Struggling With Procrastination?

What is procrastination and how can I stop it?

Procrastination as a topic is both broad and deep. It can cover anything from procrastinating about clearing out the wardrobe, some days feeling distracted at work to bigger stuff like not doing something important because of a fear of failure. In this blog, I will endeavour to cover many of these areas. But what I know, at the risk of you not reading any further, the key to stopping or reducing procrastination is to take one tiny step at a time. I have used this myself many times, and it works! So, let’s go through procrastination one step at a time.

Defining Procrastination

Which of the following do you relate to?

- Do you sometimes find yourself staring off into space, but you’ve got lots of work to do?

- Often saying I’ll do it later or I’ll do it tomorrow

- Putting off tasks even though they are important

- Struggling to make decisions

In talking with people recently, procrastination seems to be a theme.

What I say to them is it’s okay to put things off and give yourself a break (unless it’s an urgent work or life and death-issue) because -

a) We’re worried about what we aren’t getting done

b) We are worried that we are procrastinating and

c) Telling ourselves off for procrastinating

Notice the three ways we angst?

The reality is you will procrastinate at times. That’s okay! Life gets hectic, and we overload ourselves, then we get tired and drained and hit the can’t be bothered zone. Or feel unmotivated some days.

• The question is, how often are you putting things off?

• Is it affecting you, your family, work colleagues, and to what extent?

• What will be the impact if you don’t do the task today? Like the laundry, it can wait; taking the baby for its one-year checkup – could probably wait a week.

How important are the things you aren’t getting done? Really, how important are they?

Not doing the laundry for a day – does it matter? What will be the impact?

Not buying your son’s birthday present today when his birthday is tomorrow isn’t such a great idea.

Not going to yoga one week that’s fine; it’s when we consistently don’t do things, can’t seem to get into the work project or start the exercise programme, and we’re not sure why that we need to dig a bit deeper.

How do I stop procrastinating?

I don’t really like the word stop in terms of procrastination because we all do it at some time. What is helpful is focusing on strategies to reduce or manage procrastination.

I’ve divided managing procrastination into three areas:

1. Work

2. Achieving goals

3. Something deeper

1. How to stop procrastinating at work?

Firstly, answer the big questions:

a) Are you bored?

b) Are you interested enough in what you are doing?

c) If either of the above, what percentage of the time are you doing things that don’t interest you?

If you do like your work but get distracted, then here are some ideas to reduce those distractions:

- Clear your desk of anything that distracts you

- When undertaking a project or something that needs focus, put your phone away in a drawer

- Tell yourself no social media until you have finished a piece of work

- Write down what you need to do today, then start one small thing at a time

- Use the 10-minute rule. Work for 10 minutes, then you are allowed to call a friend or do a quick non-work activity, then back to work for 10 minutes and so on.

Of course, if you aren’t interested in your work anymore, it’s time to undertake a career review and find a new pathway.

2. Achieving Goals

We’ve all tried to begin a new hobby or activity, for instance starting to exercise, but resistance rears its head. You find good reasons to put it off – for example, the weather is bad, you don’t have the right shoes, don’t like exercising alone, and so on- until you are convinced you don’t want to do it.

Here are some suggestions to manage the resistance for whatever goal you want. Firstly find a journal to write in and -

a) Write your goal, e.g. I want to play the violin

b) Now create two columns. On the left, write everything your mind says you can’t. All of them until there is nothing left.

c) On the right, write beside each of the I cant’s, write how you could overcome those things.

From why I can’t to how I can

I can’t afford a violin. Find out if you could rent or borrow one.

I’ve got fat fingers. Research to discover if this can be an issue.

My family isn’t musical. You could be the first to be musical.

I don’t have time. How much do you want to do this?

d) Now write down all the steps you need to do to begin learning the violin, from finding a teacher to finding others to learn with.

e) Write a small goal for the first month of learning, for example, learning about how a violin works, nothing more than just one achievable thing.

So, it is about breaking things down into tiny steps. I have used this time and time again whenever I get stuck.

3. Something deeper

Then there are those times when you can’t get on with things but don’t know why, whether it’s work or goals. Maybe you’re lethargic, unmotivated or disinterested. During these times, it’s helpful to look deeper; uncover what is happening with your thoughts and feelings. For example, it might be more than not liking a job; you might feel like you need a whole new career and are scared. Or maybe you are just afraid about something new, like presenting to a large audience or learning to scuba dive, and the fear is making you paralysed. The key is to notice the negative thoughts that may come up, for instance:

- fear of failure or

- I won’t be good at presenting to a large audience, or

- the team won’t like me if I push back on that project.

Once you know what is getting in the way, you can begin working on that area and learn to manage or resolve it.

In Summary:

Procrastination can be as simple as creating strategies to stop the distraction at work, or if it’s tricky uncovering what is going on when thoughts and feelings are getting in the way of achieving. It’s okay to put things off, but It’s when we are regularly doing so that we need to take heed. Remember, the key to procrastination is to reduce anything and everything to one step at a time.

Just a tiny one.

My course the successful procrastinator will be launched in December as a self study course with 1:1 sessions included. Click the button below for more information.