Do You Know Why Do You Procrastinate?
There are lots of reasons why people procrastinate. However, you’ll only be able to conquer procrastination when you discover what your own reasons are. And they can run a lot deeper than you may think!
It’s easy to think that you’re putting off doing something because you don’t enjoy it. Maybe it’s boring… there are a million other “easy” reasons. But if we look beneath the surface, we might just find some surprising reasons that aren’t immediately obvious!
Look Inside
The first step towards learning why you procrastinate are is to get in touch with how you really feel about the tasks you tend to put off doing. What things do you delay doing on a consistent basis? Maybe you always say, “I’ll do the laundry tomorrow,” or you put off the grocery shopping until there’s nothing in the house to eat. Possibly, your procrastination issues are only present at work; tasks are assigned to you but you wait until the last minute to accomplish them.
Is the Task Causing You to Procrastinate?
Take a deeper look at the tasks that you procrastinate about. What do those tasks represent to you? In the larger scheme of things, how vital are those tasks to you and your personal or professional success? In the above example, if you always put off doing grocery shopping, maybe you are resentful that you don’t receive any help, and you feel as if you have to do everything yourself. If it is work tasks you’re putting off, it could be that you are subconsciously trying to get yourself fired because you’re so unhappy and unfulfilled with your work. So, you put things off, secretly hoping that they won’t get done.
Is It Really Procrastinating?
There are many ways to look at procrastination. Sometimes, changing direction mid-course is necessary. Things come up. Other things need to be juggled around in order to make things work. But that isn’t procrastination, that is informed decision-making. There is no positive side to procrastination, and if we stop giving shallow excuses for delaying the inevitable instead of simply taking action to figure out why we delay in the first place, we go a long way towards freeing ourselves from the procrastination trap forever.
Being in touch with your feelings about tasks and what those tasks represent to us is essential in learning your own personal reasons for procrastinating. And in knowing these reasons, we can learn how to resolve those feelings so that we can move forward, taking action, and doing the best job we can do!
