Why do we waste time putting things off? How to stop the cycle of procrastination and tips to revive productivity

If comparison is the thief of joy then procrastination is the thief of time. In this blog I’m exploring why we procrastinate and tips to successfully find productivity.

We all procrastinate for different reasons at different times. Some of you may identify a pattern of procrastination that has become a lifetime habit. Whilst others may notice procrastination pops up from time to time and manifests itself in different ways.

If we want to be real for a moment, procrastination by nature is not your friend. It is a time waster and the BFF you need to break up with.

Do you feel you don’t have enough time? It’s a commodity that we try our best to control but despite our best efforts we often end up feeling we have little time to spare. 

And if we consider our time to be precious, and carefully choose what we devote our time to; how is it that we allow procrastination to weave its way and steal away hours. 

If procrastination were a person, we would never allow them to come over and steal from us, manipulate us or delude us. We would call them out for the time thief they are, ask them to leave and never answer their calls again.

The Oxford dictionary defines Procrastinating as the action of delaying or postponing something.

And usually the ‘something’ we are putting off will benefit us and be a positive force to propel us forward. BUT the act of procrastination means we delay achieving that good thing. 

So, with this in mind what does procrastination look like? How does it sneak into our everyday and steal precious seconds, minutes and hours?

It might look more like:

• Telling yourself you’ll sign up next year

• Always saying ‘Once I’ve achieved this…’

• Deciding you don’t have enough time

• Always putting yourself last

• Telling yourself you don’t have the resources to achieve it

• Believing you’ll never be good enough by comparing yourself to someone else (a topic you can read more about here)

Sometimes we end up using good things; healthy things, to create unhealthy habits that stall our calling and block us from achieving our goals.

Some of our biggest distractions and attention grabbers are not bad things on their own. Some are even essential to modern life and aid in our overall wellbeing. Put simply, if we are forever placing distractions in front of our goals and duties, we are self-sabotaging. Sometimes even seemingly good things become hindrances to our progress. 

Now that we’ve identified some of the things we do to procrastinate, we need to dive a little deeper and ask why do we behave this way?

• Perfectionism- Perfectionists don’t want to start something if they feel they won’t do it perfectly

• Motivation- Not feeling excited to begin

• Lacking in confidence- Not believing in oneself and feeling unsure about the skill level required

• Analysis Paralysis- Absorbing so much information that making decisions feels too overwhelming

• Fear of being judged- afraid of the opinion of others (a blog topic I’ve written about)

• Overwhelmed by the effort required- Becoming so focused on the effort involved that the end goal is forgotten

• Burn Out- Living an imbalanced lifestyle which negatively affects your wellbeing and ability to complete tasks.

Karen Liebenguth a coach and mindfulness trainer says ‘In a nutshell and simply put, we procrastinate to protect our sense of self, our ego, from failure, from judgement, from success, from bearing the excruciating sense of just being ‘good enough’ (the only thing of course we can ever be).’ Link to source

So how do you unshackle yourself from procrastination?

• Write your goal/task/target down– Make a list and envisage it being achieved.

• Put a date on it– Assign a deadline and it will provide a tangible finish line.

• Overhaul your habits for better wellbeing- Are you tired? Commit to going to bed earlier.

• Making a choice to just start– Do what you can despite your hesitations and make small steps.

• Reminders– Continue to focus on the end goal and visualise how it will feel to reach your goal.

• Communicate- Tell others about your goal. You’ll find you feel more committed to achieving something you’ve said out loud to someone else.

• Take breaks- Be aware of when you need to take a break and allow yourself to enjoy it. Not taking a break can be just as detrimental as taking too much time off.

• Be realistic- Unrealistic expectations never helped anyone achieve their goals. If you know you are doing the best you can you don’t have to strive for perfection.

A revelation I’ve had around the topic of procrastination can be wrapped up in 5 words- ‘done is better than perfect’. (Uplifter insight- I will be dealing with the topic of perfection in a blog soon.)

We are humans- beautifully flawed and made for greatness despite our shortcomings. Every day I work with women just like you who would give anything to finally break free from their self-limiting shackles. 

Today I want to ask you a personal question. Would you be willing to give yourself a break from the standards you impose on yourself and allow yourself to be perfectly imperfect? Truly I want this for you. 

Through my life coaching service women are learning to live with purpose and determination in their life calling. If you want to know a little more about how life coaching could be the change you’ve been looking for you can say hello to me anytime. I’m waiting with open arms.

With love,

Annie

 

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