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| Athena on
Procrastination |
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What is procrastination?
Procrastination is intentionally putting off something that must be done.
Generally, when we procrastinate, we put off doing something that must be
done in the vague hope that we will not have to face whatever it is that
we must do.
Procrastination is very common –
psychologists estimate that 90% of all people procrastinate at some time
or another, and that over 25% of all people are chronic procrastinators.
Procrastination causes many problems.
Procrastination:
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Wastes time |
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Increases worry-unnecessarily |
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Reduces the chances of us to achieve our
goals |
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Reduces our effectiveness |
Why do we procrastinate? We can
summarize why into a few major reasons:
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Lack of motivation:
We procrastinate because, although we know it is a very important task,
we just don’t feel motivated to work on it at this time |
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Fear:
We sometimes procrastinate because we fear the results of taking
action. So, we are delaying the inevitable, hoping that there will be a
miracle (the lump goes away, we win the lottery so that we don’t have to
worry about cars or jobs, ever again.) |
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The task is overwhelming:
We find the task so overwhelming that we don’t know where to start.
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Perfectionism:
We tend not to start something because we feel that we cannot do it
perfectly and, therefore, see no point in doing it at all |
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| How Do I Know
If I Am Procrastinating? |
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How do we know if we are procrastinating,
or simply delaying a task for good reason? Just because you are
delaying does NOT mean you are procrastinating. There are often good
reasons for delay. How do you know if you are procrastinating?
If you answer yes to the following questions about a task, you are
procrastinating:
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Is this task causing me worry?
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Will I gain anything by putting it off?
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Will putting it off materially affect
the outcome? |
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Is what I am doing now instead of this
task more important than this task? |
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If
I do this task now, will it reduce my worry? |
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| What Can I Do
To Stop Procrastinating? |
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The only way to beat procrastination is
ACTION! Yet how do you start? It is really quite simple:
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Clearly identify the task. Write it
down at the top of a piece of paper.
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Do a cost/benefit analysis. Note what
you gain by putting it off on the left hand side of the list. Note what
you lose or what problems it causes by putting it off on the right hand
side of the list.
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List specifically why you are not doing
the task. Determine the validity of this reasoning. Are these good
reasons, or just excuses?
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If there is one thing that is holding
you back from proceeding? Look at the validity of that hold up. Is it
possible that you can find another way to get what you need? Is there a
way to help someone complete a task that is holding you up?
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If you determine that you must do the
task, and that it would be better to start working on it, how do you
begin? The best approach is as follows:
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Determine what the task involves by
listing the overall, major steps involved.
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Once you have the major steps written
down, then determine what is “the next step” – the next thing you need
to do on this task.
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Schedule the “next step” – or even
better, do it right now!
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Schedule time for tasks you should be
doing, but set a limit. If the task is really repugnant, set 60
minutes to work on the task, or say “I will complete one half of these
problems now, and the rest two hours later”
Give
yourself rewards, including breaks, when you accomplish tasks
Always Remember!
Beginning work on a task will make it
easier to face a task. No matter how much you dread doing something,
starting to work on it will motivate you to want to do more. Once we
start working on something we dreaded, we almost always find that it was
not as bad as we thought.
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| Questions About
Procrastination? |
| Please feel free to
contact us for further information.
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