If you never procrastinate, I probably don’t even like you. Procrastination is a loveable character flaw, and besides, such wonderful things grow out of procrastination. If you hate and detest procrastination, here’s a tip: the best way to prolong it is to indulge in judgement of it. 

We all procrastinate, sometimes, and for very good reasons. If you’re procrastinating RIGHT NOW, welcome to my blog. I think I can help you ease your way back to the task you’re avoiding. And if not, at least I can help you kill time in a healthy, justifiable way. There’s enough links in this blog post to “read more” to keep you busy into tomorrow. So, that’s good, right?

And if by the end, you’re still procrastinating , get this fun listicle: 57 Ways to Stop Procrastinating. Try one of the tools and notice the shift. Ask yourself how might I get back to this work, willingly? What are your favorite reasons for procrasinating? Come to the Write Wihout the Fight FB group and let us know. We’ll drop whatever we’re writing and hit “like” and comment. It’s the least we can do.

1.    I’LL DO IT TOMORROW

This reason seems so harmless, right? I’ll do it tomorrow – sounds like a plan. It could even be a plan. Only you can tell if it is a plan or an excuse. Be real with yourself. Which is it?

You can delay doing things sometimes bec you’re very optimistic about the future – I don’t have to exercise now bec tomorrow I’ll join a gym and get a personal trainer. You might be overly optimistic, and tbh, even if you join a gym eventually, exercising in the meanwhile could be a worthy undertaking.

You can delay doing something bec you’re pessimistic about your future: why bother?  If you can’t be sure you’ll get the results you want, then is it worth the work? Again, only you can answer that. But you might realign the results you want to be closer to those in your control. You can set an achievable goal, work on that and have success. Your book might not ever be a bestseller or get made into a movie. But writing it could make all the days you write better. Writing could be its own positive result. Base your motivation on things you can make happen. (Read more? Go here. Why Bother?)

2.    I DON’T FEEL LIKE DOING IT

If it’s not fun, why do it? This can feel like an “immature” point of view, and you can judge me (or yourself) for thinking that, but it is how our brains are wired. We work for reward. Food. Fun. Comfort. Sex. Points. Safety. And other than that, we are programmed to economize. So, if you have to get yourself to do something “unrewarding,” find the reward.

Take yourself to the site of the job, and feel your way forward. What might be fun? What is likeable here? Be present. You cannot be present if you feel like you were forced to be here – even if it is just by your own inner scolding. Recognize you had a choice in the matter, and you have a choice how to proceed. With Presence. 

Presence is when you immerse yourself in what and where you are now. You are open to the sensual experiences.

If you are putting off raking leaves, presence allows you to enjoy the smell of dirt, the feel of the waning seasonal sun, the feel of the rake in your hand, the color of the leaves, the crisp air. You might enjoy making measurable progress, or coming up with a new way to bag the leaves. You might stop to jump in a leaf pile (if that appeals to you). Be present – not resentful – as you do boring things, and you’ll notice some enjoyable aspects of the job. 

The opposite approach to presence, is to get up in your head about it. Think longer term – Figure out why you want it done, what other purposes it will serve in your life. Once you’re reminded that it’s worth doing, consider how you might approach it using your own strengths and values. Get strategic, and cater the job to who you are. 

You could gameify it; make it a learning adventure; find the humor in it; do it with a team for support; Tie it to virtue or spitiruality. Do it in some way that engages something about yourself and the world that you value. 

3.    I DON’T KNOW HOW

If you aren’t sure about how to do something, uncertainty alone can backburner a project. By contrast, learning how to do something can be very inspiring. I watch a tutorial, and suddenly I’m King of the Hill. Easy fix. Learn a thing, so you can do it.

Learning something so you can do your thing is not procrastination. It is progress. 

Often we feel like something “should be done by now.” So it feels wrong and bad to back up and have to learn something in order to accomplish it. Or we feel overwhelmed by how or where to learn what we need. 

Other times, you don’t know what you don’t know – you either don’t know about a skill deficit, or even if you know, you don’t want to admit it.

It is easier, perhaps, to claim you are just a big ol’ procrastinator and there are no underlying issues, whatsoever, move along – nothing to see here. It can be embarrassing to admit you’re bad at something, even to yourself. But once you name a problem or deficit, you can find the right help you need. It can be the rocket fuel you didn’t know existed. 

4.    I’M TOO TIRED 

Too tired is a legit problem. If YOUR BODY is tired, go to bed, or take a rest. If your brain is dead, or you feel emotionally drained there may be something else at work. We gain energy while doing things we like and are good at, and lose energy while thinking in ways that are hard for us, or that we don’t value. 

What needs doing affects your energy level.

You might love coming up with ideas. Others avoid it. You could be fascinated with the research into a project, while others dread it or think it is boring. They suddenly feel t-i-r-e-d. 

When you’re faced with an energy drain, get yourself a power tool so you can tear through that obstinate chore. There are literally 57 tools to wake your dopey brain when you feel tired in the fun, evidence-based, researched listicle 57 Ways to Stop Procrastinating. It’s not free, but it’s great. (To read more about energy drain, go here. Is Procrastination Really Your Fault?)

5.    WHAT IF I’M NO GOOD?

Fear of failure is another reason people procrastinate. It goes something like this: If I really try
hard and fail, then that’s worse than if I don’t try. Once I really try, I have to do well, bec I’ll have no excuse.

