Procrastination is the thing that kills off all of our good intentions. It creeps up on us very easily and before we know it, hours, days, weeks, years, even decades have gone by spent doing things of little value whilst the dreams that we cherished go by the wayside. It’s important to recognize when procrastination starts so that we can kill it off quickly. There are three types of response to the issues that make us want to procrastinate:

Number One: Turn away from getting things done by indulging in distractions
All of us have an infinite number of means by which to avoid getting things done. We do these things because they are easier to do than the things that we avoid. Here are some of the common distractions:

• Sleeping, either napping or extra long sleeps
• Watching TV
• Watching movies
• Aimless web-surfing
• Reading books
• Playing video games
• Snacking
• Cleaning the home
• Boozing with friends (my particular favorite)

Number Two: Using excuses as reasons not to do things
Rather than facing up to difficulties in a sensible manner that accepts them and finds ways to get beyond them we instead attempt to justify not getting on with things. Here are some common excuses:

• I had a rough week and I need a break
• I haven’t had a good [blank] for ages - I deserve this!
• I’ll give myself a little reward first and then I’ll feel like doing it
• I need more [insert your favorite excuse e.g. resources, research, time] before I can do it

Number Three: Giving in to despair
After a sufficiently long period of indulging in distractions and indulging in excuses we begin to feel more and more hopeless and useless. At this point we begin to despair and start asking unanswerable questions, often tied to unsubstantiated beliefs, about why we have reached this point. Common questions go like this:

• Why is life so unfair?
• Why do I always have it so difficult?
• Why can’t someone else do it?
• Why did I have such [insert your favorite woe, e.g. bad parents, a bad childhood, bad luck]?

The Antidote
Procrastination happens as a symptom of a deeper problem and it’s a simple problem. Procrastination occurs when we want things right now that we don’t have the possibility to fulfill in the present moment. It’s as simple as that. Procrastination occurs as a response to the practical issue that we cannot do/be or have what we want in the moment of wanting it.

This occurs because we have a:

• Lack of personal ability to fulfill the desire
• Lack of physical resources to fulfill the desire
• Lack of certainty about what process will fulfill the desire

Much more commonly though, we procrastinate because we have a host of unrealistic desires all of which we want right now!

To avoid procrastination be careful about what you set as a desire. For any particular desire that proves difficult to fulfill accept the difficulty, accept the current personal limitations and accept the uncertainty. If you want to make progress then you really have no other choice. Decide whether the desire is really worth pursuing and if not then quit. Struggling over momentary difficulty is hard enough; struggling over a lack of desire is near impossible. If you decide that the desire is really worth pursuing then continuously seek to recognize points of ‘personal impossibility in the moment’ and then seek to find ways to deal with them. This normally occurs by going around them where possible or, more commonly, by developing the personal ability and resources to overcome them.

Have a think about your warning signs. What distractions, excuses and desperate signs feature heavily in your life?

If you want more insights into better living then subscribe to my blog (use the orange button in the header bar above)