What’s Your Payoff?

You may be familiar with the concept that everything you do has a payoff, and procrastination is no different!  Though it may not seem likely that such a problematic habit could have a payoff, when you start exploring the possibilities you realize that you are indeed gaining something by procrastinating.

Take a look at these common payoffs of procrastination and consider whether they might apply to your own life too:

• Keeping you firmly ensconced in your comfort zones.  Stepping out of your comfort zones and trying new things can be scary!  Procrastination provides the illusion of comfort and safety, so you don’t have to face frightening or uncertain situations that you may not feel ready to handle.

Unfortunately, a life without risk is also a life without rewards.  Procrastination may help you avoid feeling scared and challenged, but you’ll also end up feeling powerless and stuck.

• Avoiding conflict and confrontation.  You may procrastinate as a way to avoid standing up for yourself or making difficult decisions that would improve your quality of life.  This can include things like asking for something you want, telling someone how you feel, or even avoiding social situations altogether.

While it may seem safer to avoid situations you’re not sure how to handle, doing so keeps you feeling isolated and scared.  You’ll not only avoid the “bad stuff” like conflict and confrontation; you’ll also deny yourself the more positive benefits that come from interacting meaningfully with others!

• Provides a handy excuse for not being more successful.  The more you procrastinate, the messier your life is going to seem, which creates a convenient excuse for not achieving more.  You can point to your financial problems, your relationship dysfunction and your mountains of stress and affirm that it’s because of those things that you haven’t reached your goals yet.

Under the surface of these excuses, it’s more likely that you feel intimidated by the thought of success so you’ll avoid creating it in your life – even if it’s something you want badly!

Once you understand your payoff, you can learn to gradually shift your focus to better payoffs you’ll receive by overcoming procrastination.  You may need to face a few fears and build enough courage to step out of your comfort zones, but once you do, you quickly realize that those old procrastination payoffs weren’t payoffs at all – just a ball and chain around your ankle.

Three Ways to Get Moving

Procrastination can be a sticky problem to overcome because you avoid taking action at all costs, which leaves you feeling even more frightened or intimidated – which causes you to procrastinate even more!  Eventually you find yourself caught in a vicious circle; wanting to make changes but feeling powerless to do so.

The good news is that once you do begin moving forward, it seems much easier to keep the momentum going.  But how do you motivate yourself to begin moving forward at all?

Try one or more of these strategies:

1) Pump yourself up.

Sometimes simple mind games can be enough to get you moving.  Procrastination usually comes along with a mental conversation that might sound something like this:  “I really don’t want to perform that task or activity right now.  Maybe I should fold some laundry or go to the store.  No, I really should get this done, but I feel intimidated.  Maybe I should put it off until I feel ready to handle it.”  Essentially you argue with yourself – but usually on a subconscious level.

However, you can use this same mental dialogue in a more conscious, empowering way too!  Try engaging in some self talk like this, “You know you can do this!  You’re stronger than any procrastination habit; just get moving, no more excuses!  You’ll feel so great when you finally start making progress!  It won’t seem so bad once you get going.”

2) Give yourself a reward.

Bribery can also work well if you’re having trouble pumping yourself up.  Promise yourself something nice like a new outfit, book, or gadget if you make a specific amount of progress on your task.  You can also choose less expensive rewards like treating yourself to favorite foods or taking some time off once you’ve completed the task.  Just be sure you follow through on your promise or you’ll have a harder time bribing yourself next time.

3) Focus on the satisfaction.

If nothing else works, focus intently on the feeling of satisfaction you’ll gain when the job is done!  Most often when you procrastinate you’re focusing on the negative aspects of the task you don’t want to do, like how hard it will be, how unpleasant or boring, and so on.  By focusing more on the positive gains, you’ll feel more inclined to take action so you can enjoy the feeling of accomplishment.

These motivational tactics and others are only effective if you’re willing to give them a fair chance to work.  When it comes right down to it, YOU have to be the one to decide to get moving – no matter what it takes to do so.

Three Reasons Why You Procrastinate

Have you ever found yourself putting things off without knowing why?  Everyone does this to a certain degree, but it can be frustrating when you keep doing it without a clear reason.  Ignoring the problem will only make matters worse because it becomes more and more difficult to move forward.

There are many causes of procrastination, but here are three of the most common:

1) Feeling overwhelmed.

Many people procrastinate because they feel overwhelmed at the thought of tackling specific tasks or chores.  For example, you may want to lose weight and get in shape, but it seems too difficult to begin an exercise program and change your eating habits.  Or you may want to ask your boss for a raise but feel intimidated about his or her response, so you keep avoiding the issue.  The problem with avoidance is that the situations only tend to get worse the longer you ignore them.  What starts out as a minor annoyance can quickly turn into a major aggravation.

The best way to tackle this type of procrastination is to simply push yourself to do something about it.  If it helps you to feel less intimidated, try breaking down a bigger task into smaller pieces.  For example, rather than starting a whole new health regime, try committing to exercising for 30 minutes each day.  Once you’ve gotten comfortable with that, begin making modest changes to your diet, and continue to make other changes in the same gradual way.

