Procrastination happens when we feel anxious about what’s ahead

It happens most when we feel overwhelmed

It happens more if we set ourselves unrealistic tasks

It stops when we change how we work

Procrastination itself is painful! 

Procrastinating isn’t an easy option – despite what we might think. It’s a very painful option and it’s a huge energy drain on us, even if we use sleep to procrastinate! We all procrastinate sometimes and put off work that we should be doing. I’ve done it with this blog! It’s very easy to do and it is OK if it is short-term and happens occasionally. It becomes a real issue if we regularly procrastinate and put off work – and even worse if we know that no matter what, we won’t be able to get down to any work until the last minute.

The problem with procrastination is that no matter what we do, we know that we will still have the work ahead of us. And this experience just ruins everything in the meantime. This is because we end up feeling guilty about everything we do that isn’t work and we stop enjoying everything! All of our activities can become ruined and unsatisfying because of procrastination. There’s no space to enjoy ourselves and no space to relax in either. This is a problem if we do actually need some time to rest and relax during our holidays and also get some work done. Instead of a nice mix of work, rest and play, our holidays can become a twilight zone of constant guilt and avoidance. The more we procrastinate and don’t really work properly, the more we struggle to rest properly as well.

Understanding why we procrastinate can change all of this behaviour.

Why do we Procrastinate?

1. Feeling Overwhelmed

If you’re like me, then the main driver for your procrastination will probably be a sense of overwhelm about the work ahead. This overwhelm can put me off before I even start. Why do we continue procrastinating?

It’s because the discomfort of procrastination feels like nothing compared to how painful we think the work ahead is going to be.

This is actually the crux of the problem of procrastination – the expectation of pain ahead and the desire to avoid it. However, the more we avoid it, the more the pain builds up! A tipping point eventually arrives where the pain of avoidance becomes just too painful and we finally start to work. This moment is a real relief bit it would be so nice if we could bring the whole process of getting down to work forward.

2. Having Unrealistic Expectations of Ourselves

We can cause ourselves to procrastinate by setting unrealistic goals of the amount of work we plan to do. I have done this in the past, many times. I’ve set crazy amounts of work and expected myself to complete long hours studying each day. It’s inevitably too much and as a result doomed to failure.

The problem with this approach is that it uses black and white or all or nothing thinking. We end up thinking, ‘I must revise eight hours every day or I’ve failed.’ This sets us up to feel even further behind and more de-motivated when we don’t achieve our extreme goals. Our minds tend to create a simplistic picture of intense sessions of work (All) or, we feel there’s no point working at all (Nothing). I’ve met students who miss the 9 o’clock deadline when they planned to start working, so they wait until the next hour at10 o’clock to start working! This is just another example of that all or nothing thinking. If it’s not perfectly on the hour then I’ve missed my window and there’s no point.

We need to lower our expectations making them VERY realistic so that we can achieve them and feel good about ourselves and our efforts. This motivates us to keep going and to feel like a winner.

Three Strategies

Here’s three strategies that I regularly use to reduce my chances of procrastinating:

• Have a complete list: I always have a list of work. It’s a long list usually because I add to it whenever I remember something new that needs doing. So it is always up to date and I keep it near by so I can add to it easily.  Everything goes on this list and because of this, I can relax knowing nothing will get forgotten. The problem is that it’s a long and overwhelming list. So here’s how I break it down.
• Prioritise from your list: I choose my goals wisely from this list. I highlight my top five or six priorities that really need completing and I put these on a separate page. This is what I work from. If I looked at that whole list every day I would soon feel overwhelmed and demotivated. So I just work from the smaller list and add to it when I have completed something. It’s a small trick but it works.
• Keep your goals small: I also make sure these few goals are not too much for the time I have to work in. Things always take longer than we think. So I write six goals but plan that three will be for tomorrow. If I do work quicker than expected today then I start on the goals for tomorrow, ahead of time. This makes me feel great about myself and it motivates me to keep going!