I found myself procrastinating before I started writing this blog post which is something that I find pretty surprising. Why? Well, I was excited to write about procrastination because it’s something I am familiar with, so I thought it would be easy to write.
Yet I kept putting it off. I scrolled through social media, watched a few YouTube videos and checked my email countless times…..I was procrastinating.
What is Procrastination?
Procrastination is the act of intentionally and habitually putting off something that should be done.
In other words, it’s the decision to do an activity at a later time.
Examples of Procrastination
I think procrastination is something that we can all relate to as human beings. It may look like this:
- Waiting to do a work task the night before it’s due
- Deciding to start your workout routine next month
- Postponing your appointment with your doctor or therapist
- Putting off reading the Bible until tomorrow
- Waiting until New Year’s Day to start going to the gym
- Keep deciding to start an emergency fund next month
- Keep taking courses before you start writing your book
Some of these examples may resonate with you. But do you know why you keep procrastinating? Take some time to think about it.
3 Little-Known Causes of Procrastination
You may think that procrastination is a time management issue. And you tell yourself that you would get the tasks done if you only had more time.
Yet you still don’t work on the tasks when you have free time. That’s because procrastination is not a time management issue.
Procrastination is not a time management issue.
It’s really about your frame of mind.
The beliefs that you have about certain tasks and obligations can lead to negative emotions. Consequently, you avoid the tasks in order to avoid the emotions.
And this can form a habit. That’s why procrastination is a habit.
But the good thing is that habits can be broken so you can stop procrastinating. One of the ways to break the habit is to identify why you do it in the first place.
So in this article, I’m sharing with you 3 causes of procrastination. When you know these causes then you’ll be able to address the root problems so you can change your behavior.
Here are 3 little-known causes of procrastination.
1) You Want to Relieve Stress
You may be procrastinating because you want to avoid feeling stressed.
When you think about doing a difficult or unfamiliar task or one that will require a lot of energy, you may feel stressed. These could be tasks such as:
- Preparing a comprehensive presentation for your next meeting
- Writing a speech
- Writing a 50-page report
- Completing a 3-hour module in your online course
You know that these tasks will require considerable effort, focus and brainstorming. You know that they will be reviewed or presented publicly so you want to do your best work.
Some of your tasks may even have tight deadlines that seem impossible to meet.
You may also procrastinate if you lack clarity. So if you have a goal but you don’t know what steps to take to achieve it, then you may get upset or annoyed because you’re not making any progress.
The pressure to complete the task even though you’re clueless about what steps to take can cause you to feel stressed and frustrated.
Naturally, you’ll have a desire to relieve the stress as quickly as possible.
Your brain will think about activities that require less effort and ones that are way more enjoyable.
So you end up procrastinating.
Instead of working on the tasks at hand, you’ll choose to do something that is more relaxing such as scrolling on social media, watching YouTube videos, calling a friend, or playing games.
Soon you’ll find yourself spending hours doing everything else except working on the task.
2) You Want to Increase Your Certainty of Success
Sometimes you procrastinate because you feel like you’re not qualified, equipped or knowledgeable enough to achieve a goal.
You don’t think you have what it takes and you start thinking that you need more knowledge and skills.
So instead of going after the goal, you keep searching for more information, taking more courses or spending more time practising.
These activities make you feel like you’re making progress. But consuming information without applying it is pointless.
Consuming information without application is pointless
The truth is you are procrastinating because you’re trying to avoid failure. So you’re trying to acquire more knowledge and skills to reduce the probability of failure.
As human beings, we love certainty. We want to know that we are on the right path and that our effort will result in success. We don’t want to make mistakes.
We like predictability and control. Increased certainty gives us a sense of control and assurance. Hence we want to reduce uncertainty as much as we can. But you will never have 100% control. So learn to be okay with uncertainty.
Being prepared is a good thing but it’s highly likely that you already have enough knowledge and skills. This is especially true if you’ve already taken courses or developed a skill.
Related Article: Are You Focused on Being Busy or Productive?
Just remember that you will never be 100% prepared. Some things can only be learned through experience.
So start taking action today and a year from now, you’ll be happy that you did.
So start writing the manuscript for your book, recording your video and promoting your services.
3) You Want to Protect Yourself From Embarrassment and Ridicule
You may be procrastinating because you’re afraid of being embarrassed or afraid of what people will say.
This is mostly true if you’re procrastinating on goals that can/will become public knowledge. These may be goals like:
- Starting a YouTube channel
- Publishing a book
- Starting a business
- Hosting an event
Some people will cheer you on but others may criticise you and their feedback might be negative.
As human beings, we want the acceptance and approval of others. We also want to protect our self-esteem. So we will tend to avoid activities that could result in public embarrassment or criticism.
We don’t want others to see our mistakes or to know our failures so we keep putting off the pursuit of some goals until everything is “just right” or perfect.
But this can lead to perfectionism.
So you will keep editing, tweaking and changing things because you’re trying to achieve perfection which is unattainable.
Striving for perfection is really a form of procrastination.
Perfectionism is really a form of procrastination.
You’re really doing it to avoid being criticised, ridiculed or embarrassed.
But don’t allow your fear to stop you from achieving your goals and sharing your knowledge and skills with the world.
Takeaway
We often run from tasks that should be done because we focus on the difficult and intimidating aspects. The battle is fought in the mind so it will either be won or lost in the mind.
If you are struggling with procrastination, change what you focus on.
If you are struggling with procrastination, change your focus
You can choose to focus on how difficult and unpleasant it may be to complete the task.
OR
You can choose to focus on how satisfying, relieving and rewarding it will be when the task is completed.
So what have you been procrastinating on? Is it your:
- Work tasks
- Going to the gym
- Completing a course (like learning a foreign language)
- Writing a book
- Starting a business
The next time you feel like procrastinating, think about how rewarding, satisfying and relieving it will be that you achieved one more goal.
Think about how great it will be to know that:
- You met your work targets
- You are in good shape
- You can confidently converse with a Spanish native
- Your published book is positively impacting lives
- You have a profitable business that is making an impact
Next Steps
If you want personalized strategies and accountability to help you overcome procrastination and start enjoying the fulfilment of your goals, make sure to book your free Time Management Assessment Call with me.