How To Avoid Procrastination:
Knowing Why We Love To Procrastinate Is The Key
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We love to put things off. The key to figuring out how to avoid procrastination lies in the reason WHY we love to do it so much.
I took an online journey in search of answers from the good old Google and came across some great articles on the subject. There were definitely some common themes.
While there are millions of things we can procrastinate about, the reasons why we do it all boil down to the same few fundamentals. I've listed 3 major ones below.
Read on to see if any resonate with you, and then you'll be able to snuff out that procrastination as easily as a 6-year old blows out birthday candles.
Are you ready? Yes, you are. It's why you're here. Let's do this!
Why Do We Love To Procrastinate?
How To Avoid Procrastination
Because...who runs towards danger?
Or pain? Or fear? Or discomfort? Or unpleasantness of any kind? No one. No one wants to purposefully put themselves in harm's way, but on the other hand...
You don't become a dragon slayer by staring at the dragon and wishing it to die, do you? #heroesdontprocrastinate
No. You charge that devil with a sword and take it on. Otherwise, it'll be waiting for you tomorrow and the next day and the day after that.
According to Greatist.com, we retreat to our comfort zones to avoid pain of any kind and that is the root of procrastination. However, the price we pay for that comfort is time...arguably our most precious asset.
"In order to take back our lives, people need a plan for facing pain and moving through it. Pain can actually become our guide to an expanded life once we know its secret: Pain is never absolute. When we move away from pain, it increases—it’s like a monster pursuing us in a dream. But if we turn around and face pain, it shrinks."
Read more about the secret to overcoming this procrastination and facing the pain on Greatist.com.
How To Avoid Procrastination
Because...now is now. I'll deal with later, later.
Said everyone, at least once in their lives. I'm pretty sure that every human on the planet has used this reasoning before, and it's one of the things that feeds the procrastination monster.
Pleasing your current self might be detrimental to your future self, but who cares about that right now? Exactly.
WaitButWhy.com calls this the instant gratification monkey.
"This would be fine—cute, even—if the Rational Decision-Maker knew the first thing about how to own a monkey. But unfortunately, it wasn’t a part of his training and he’s left completely helpless as the monkey makes it impossible for him to do his job."
Such a creature doesn't learn from the past and surely doesn't care about the future. He is only interested in the pleasure that can be had in the present, and that usually means not getting anything worthwhile accomplished.
Check out WaitBuyWhy.com's humorously illustrated procrastination post to learn more about said monkey. James Clear talks about this concept in scientific terms, so take a gander at his intelligent post as well.
How To Avoid Procrastination
Because...it's not perfect yet.
Oh ok. So when will it be perfect? NEVER!
Nothing is perfect. Ever. Unless you're some kind of robot, but I'm going to take a wild guess and say that you're human which means you're just like the rest of us.
Not perfect.
Those who strive for flawlessness never reach their goals, and therefore nothing ever gets done. Aiming for perfection is really a flawless form of procrastination; it'll happen every time.
According to Psychology Today, we overwhelm and frustrate ourselves by creating such impossible standards and nothing ever gets done as a result. Check out Psychology Today's article and take their quiz to find out the cause behind your procrastination.
There you have it - 3 common mental and emotional reasons behind our procrastination. Which fundamental resonated with you? Perhaps, it was all three, depending on what you're procrastinating about?
No matter the cause, I have always found one solution helpful in moving through my own procrastination (and my clients' too!). That, my friend, is breaking your goals down into tasks so small that you can't procrastinate about doing them. It sounds too simple, but it works. You have 5 minutes, right? Then you have time to achieve a little something, and if you do that regularly, then boom! Procrastination conquered, goal accomplished.
Read about how to do this here. Pay particular attention to the part where I break down the example goal of organizing my kitchen into teeny tasks. If you can apply this to your life and all of the things you need to get done, you will be unstoppable. Time to slay the dragon!
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