No one knows the cost of procrastination better than me.
In fact one time I nearly lost my job simply because I kept putting work off until the point where it had built up and up and became unmanageable.
You could say my motto was 'Procrastinate Now!' Luckily for me I had an understanding boss, but he made it crystal clear that I had to get my act together.
I managed to do that, but first I had to understand something about procrastination.
Procrastination Isn't Laziness Many of us with procrastination issues tend to beat up on ourselves about being 'lazy'.
But let's think about this.
What do you actually do when you procrastinate? Do you just sit around doing nothing? I bet you don't (not always anyway!).
Most of us do about a million and one things, anything, to avoid getting on with what they are supposed to do.
Procrastination takes effort! It's not for the lazy.
So what does cause procrastination? When I started thinking about solving this problem I was pretty pessimistic about finding an answer.
I mean procrastination is when you can't get started on something and the only way to stop it is to get started on something! It felt like a classic catch-22 situation.
Then I learned to look at the reasons for my procrastination and that gave me the clue I needed.
Procrastinators come in a few main guises, and many of us are more than one type:
If it's not perfect it's not worth doing.
How will her superiors rate her work? The agonizer is different from the perfectionist because she worries about meeting other people's standards rather than her own.
He can't see any way of getting it done ever, let alone getting it done on time.
He can't even see where to start.
The overwhelmed procrastinator is probably in the worst position of all.
I should know; this was me! How to Stop Procrastinating? No matter what flavor of procrastination you favor the key to overcoming it is to concentrate on just one thing; getting started.
Now that might sound obvious, but it really isn't.
The procrastinator feels they can't get started not because starting is hard but because they confuse starting with finishing.
You feel you can't start because you don't think you can't finish, or because you worry that the finished work won't satisfy your own or someone else's standards.
But you cannot possibly satisfy the demands of the finished product when you are only starting.
So, from a rational point of view those concerns should be disposed of.
How To Approach Starting Your Work
You can't finish in 5 minutes, you can't produce a good piece of work in 5 minutes.
But you can START, and once you've climbed that mountain, it's downhill the rest of the way.
In fact one time I nearly lost my job simply because I kept putting work off until the point where it had built up and up and became unmanageable.
You could say my motto was 'Procrastinate Now!' Luckily for me I had an understanding boss, but he made it crystal clear that I had to get my act together.
I managed to do that, but first I had to understand something about procrastination.
Procrastination Isn't Laziness Many of us with procrastination issues tend to beat up on ourselves about being 'lazy'.
But let's think about this.
What do you actually do when you procrastinate? Do you just sit around doing nothing? I bet you don't (not always anyway!).
Most of us do about a million and one things, anything, to avoid getting on with what they are supposed to do.
Procrastination takes effort! It's not for the lazy.
So what does cause procrastination? When I started thinking about solving this problem I was pretty pessimistic about finding an answer.
I mean procrastination is when you can't get started on something and the only way to stop it is to get started on something! It felt like a classic catch-22 situation.
Then I learned to look at the reasons for my procrastination and that gave me the clue I needed.
Procrastinators come in a few main guises, and many of us are more than one type:
- The Perfectionist
If it's not perfect it's not worth doing.
- The Agonizer
How will her superiors rate her work? The agonizer is different from the perfectionist because she worries about meeting other people's standards rather than her own.
- The Overwhelmed
He can't see any way of getting it done ever, let alone getting it done on time.
He can't even see where to start.
The overwhelmed procrastinator is probably in the worst position of all.
I should know; this was me! How to Stop Procrastinating? No matter what flavor of procrastination you favor the key to overcoming it is to concentrate on just one thing; getting started.
Now that might sound obvious, but it really isn't.
The procrastinator feels they can't get started not because starting is hard but because they confuse starting with finishing.
You feel you can't start because you don't think you can't finish, or because you worry that the finished work won't satisfy your own or someone else's standards.
But you cannot possibly satisfy the demands of the finished product when you are only starting.
So, from a rational point of view those concerns should be disposed of.
How To Approach Starting Your Work
- Remind yourself that you are only going to START
- Remind yourself that there is no expectation that you FINISH now
- Remind yourself that the first attempt need NOT be PERFECT
- Decide on a time for which you will sit down and start your work.
You can use any length of time that you like, but shorter is better than longer.
You can't finish in 5 minutes, you can't produce a good piece of work in 5 minutes.
But you can START, and once you've climbed that mountain, it's downhill the rest of the way.