I’m a procrastinator. I’m not proud of it but I’m not ashamed either. I’ve learned to accept this ugly side of me. I used to fight it but that ended in disaster. Now, I’ve learned to turn it into a strength.
Procrastination is universal. Even the most successful people do it. But despite procrastinating, they go on to achieve their goals 99% of the time.
So what’s the catch?
The key is to understand why we procrastinate. I learned that procrastination is not a default mode. It’s a response to something happening below the surface. Something we’re not conscious of.
I discovered there are 3 reasons we procrastinate:
1. The task ahead is too hard and intimidating.
When faced with something difficult, our mind looks for excuses to do the easier tasks first. Our brains hate pain and hard tasks are intimating. As a result, we keep putting them off until the last minute.
Solution: Break down tasks into manageable components. This makes them easier to complete.
2. We’re tired and our energy levels are depleted.
Sometimes, we push ourselves too hard. We keep looking at our never-ending to-do lists. We want to finish everything right away. We keep going and forget that we need to rest.
When we don’t take a physical or mental break, we come to a point when we don’t want to go any further. We look at our pending tasks but have no energy to complete them.
Solution: Listen to our bodies. Take physical and mental breaks. Indulge in entertainment and activities outside work. Taking a break recharges our bodies and pumps us up for the next set of tasks.
3. We think no one’s watching or nobody cares.
Working from home is working in silos. We exist in our own world connected to others only through our digital screens. Sometimes, we feel no one really cares if we finish this task or not. We can always adjust our deadlines and cram at the last minute. We can always redefine our goals.
This lack of accountability allows us to justify putting off tasks for another time. But in reality, we’re fooling ourselves. Our greatest accountability is our future self. The only one who’ll suffer from our lack of inaction today is future us.
Solution: Have an accountability buddy or community. It can be the public. Twitter has a Build In Public trend. It can be a paid community where you mastermind with likeminded individuals. It’s not enough to set deadlines and goals. Without someone holding you accountable to those, nothing will happen.
If you’re a chronic procrastinator like me, don’t fret. It’s not the end of the world. You can still become productive and achieve your goals.
After realizing the reasons above, every time I procrastinate, I analyze my situation.
Are the tasks I’m doing too hard? Is my body telling me to take a break? Should I form better accountabilities?
And by answering those questions, I turn procrastination into a strength.
