Procrastination
“Time is an equal opportunity employer. Each human being has exactly the same number of hours and minutes every day. Rich people can’t buy more hours. Scientists can’t invent new minutes. And you can’t save time to spend it on another day. Even so, time is amazingly fair and forgiving. No matter how much time you’ve wasted in the past, you still have an entire tomorrow.”
–Denis Waitley
The F’ing Big Idea
Procrastination, procrastination, procrastination…
We’ve all been a victim to procrastination at some point in our lives, when we had to study for that algebra test, turn our assignment in early or do our chores but we just decided to chill and do something more relaxing and put it off for later. Procrastination is a familiar foe, one that can delay our productivity, makes us put a “do not disturb” sign on our goals, and leave us guilty and wishing we had more time at the very last minute. Is there a way to break free from its tight grip and control over your time and priorities?
What is the Psychology of Procrastination?
Procrastination is more than just a bad habit; it’s a complex interplay of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral factors. We procrastinate because we perceive a task as unpleasant, boring, overwhelming, or lacking in high dopamine rewards. From a young age our brains were wired to seek instant gratification, making it tempting to prioritize more enjoyable activities over those that require effort and delayed payoffs. Mom or dad promising us some money for sweets after we wash the dishes or reading us a bedtime story if we behave for the rest of the day. Been there, done that.
If we always choose to do what’s fun and neglect what’s really important we become chronic procrastinators, meaning that we’ll always put off “important things” in exchange for “fun things”. Chronic procrastination may lead us to even worse financial situations and stress. It does more harm to us than good because it causes us to have low-confidence, depression and low energy.
Working your job might not reap you the fruits of your labor right away, you might get paid monthly but you know that cheque at the end of the month is going to go a long way. Honestly, it’s better than not working at all and praying someone else will feed you and your family, that’s just absurd.
Working on a business daily without seeing any progress is also the same way, business is all about longevity and the small steps you take to start it are just as important. Building a community, products, an audience and you brand might not be easy but if you do it right, it will pay you well in the backend. You know what they say, “No pain, no gain”
Why do we even procrastinate?
- Self doubt
You’re not really sure that what you’re doing is going to succeed or fail so you doubt that any kind of work you put in will even be useful. This is because you want control of the outcome which is impossible, and leads you to slack off even more. PS: If your couch could talk it would tell you how much it’s tired of your lazy ass.
2. You suffer from “Eveningness”
Maybe you’re not really much of a morning person and put off your tasks until the late at night. This is actually a real thing here’s a study on it. Eveningness means that you work or study better in the night time, and during the morning and day you just do nothing. Batman works better at night right? So he might’ve suffered from eveningness too.
3. Fear of failure
You imagine putting in 10+ hours of work daily on something you desire and failing in the end. Dreadful right? So what are we going to do for the rest of this goddam week? Binge Netflix alllllllllllllllll day until sundown. You fail because you never even tried, not because you did.
4. Perfectionism
When tackling tasks we often strive for the “perfect” result or outcome. We want to strive something which we’ve never even reached in life nor will we ever reach. Striving for perfection is dreadful because often time you’re trying to perfect something that someone else will still doubt and critisize no matter how perfect it may be. Do you think those Louis Vuitton, Dior, or Hermès bags perfect? Absolutely not!
I mean look at these bags:
Get DigitalCornerStore’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
This is from the luxury brand, Loewe
This is from Fendi
This is from the famous Louis Vuitton
Look, we’re not saying these bags are ugly (maybe) we’re just trying to get you to see our point about perfection, it doesn’t exist! Do you think the designers didn’t put the out because they thought they weren’t perfect enough? Absolutely not! They got released and made big bank!
Now let’s tackle procrastination
- Identify the root cause of your procrastination
Before you can tackle procrastination, it’s essential to understand what’s driving it from your mind to your manifesting it through your body. Are you feeling overwhelmed, lacking motivation, or simply struggling with time management? Pinpoint exactly what your underlying reasons are.
2. Break it down
Daunting tasks can feel insurmountable, leading to procrastination. Combat this by breaking down larger projects into smaller, more manageable steps. Crossing off smaller accomplishments can provide a sense of progress and momentum. And what does momentum cause? More momentum.
3. Eliminate distractions
In this new age of technology, distractions are everywhere from social media notifications to endless YouTube shorts. Creating an environment conducive to focus by minimizing potential disruptions and setting boundaries around technology usage can really help you ease off from procrastinating.
4. Get an accountability partner
Procrastination thrives in isolation. Enlist the support of an accountability partner, whether a friend, colleague, or productivity coach. Sharing your goals and deadlines with someone can provide the external motivation needed to stay on track.
5. Reward yourself
While delayed gratification is essential, it’s equally important to celebrate small wins along the way. Set achievable milestones and treat yourself to something enjoyable (but not counterproductive) once you’ve reached them.
6. Practice self-compassion
Beating yourself up over procrastination can create a vicious cycle of guilt and inaction. Approach setbacks with kindness and use them as learning opportunities to develop more effective strategies.
Make sure to take your time to apply these strategies in your life because anything new needs some time to actually work
Other effective ways to actually decrease the likeliness of you procrastinating:
When you procrastinate it means that you don’t give yourself any sort of punishment after, your repercussions for procrastination are not strong nor strict enough. The trick is to make it hard to actually procrastinate and actually do what you set yourself up to do, How? By increasing the pain of the consequences for slacking off on your goals.
Let’s say you want to start exercising but you keep f’ing procrastinating every time you have to actually exercise. Now what we’ll do is add a consequence to your slack and complacency.
Let’s say you hate Donald Trump for whatever reason, and you’re constantly slacking off on your exercise. You write a cheque to one of your friends or family members of an amount of money you can’t afford to lose say, $100 and every time you procrastinate instead of exercise, your family member/friend will mail that $100 cheque to one of Trump’s organizations. Fair enough? You have an accountability partner and money you can’t afford to lose; think it’ll just be better for you to lose those calories instead.
Ladies and gentlemen, in conclusion
Conquering procrastination is an ongoing journey, one that requires patience, self-awareness, and a willingness to experiment with different techniques.
By understanding its roots and implementing targeted strategies, you can break free from the procrastination trap and reclaim your productivity, focus, and sense of accomplishment.
Thanks for reading, please consider subscribing
