I come from a long line of procrastinators. A family motto could be, "Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after that." My dad never got around to giving the talk about the birds and the bees. I wrote my wedding speech between the church and the reception hall. My brother wrote his in the receiving line. I've finally decided to scratch off the last item on my to-do list because I'm pretty sure that I will never learn to speak Chinese.
There are times when procrastination may appear to be a good thing. My son would say sometimes the need to do something passes if you put off doing it long enough. I suspect this is his hope when he doesn't pick up after himself or doesn't do the dishes right away. Someone else might do it.
It can be therapeutic to procrastinate our worries, especially if we tend to obsess with multiple iterations of the question, "What if...?" If you tend to worry, sometimes it's better to await the diagnosis before thinking about the treatments you may not need.
Procrastinating your immediate reaction to anger would be preferable to acting on your initial impulse to honk your horn, give a piece of your mind or flash a hand signal. The other person may be even worse at procrastinating a response to their impulses.
But most of the time, procrastination gets us into trouble. If we don't pay our bills, we may sink into ever deepening debt. Our spouses threaten to leave us if we don't clean up our messes. We can get really sick if we put off seeing the doctor. Our kids can get pregnant if we don't get around to talking about the birds and the bees.
Why do you procrastinate?
1. You're too disorganized. You have so much to do, you don't know where to begin... so you don't.
The solution: Make a to-do list (a.k.a. your procrastination list). Prioritize it, and estimate the time required to do each item. If you discover-as I have-that the time to complete every item on your list exceeds the number of hours in a normal human lifetime, you have to accept the facts that you are mortal, you have to make some hard choices about what is most important to you, and sleeping seven to eight hours each night is not a waste of your precious time.
2. You feel overwhelmed. The thing you procrastinate the most is like a dreaded monster you can never defeat. The more you avoid it the greater its power over you.
The solution: Break down the monster task into smaller, doable steps. When you've accomplished the first bite-sized task, you'll gain both confidence and momentum to move on to the next. Over time, you will complete the monster task that once intimidated you.
3. It's something so important-a speech, a job application, or a novel-that you have to do a great job.
The solution: Take the pressure off. Jot down your ideas, speed write your first draft, and give yourself the luxury of rewriting that draft. Don't wait for the pressure of a looming deadline to motivate you to start that important project. The lack of time may make it an inadequate effort. If you put off starting it indefinitely, you'll miss out on the potential opportunities and personal satisfaction that would come with your completed task.
By starting earlier-with a quick draft, you'll have a foundation on which to build and refine your best effort. You'll be less likely to make careless omissions, and you'll have extra time to add icing to the cake.
4. It's something you really don't want to do.
The solution: Decide if it's important or necessary. If it's neither, scratch it off your list. Don't waste your lifetime completing someone else's to-do list.
5. You get sidelined by other more enjoyable activities.
The solution: Be a grownup and defer immediate gratification. Think about the benefits of getting the job done. Visualize yourself having completed your goal, and imagine the sense of accomplishment you will feel. Reward yourself after you get it done (not before).
Updating your Facebook status, chatting with friends and having a Starbucks can be your rewards after you get things done-not distractions, excuses or time-burners before you've completed your important task
