No irony intended when I confess to procrastination over finishing this blog. It is a beautiful autumn day and I would really prefer to be outside. However I did recognise what was going on and struck a bargain with myself to knuckle down and put words to paper in order to get done and out into the sunshine.
It seems to me that we give procrastination a bad wrap at times, as if by procrastinating we are being wasteful, frivolous or not disciplined. Instead when I notice myself procrastinating over a task I try to use it as an opportunity to get to the WHY of it.
Can you identify with any of these reasons I have noticed?
- I’m not sure of the steps to take with the task, or the next step seems a bit scary or boring or hard
- I don’t believe in my skill or ability to tackle the task
- I anticipate it will be complicated or take too long
- I am not really clear what I want as the outcome of the task.
- Someone else has handed me the task and either all of the above or I don’t want to do it/ don’t believe it is necessary.
- I’m not emotionally ready for the next step
- I’m lacking in energy or motivation, either generally, or for the task
- I’m feeling physically tired or unwell
- I’ve a feeling something is not right – maybe it doesn’t fit with my values or morals
- I don’t have all the information I need just yet.
Sound familiar?
Sometimes procrastinating for me is a sign to clarify my understanding of my priorities and my boundaries.
So once I have explored what is behind my procrastination, and decided the task does need to be done, how do I move into action?
Here are some tips you might like to try.
- Set aside some time for the task – it is hard to use the excuse to put it off if you have allocated time for it.
- EAT THE FROG – prioritise the task and keep taking bites out of it until it is done (have you ever noticed how once you stop avoiding a job it gets done much more quickly than you expect?)
- Break down all the steps that are required and estimate time for each step.
- Ask for help for the steps you don’t know
- Sneak around it – choose the bits you know how to do, and often the task shrinks and becomes less overwhelming.
- Change your mental language – “this is challenging”, rather than “this is hard” or “I can tackle the first part now” rather than “I don’t have time for all this”
- Incentivise it with a reward for accomplishing each step or the whole task.
- Take a break, deliberately! If you are too mentally or physically tired to tackle the task, take a break and come back to it later. (yes I know that sounds like procrastinating too, but don’t beat yourself up – it is really self-care)
Now I’ve overcome my procrastinating and hopefully given you some useful information, which is the whole point of my blog, I’m off to reward myself with a cuppa in the sun.
