Is procrastination stopping you reaching your aspirations?

Procrastination! Such a great word.

How often do you find yourself blaming procrastination when you have not achieved what you set out to do? You were full of good intentions when you decided to do “that thing”. It seemed so obvious, so important. This is what you needed to do. This was your priority!

However, when it comes to actually doing it, you are filled with reasons for not getting started or completing it. You find yourself doing something else instead: something easier, something more enjoyable or something mundane that doesn’t require thinking. Procrastination can prevent us from fulfilling our dreams.

But procrastination often gets the blame when it isn’t really at fault. Sometimes life is just really busy, we expect too much from ourselves, or we make unrealistic action plans. Something else important may come up that we hadn’t predicted. This is not necessarily procrastination – it may be us being hard on ourselves!

I call this “perceived” and “real” procrastination. This distinction is important, as being kinder and more realistic in our expectations may help what we see as procrastination largely disappear. It can also allow us to tackle genuine procrastination more effectively.

To overcome procrastination and prevent it from blocking our way, we first need to understand whether we are dealing with perceived or real procrastination.

Perceived procrastination

Is the thing stopping us from doing what we thought was important actually procrastination? Or have we taken on too much, failed to plan effectively for all the priorities in our lives and therefore set ourselves up to fail?

To tackle perceived procrastination, make realistic action plans

• Don’t overcommit yourself – be kind!
• Include priorities from all aspects of your life in your plan, not just work. This could include children, family, friends and time for yourself.
• Identify your time-stealers and distractions, such as email, social media, housework, shopping and administration. Where these activities need to be done, allocate specific time to them in your daily plan.

Real procrastination

Procrastination involves unnecessarily delaying or avoiding an intended action, often despite knowing that the delay may have negative consequences. Once we can identify when real procrastination is creeping in, we can build responses to help us move forward.

Why do we procrastinate?

People procrastinate for different reasons.

It may be due to fear of failure, which can be influenced by unhelpful or distorted thoughts, or a wish to avoid the negative emotions we associate with a particular action.

We may want immediate results and struggle to recognise the impact of our small steps.

Alternatively, we may believe that we will “feel like doing it tomorrow” or that we “work better under pressure”. We cannot know how we will feel tomorrow. Although pressure may feel motivating for some people, leaving a task until the last minute can reduce the time available to manage problems or review the quality of the work.

Five steps to overcome procrastination

1. Ask yourself some questions

When you feel procrastination creeping in, ask yourself:

• Why is this task so difficult for me to do?
• What am I afraid will happen if I do it?
• How likely is it that this will happen?
• What would I do if it did happen?
• Are the likelihood and impact of that outcome greater than the benefits of doing the task?
• What would happen if I chose not to do this task?
• What would it feel like to have completed it?

2. Create a clear action plan

Have a clear plan of action towards your wider aspirations. Break it down into bite-sized chunks and reflect on how the small steps are taking you in the right direction. Celebrate completing each step – chocolate, I find, helps.

3. Know when you are most productive

Identify when you are most productive and focused. For some people, this is in the morning; for others, it may be later in the day. Use that time to tackle the important or intimidating task that requires the most focus. Where possible, save administrative and routine tasks for times when your energy is lower.

4. Take the first step

Whether you are writing a report or article, planning or creating something, the first step is often the hardest. Tell yourself you will do it for 10 minutes and see how you go. You may find that getting started makes it easier to continue. If not, take stock: what is really behind your reluctance to do the task? Return to the questions in step one.

5. Focus on one task at a time

Try to be present and focused on each task. Frequently switching between activities can make it harder to concentrate and complete work to the standard you want. By not being fully present in what we do, we may also miss important insights or fail to show up in the way we would like.

With self-awareness and practice, you can learn to recognise procrastination, respond to it and prevent it from holding you back from reaching your aspirations.