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May
12
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Before dealing with procrastination or how to stop procrastinating, let’s attempt to understand what is procrastination. Harold Taylor of ‘Harold Taylor Time Consultants Ltd.‘ defined procrastination as “the intentional and habitual postponement of an important task that should be done now”. So then, naturally we ask, why do people procrastinate even when they know they are delaying important tasks? What possible reasons for procrastination can they offer?
I want to dig into this definition of procrastination a little bit to find some answers about how to stop procrastinating.
First, we notice that procrastination is ‘intentional’. The procrastinator is well aware of the effects of his or her actions and yet fails to act. When offered a choice, one generally chooses in one’s own best self interest. I always thought that completing an important task was in my own best self interest. And yet, the task went undone. There was clearly something unseen going on in my mind. For some unexplained reason(s), I saw more benefit in delaying the task than in completing it. That’s an important observation and one we will want to understand deeper.
Next, we notice that procrastination is ‘habitual’. This is not a one time thing. Statistics on procrastination indicate that 9 out of 10 of us admit to having procrastinated at some time or another. But we are really talking about something much worse here. This is not a discussion about the occasional delayed task. We are talking about people who simply do not have ‘the now habit’. Yes, that’s right, the habit of taking action immediately to ‘just get it done’. The procrastinator simply does not know how to stop procrastinating or is incapable of it in his or her current state of mind.
Another good definition of procrastination is ‘the thief of time’. Time is our most precious asset. I let procrastination steal my time and thereby prevent me from completing important tasks that were a prerequisite to achieving my dreams. We must not allow procrastination to steal our most precious asset.
So, what can be done? The answer lies in changing the game. Changing what needs to be done, or the manner in which it needs to be done in such a way as to help the procrastinator change his or her habits. This is, in principle, a simple concept and actually quite easy to implement. However, without this knowledge, overcoming procrastination is nearly impossible. There is no incentive to do so. And incentive is how we function. The two great motivators are the potential to gain and the fear of loss. Change the game so that you feel better motivated to complete the task rather than put it off indefinitely and you have taken a giant step on the road toward how to stop procrastinating.
