Ah, summer – that lazy, hazy time of year when everything slows down.
Summer is supposed to be leisurely and unhurried. It doesn’t take much for me to persuade myself that the project I need to be working on right now can wait until tomorrow… maybe even the day after, when they say it’s going to rain. Summer is short; I deserve to enjoy it. Besides, don’t the self-care experts warn us to treat ourselves well or we won’t achieve work-life balance and inner harmony? It’s not good to work all the time. It’s very good to just sit here in the shade. Or maybe take the family someplace fun. Anything but work on that project…
Recent studies indicate that as many as 95% of us are prone to procrastination, with 20% being chronic procrastinators! Procrastination is one of the most universal of human flaws.
Why do we allow ourselves to put off what we should do right now? Even when we know (because we do it regularly) that the anxiety of a looming deadline and a job not done will make us regret our procrastination? The easy explanation is that the temptation to postpone an unwanted task in favor of an immediate pleasure is irresistible. But if it were truly irresistible, nobody would ever get anything done.
The fact is that procrastination is a habit. And like most habits, the more you indulge it, the stronger it becomes. Each time you manage to finish just under the wire, that habit is reinforced. And, like other forms of gambling, sooner or later your luck will fail. You’ll have a furious client, a damaged reputation, or some other disaster on your hands.
If you’re in business for yourself, you can’t afford that kind of risk. There are too many alternatives for customers to turn to. Word gets around, and nobody wants to do business with someone who doesn’t deliver. Or delivers a product or service that’s rushed and substandard. Especially when it’s their own fault! Worse yet is trying to blame someone or something else for your failure.
If you’re in the habit of procrastinating, you’ve got to do something to change that. It’s just a matter of time before something bad happens. Plus, the repeated stress and anxiety of last-minute fixes is no way to achieve inner harmony. Why would you do that to yourself! Here are four strategies you can use to break the self-destructive procrastination habit:
1. Get started as soon as you land a new project – even if you don’t feel ready do much at that point. The minute you take some kind of action, your brain starts analyzing and problem solving. Ideas come more easily and you’ll have a structure in place to capture them. It’s far easier to keep a project moving that’s already underway, than to overcome the inertia of procrastination.
2. Break projects down into the individual steps required. You’ll be better able to arrive at an accurate estimate of the total time required when you have figured out how much time each step will take. You won’t mislead yourself into thinking you can squeeze a three-week project into one week!
3. Allow extra time. If your project is due on the 15th, aim to finish by the 10th. If you run into a snag, or your attention is called elsewhere for an emergency, you’ve built in a bit of wiggle room. Plus, it’s always helpful to set a “finished” project aside for a few days, then give it another look. You’ll likely spot a few areas for improvement.
4. Give yourself an incentive to finish before the deadline. Promise yourself that afternoon in the shade or that outing with the family. Carve out time for those things, like the self-care experts advise – after you’ve taken care of business. Having completed your work without the unnecessary stress of procrastination, you can enjoy genuine work-life balance and inner harmony!
Why do we allow ourselves to put off what we should do right now? Even when we know (because we do it regularly) that the anxiety of a looming deadline and a job not done will make us regret our procrastination? The easy explanation is that the temptation to postpone an unwanted task in favor of an immediate pleasure is irresistible. But if it were truly irresistible, nobody would ever get anything done.
The fact is that procrastination is a habit. And like most habits, the more you indulge it, the stronger it becomes. Each time you manage to finish just under the wire, that habit is reinforced. And, like other forms of gambling, sooner or later your luck will fail. You’ll have a furious client, a damaged reputation, or some other disaster on your hands.
If you’re in business for yourself, you can’t afford that kind of risk. There are too many alternatives for customers to turn to. Word gets around, and nobody wants to do business with someone who doesn’t deliver. Or delivers a product or service that’s rushed and substandard. Especially when it’s their own fault! Worse yet is trying to blame someone or something else for your failure.
If you’re in the habit of procrastinating, you’ve got to do something to change that. It’s just a matter of time before something bad happens. Plus, the repeated stress and anxiety of last-minute fixes is no way to achieve inner harmony. Why would you do that to yourself! Here are four strategies you can use to break the self-destructive procrastination habit:
1. Get started as soon as you land a new project – even if you don’t feel ready do much at that point. The minute you take some kind of action, your brain starts analyzing and problem solving. Ideas come more easily and you’ll have a structure in place to capture them. It’s far easier to keep a project moving that’s already underway, than to overcome the inertia of procrastination.
2. Break projects down into the individual steps required. You’ll be better able to arrive at an accurate estimate of the total time required when you have figured out how much time each step will take. You won’t mislead yourself into thinking you can squeeze a three-week project into one week!
3. Allow extra time. If your project is due on the 15th, aim to finish by the 10th. If you run into a snag, or your attention is called elsewhere for an emergency, you’ve built in a bit of wiggle room. Plus, it’s always helpful to set a “finished” project aside for a few days, then give it another look. You’ll likely spot a few areas for improvement.
4. Give yourself an incentive to finish before the deadline. Promise yourself that afternoon in the shade or that outing with the family. Carve out time for those things, like the self-care experts advise – after you’ve taken care of business. Having completed your work without the unnecessary stress of procrastination, you can enjoy genuine work-life balance and inner harmony!
What is your opinion about procrastination? What tips do you have? Share your perspective in the comments!
Wow. This could be me. Every one of these suggestions is so helpful and so true. I find that when I try to bite off too much I end up procrastinating. If I’m facing a very large or unpleasant task, the very first thing I do is give myself a break. I decide that if I get any portion of it done, I should be proud of myself for that leg of the task. That often motivates me to get more done because I feel so good about completing what I did.
And the thought that really motivates me? “Think about this entire job being done and how it will make you feel.” When I think about the job being done, that is my biggest motivation to see it through.
This was a great article.
Hi Lori,
I loved your comment about being motivated by the thought of a completed job! There are certain things I hate doing — that I used to procrastinate about and dread every time they crossed my mind. But I discovered if I do those things first thing in the morning, I feel great all day long knowing they’re already done!
I’m almost 30 years and realizing how bad my procrastination is affecting my life and relations.
I’m still working on myself to behave better, I admit that I still struggle a lot, since I fell almost into depression for my problem.
The advice I say to myself is: start with the job, think of it as divided into pieces that do not look too difficult or long.
The thought that unfortunately is deep in my mind is: avoid effort.
The truth I would like to understand is: fatigue and effort have a good reward.
Carlo, thank you for sharing your feelings. Almost everyone struggles with procrastination some of the time and has the same feelings you do. I believe your advice to yourself is very good — break your tasks into small steps that you can do without them seeming too difficult. If you complete one small step at a time, the tasks don’t seem so overwhelming and they eventually get done. Perhaps you can promise yourself a reward once you do something you have been putting off!