Let’s start this blog post with the irony itself, I’m writing this a day later it needs to be published. Why? I procrastinated writing this piece till the last minute.
Yes, I do procrastinate. Just because I have this blog doesn’t mean I’m immune to all the bad habits. If you were thinking I don’t, you’re mistaken. I’m also one of you, I delay tasks to a certain extent because I don’t like doing them.
But I was always curious about knowing why? Why do we all procrastinate when we know we have important work to do, deadlines to meet, and targets to achieve. I started paying attention to what I think and feel when I’m procrastinating or thinking of it.
I also referred to articles online to gain knowledge & accurately interpret what makes us procrastinate. A lot of them said that procrastination is simply laziness, some said it’s poor time management. While some were adamant on the fact that it’s just a lack of self-discipline or self-control. Is it true?
For starters, Procrastination comes from a Latin word Procrastinare which means belonging to tomorrow.
In short to put off until tomorrow. It is when we delay the important tasks we need to do. Either by taking up tasks that are not that important or urgent or by ignoring it till the last minute.
We would rather clean our whole room, do the dishes, organize our closet than do that one important assignment or presentation that you have to submit tomorrow morning. This is because we dread doing the task, so we replace it to feel better. But it is only temporary, we eventually have to face the reality and get it done.
We like the idea of feeling good for a short amount of time over getting things done on time because it requires energy and effort.
Procrastination isn’t necessarily being lazy because you have the energy to do all the other things, just not the thing that we need to do.
Sometimes the way we feel about the work dictates our desire to do it. If it is a very important presentation or thesis that we have to present in front of people & we’re anxious or scared, we might procrastinate preparing it. This is because even thinking about it puts us in a negative mood. So to come out of that mood we ignore it and take up other things that might be important but not urgent.
If you feel frustrated and angry while being on a call with someone whose annoying but a part of your work team, you would delay calling them as much as you can even if it means you doing the work they need to do.
One very relatable instance of Procrastination is starting your day late. We wake up and lay in bed, scrolling through social media for almost an hour until we realize we’re late, get up, and set to work, only to realize that half of the day is over. So our procrastinator brain disregards the half-day left to work and just gets up with the thought of starting the day early the next day ( which actually never happens).
80% of the people do that but refuse to accept this vicious cycle.
Along with procrastination comes the guilt and shame when we finally come in terms with reality and see the tasks piled up for us. We are filled with this negative emotion and regret delaying these tasks for the future. This is because we do not care about our future self’s mindset.
What do I mean by that?
It simply means that to feel good temporarily by putting off tasks we burden our future selves with everything, not thinking that if we’re not feeling good about doing the task right now, we will not feel very pleasant in the future too. Then you have to do work half-heartedly and hurriedly and what’s the point of even doing that?
Now that we know why we procrastinate, how to stop? If it’s not about self-control or self-discipline, it should be easy to get over it. While the main reason being our feelings towards the task, it might be different for different people. Some people might have underlying issues that hinder their motivation to take up the tasks. It can be a little difficult for them to manage procrastination.
But once you understand why you procrastinate, you should be able to control your urge to delay tasks for the future.
If it’s due to your mood, one thing you can do to stop procrastinating is to ignore your feelings. While this is something I’d never recommend nor anyone else will. But if the work is very important as well as urgent, you should put aside how you feel about it and get it done.
Think about the importance of that task instead of how you feel about it. You will be able to motivate yourself to get up and start working.
I’ll make another separate blog post on how to overcome procrastination. So stay tuned for that.
