How much could you get done if you never procrastinated? A little? A lot?
Procrastination is the greatest barrier you face in achieving your goals and actually getting things accomplished. Your time is a valuable resource, and procrastination is the best way to waste your time.
Those who procrastinate the most are generally the least effective. Consider people you know. Does your most successful friend procrastinate very much? How about your least successful friend?
Waiting until the last possible moment to either start work on or complete a task means that you make it almost impossible to finding the best or most effective solution. As a result, assuming you are able to complete the task on time or at all, the best you can experience is mediocre results.
Did you know that a whopping 97% of the world’s population procrastinates? Think about just how much time we are throwing away.
So why do people procrastinate? There are several possible reasons:
1. Fear of failure is possibly the most common cause of procrastination. The rationale is that you can’t fail if you don’t try. Unfortunately, if you don’t try you can’t accomplish anything. A lack of action is a failure in and of itself. If you find your life has been stuck in the same place for a long time, you’re most likely afraid of failing.
Fear of failure does not have to stop you. It is necessary to reframe your believes about failure. Recognize that failure is only one of many possible results. You can choose to learn from that result and apply it to your next attempt. The more you learn from your mistakes, the more likely you are to find success. Change your expectations to include failure. You will fail. The more often you do, the more quickly you’ll reach your goals. Avoid allowing this fear to prevent you from getting things done.
2. The need for perfection. Life is not perfect. The desire for perfection can result in procrastination. If it can’t be perfect – some people don’t even try to start an activity. Be proactive and decide how good it really needs to be. There will never be a perfect moment or opportunity. Your results will never be perfect – so stop trying to be perfect. Take action and recognize that good enough really is good enough.
3. An inability to deal effectively with discomfort. At the most basic level, procrastination results when the thought of taking action creates in more discomfort than you feel capable of dealing with at that moment. It’s only when the pain of not taking action becomes greater than the pain of avoidance that things get done.
Some people are able to effectively deal with this discomfort than others. With practice, it is possible to learn to take action even when experiencing discomfort. Do not overwhelm yourself – start small and tackle those tasks that are only mildly uncomfortable. Over time, your ability to tolerate discomfort will increase.
4. Habits that don’t support getting started. Some people have developed effective habits for getting started on new projects or distasteful tasks. For many people getting started is the hardest part. They are very effective at finding other things to do.
Get into the habit of taking immediate action on any unpleasant tasks. It can be small and simple, but the important thing is to get started! Once you have started you will likely find you have created some amount of momentum which is enough to do more work than you expected.
5. A lack of self-discipline. Self-discipline is simply the ability to make yourself do things that should be done. You need it to get started, to stay on track in the despite distractions. It is a very valuable trait to have. It also makes creating new habits much easier. Use your self-discipline wisely. It’s always in short supply. Use it to develop the habits that will overcome procrastination.
6. Fear of success. This may sound strange but a fear of success is very common. Being successful brings changes to your life. Many people do not like change – even change that they really want. When you’re successful you become more visible and have more responsibility as well as having to meet higher expectations in the future.
In reality, any changes that may occur as a result of your success can be managed if you tell yourself that you are capable of dealing with them. Do not let a fear of success lead to procrastination.
Eliminating procrastination from your life will allow you to get more things done and done at a higher quality. Procrastination can affect your entire life. Procrastinating results in increased stress and causes poor results.
Now that you know why you procrastinate you can take action to reduce or even stop it and get more done.