Do You Recognize These 3 Warning Signs of Procrastination?
This article is 600 words long and will take about 3-minutes to read.
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?
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#1 - Permalink Mirko January 29th, 2008 at 2:51 amThe thing that almost everytime gets me into procrastinating is multitasking. Doing 3 things in the same time is probably the best way to end up only concentrating on the things you don’t really need.
#2 - Permalink admin January 31st, 2008 at 1:16 amYes, procrastination happens with things that we find difficult to do and so we need full concentration on those difficult points in order to move past them. Attempting to do other things at the same time as those difficult things tends to break concentration and gives an easier option to indulge in and hence procrastination rears its ugly head again.
#3 - Permalink Why Distractions Feel So Damn Good August 11th, 2008 at 11:15 am[...] Do You Recognize These 3 Warning Signs of Procrastination? [...]
#4 - Permalink Birte April 30th, 2009 at 6:48 amExcellent outline of procrastination, something we all suffer from at one time or another.
Everything here is within “negative” procrastination. There are occasionally “positive” procrastination - where we truly lack that piece of information or whatever. Unfortunately only hindsight will show that it was a “positive” delay in action.
Till then we go through those syndromes of “negative” procrastination of ….
Any suggestions on this?
#5 - Permalink admin April 30th, 2009 at 8:31 amOver the past year I have begun to use procedures for getting things done more and more often. By working out how to do something in exacting detail before commencing with it I avoid the start (what I can) - stop (because I don’t know what to do next or can’t progress) - feel bad and delay (procrastinate interminably) cycle that used to make a huge struggle out of getting any difficult problem done. Part of my process is to think carefully about where barriers to progress will occur. In this way I identify that lacking ‘piece of information, or whatever’ that you refer to before I come up against in reality. By identifying it in advance I can focus on solving that problem, or circumventing it, so that it doesn’t stop me.
I don’t have sufficient foresight to avoid every single little holdup but I get most of the big ones and it has a huge beneficial impact on remaining productive and avoiding days and weeks of delay.
There are occasions when a delay ends up having a serendipitous result (i.e. a positive result from procrastinating) but that happens very rarely and cannot be depended upon, so I discount that effect when going through my procedures and doing my detailed preparation.
#6 - Permalink Birte April 30th, 2009 at 8:56 amThis seems the logical conclusion to avoid procrastination as much as possible - proper and detailed planning. It rings a very strong bell with me, that the times I procrastinate is particularly when I have not worked out a proper plan.
But even the best laid plans of mice and men (love that expression and where it comes from) are not flawless. I will keep all of this in mind.
#7 - Permalink admin April 30th, 2009 at 10:50 amI’d like to make a very specific point here - I am not talking about planning. Planning is something very distinct from creating a procedure. Planning is an overview, a proposal, if you will. A procedure is a detailed set of instructions for carrying out a task.
In the past my plans continually failed because they were not specific enough. A procedure makes things specific and hence possible and doable. It’s a very different concept.
If you don’t use procedures then I recommend that you experiment with them. You’ll never look back once you get the hang of them.
#8 - Permalink Birte April 30th, 2009 at 1:46 pmThis will teach me to read properly
I do see the difference and will take it to heart