If you try hard, you die hard.

I call this one the Hope Balloon. You would rather hope you can be great, than know for sure that you are not. You have a Hope Balloon. And it hovers overhead, and it is pretty and nice. Others can see it, and it makes you special. 

Let the Hope Balloon go. It’s hard, right? But, let’s say, it is true, you’re no good. Wouldn’t you rather know now? While you’re still young and able? If you really want to do something, you do it. You get better at it. You enjoy it. Let the balloon go and see what you’re made of. Other Hope Balloons will appear. And they’ll be shiny and pretty, too. (For more, read here Dear Frustrated Writer with Tons of Potential)

What is baked in to the fear of trying/failing is the notion of expectations. If you’re working very hard, and still getting nowhere it is likely perfectionism. Your expectations – and those of people around you – might be too high. And the definition of success may be way too limited. So procrastination steps in to derail expectations and very high standards and that helps prevent you from “really” failing. 

6.    I CAN’T GET MYSELF STARTED

Getting started is the hardest part. To the point that we might subconsciously realize that getting started is a “trick.” You think: Once I start, my expectations change and I’m sunk. You want to start, but you feel massive resistance. Sound at all familiar?

Step 1. Write the Screenplay.Often, the first step of what we want to “start” is huge. Insurmountable. 

Anyone who is not intimidated by that first step is probably already famous. (Call me!) No wonder it feels impossible to start. What is really the first step, there? Some of you went straight to outlining, titling, character lists, or break the story. All good steps. But the real first step might be something very easy, like: go to my desk; open the document; or talk through the plot with so-and-so; read a book on screenwriting. Chunk it up into very small steps. 

Lots of people will consider these baby baby steps to be procrastination. Your brain could be screaming at you to START. But you’ve started. So, reward your little brain for doing even the babyist of steps towards where you want to go. Your brain loves a bribe. (See blog post: Do Anything in 4 Days.) 

“The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.” ~ Mark Twain

7.    I CAN’T TOP THAT

Flip “Fear of Failure” over and you’ll find “Fear of success” on its opposite side. You fear doing well, bec you’ll never “top that.”

Some people are socialized to fear topping your “betters” – whoever you were told that is – your parents, siblings, boys/men, the boss, white people, your idols. You may have absorbed an expectation that there is a danger to outperforming people in power. Since these beliefs probably date from your childhood, they are hard to unseat. I turn to a powerful tool called thought turnarounds, developed by Byron Katie. (To read more,  go here, Disciplined Thinking)

You may also fear that if you do well, next time they’ll expect even more from you, and the escalation will never stop. You might wonder, what you have to do be “good enough?” You may base your self-worth or fear that your acceptance – from self, family, workplace or society – is based on your performance.  Inaction or procrastination may be how you cope with the pressure you feel, to succeed and earn basic acceptance. (Read: Dear Frustrated Writer.)

What if, like Elizabeth Gilbert you have an enormous and unexpected hit in your book: Eat, Pray, Love? (More on Eliz Gilbert, here.) Or JK Rowling in her post-Harry Potter phase? You sit at your desk and know there is no way you can top that. What can you do? 

I’ve only suffered writer’s block badly once, and that was during the writing of Chamber of Secrets. I had my first burst of publicity about the first book and it paralysed me. I was scared the second book wouldn’t measure up, but I got through it!

J. K. Rowling

Procrastinating may seem easier than facing the staggering reality that you can’t top that. But sometimes it is time to rest on your laurels. Take a lap. Understand the value and the glory of what you’ve already done. Absorb the fact that you did it. And you can do it again.

8.    I HAVEN’T DECIDED YET 

Indecision can eat up hours, days, decades. I don’t want to x bec I might y.  Or that needs a full-scale x before I y. And I’m not advocating for jumping in willy-nilly. Make the decision. Design the approach. Clarify the problem so you can create the solutions and move it forward. Ideas won’t come to a confused mind. People use pro and con lists. A better, more robust approach is the POINt tool. P-O-I-Nt stands for Pluses, Opportunities, Issues and then New Thinking. (Read more, go here.)

9.    YOU CAN’T MAKE ME

This is me, 100%. You can’t make me. I am such an anti-authoritarian that my hackles rise on my neck any time my inner dictator tries to scold me into doing something. (Read more about nonconformism, here.)

Delaying tactics can be a form of rebellion against imposed schedules, standards, and expectations. The expectations are often those of a power struggle, but not usually on a conscious level. You may have been required to rebel – frequently – to get where you are today. To be noticed, accepted, taken seriously. And once rebellion works, it’s your go-to tool. (As they say, to a hammer, everything looks like a nail.) 

It is important to realize, that while you might be satisfied with the power of your rebellion, you’re losing out.

Rebellion and resistance are re-actions not actions, thus, your behavior is not in your own control.

You can feel ‘compelled’ by whatever or whoever you are rebelling or resisting. Even if that is you. The rebellion itself – drinking, eating, smoking, watching tv, shopping – can become compulsive, out of your control. 

 

Voila! 9 Great Reasons People Procrastinate

There you have 9 great reasons you might procrastinate. It’s not *just* bec you’re lazy or stupid. There are underlying reasons, and if you address them, you’ll feel productive and smart – and that’s half the battle won, already.