the outcome (i.e. ‘perfect input’ as opposed to ‘perfect output’).

Lacking self confidence

Ironically, people who lack self confidence share a similar justification for putting things off with the perfectionists. They don’t believe they have the capability or tools to take on the task. In this case, though, they also doubt their capacity to ever gain the capability required.

Simply put, their lack of belief in their own ability coupled with their likely embarrassment at the outcome should they attempt the task, stops them from trying.

The solution here is more difficult. Those who suffer from lack of confidence will know that it’s not easy to just ‘pluck confidence from thin air’.

Having said that, one strategy to employ is to confront the worst case scenario of how it will feel not completing the task when no attempt has been made and compare that with how it will feel if the task is tackled to the person’s best ability even if the outcome is uncertain.

Once again, the key is to attach more perceived pain’ to the prospect of inaction than to the outcome of taking action.

Fearing failure

Very often procrastination, or the inability to act, is caused by a mental image of the ‘pain’ (e.g. loss of face, ridicule, embarrassment, etc.) that possible failure may bring about. This reasoning has a lot in common with that used by people who lack confidence.

The solution, once again, is to switch focus from the ‘pain’ of possible failure to the ‘pain’ that will result from inaction. Once the ‘pain’ of inaction is perceived to be far greater than the ‘pain’ of failure, action will result.

It takes just a small yet concerted action to break the inertia of procrastination. With inertia overcome, tackling the task becomes much easier.

Fearing success

Surprisingly, some people procrastinate for fear of the many changes that success may bring.

The fear of change tends to be at a more subconscious level. We are wired up to resist change because of the threat it poses to our status quo.

But change is necessary for our growth so we need to have the courage to embrace it.

In such cases it is necessary to confront our fears; to accept that change can be a little scary but that the benefits are well worth a few butterflies in the stomach.

It’s important to learn to view this fear simply as an indicator that something exciting is in the offing – and therefore to welcome it in!

Feeling overwhelmed

“Stop the world, I want to get off.” Feeling overwhelmed is a common cause of procrastination.

When we are unable to focus on the way ahead because the task seems overwhelming, or because there is just too much going on, it’s natural to want to delay taking action.

Unfortunately, delaying action usually compounds the problem!

In such cases the solution is to ‘deconstruct the overwhelm’. In other words, break down the seemingly impossible task or series of tasks into manageable chunks, assign priorities and small action steps and then just get started with those steps.

It’s quite amazing how quickly a feeling of overwhelm can retreat once we start tackling small parts of the issues at hand.

Again the key is to get into action!

Being distracted

It’s important to differentiate between distractions that cause you to procrastinate and the distractions you invent in order to procrastinate or delay taking action.

If you are genuinely distracted by other issues that are of a higher priority then your procrastination is probably warranted and thus more of a genuine delay than actual procrastination.

But if the distractions have a lower priority than the task at hand then you need to exercise discipline.

One approach that worked for me in corporate life was to assign a simple A, B or C to every task that came across my desk. A meant high priority, B medium priority and C low priority.

The trick is never to tackle a B priority task until the A priority task is completed (or at least no longer an A priority). Likewise with the C and B priority tasks.

Lacking enthusiasm or motivation

Let’s face it, some tasks are just not that exciting to contemplate!

I spend a couple of days a month preparing spreadsheets and reconciliation statements for my accountant and it’s a task I don’t look forward to.

The key in such situations is to re-position or reframe the tasks so that they become more motivating.

For example, I look at my accountant as a customer of mine who needs to be kept happy just like our coaches and trainee coaches.

I diarise specific days to do this work so that the accountant receives it on time in order to do what she needs to do. She’s thankful for not having to nag me like she does so many other clients.

It sounds a little weird, I know … but it works for me.

Three steps to beat procrastination

The key to beating procrastination can be summarised in these three steps:

1. Wake up to it / own up to it.
Make an effort to become consciously aware of when you are procrastinating.

2. Assess the benefits
Write down the short term ‘benefits’ that accrue from your procrastination. What are you gaining from procrastinating?

3. Assess the costs
Write down the long term costs of your procrastination. What will you lose by procrastinating?

4. Do a cost/benefit analysis
Compare the long term costs with the short term benefits. Can you clearly see why procrastination is so disempowering and how it hinders your growth?

5. Take action
The only way to break a state of inertia is to induce movement. In other words you must take action, no matter how small.

Getting started is the hardest part so begin with an action that you find really easy to do. Gradually build up to bigger actions as the ‘friction’ is overcome and your confidence and enthusiasm starts to rise.

Good luck!