If a task can’t be broken down (like asking your boss for a raise), you might reach a point where you feel you have nothing to lose by going for it, and push yourself to take action anyway.  Simply by taking action you can ease that feeling of pressure and fear that procrastination often creates.

2) Perfectionism.

Another reason you may procrastinate is because you’re afraid you won’t be able to complete a task well enough, or that the conditions aren’t yet right to move forward.  You’re waiting for everything to be just perfect (or your own capability to be greater than it is now), so you keep holding back.  Unfortunately, the “perfect time” or conditions never arrive, so you can end up holding back for years!

The best way to get around this procrastination habit is to keep affirming that things don’t have to be perfect for you to proceed.  You don’t have to be perfect in your actions or capabilities, and the conditions don’t have to be perfect in order for you to make progress.  When you let go of your need to have everything “just so,” you free yourself up to better enjoy the journey and leave procrastination in the dust.

3) Lack of discipline.

Finally, a lack of self-discipline can also cause procrastination because you simply won’t put forth the effort to make positive changes in your life.  Let’s face it; anything worthwhile will require some effort to achieve!

You may have to simply push yourself to do the things you know must be done, even if you don’t exactly enjoy them.  When you keep in mind the alternative – problems and stagnation that result from procrastination, you just might find the motivation and discipline to keep moving forward.

 

The Power of Focus

Scattered and confused thoughts are common contributors to procrastination because it’s difficult to stay on track when you don’t have a clear focus.  You end up either wasting time with untargeted actions or simply stalling because you’re not sure how to proceed!  Even worse is the way mental confusion can drain your physical energy and steal your motivation, compounding the problem.

If you’re struggling to overcome procrastination and take charge of your life again, you may find it helpful to start by sharpening your focus.  With a sharper focus comes clarity and renewed motivation – which can provide the boost you need to overcome procrastination.

Here’s how to create a laser-sharp focus:

• Clarify exactly what you want to accomplish.

Whether you’re pursuing goals or working on a project, knowing exactly what you want to accomplish can go a long way in keeping you on track.  Confusion and uncertainty will stall your efforts every time!  You wouldn’t take a road trip without knowing where you are going, would you?

It works the same way with your goals or any other objective.  Know exactly where you want to end up, and you’re much more likely to get there!  You can do this by simply writing out your goal in full detail.  What do you want to accomplish?  By when?  Get as specific as you can.

• Come up with clear action steps.

Equally as important as knowing where you’re going is having a solid plan for getting there.  If you were taking a road trip, you’d probably use a map or atlas to plan your travel route.

This same process can be applied to your goals by defining clear action steps that will lead to the completion of your goal.  If your action steps seem too big or intimidating, you may want to break them down into more manageable pieces so you don’t get tempted to procrastinate again!

• Take one clear, focused step at a time.

One common reason people procrastinate is because they get overwhelmed by trying to take on too much at once.  Avoid that happening to you by making sure you’re focusing only on one step at a time!  Don’t worry about everything that needs to be done later; just keep putting one foot in front of the other and you’ll make consistent progress.

The more you work on developing a sharp focus, the easier you should find it to keep moving steadily toward your goals.  Not only will you feel more empowered by knowing exactly where you want to go, you’ll have a solid plan of action that will get you there – and be less tempted to procrastinate!

The No Excuses Approach

A strong habit of procrastination can leave a lot of destruction in its wake, so it can be helpful to be firm and unyielding with the techniques you use to conquer it.  When it comes right down to it, you can analyze the reasons why you procrastinate as much as you like – but you won’t stop doing it until you decide that it’s time to take back control of your life.

Here are three powerful “no excuses” approaches that can help you do that:

1) Get tough.

One reason you may procrastinate is because you feel intimidated or overwhelmed by the tasks or chores facing you.  In order to overcome a tendency to avoid things that seem difficult or frightening, you may find it helpful to consciously toughen yourself up.

How exactly do you do that?  Try saying things like this to yourself:  “No problem!  This will be a piece of cake!  I’m stronger than any fear or discomfort.  I can handle this.  I thrive on challenges.”  At first you won’t really believe what you’re saying, but you may be able to “fake it until you make it” and experience a rush of power that can carry you through the rough spots.

2) Get determined.

Eventually you reach a point where you simply have to steel your determination to get things done, despite any excuses that may rise up to the contrary.  If the tasks you’re working on are especially important, it may be easier than you think to talk yourself into a state of steely determination to get them done no matter what!

Try giving yourself a pep talk similar to this:  “I am so sick of putting this off, and I want to be done with it!  I’m just going to get moving on it right NOW, no matter how much I might want to keep avoiding it.”  Just don’t allow yourself to put it off any longer, and you’ll be amazed at how effective such a tactic can be!

3) Get angry.

Finally, anger can be a great motivator too!  Allow yourself to feel angry about your habit of putting things off until the last minute.  Take a good, hard look at your circumstances and speak strongly to yourself about it:  “It’s terrible what procrastination has done to my life!  I’m sick of being a victim of my own fears and weaknesses.  NO more!  I’m taking control of this now and getting myself back on track.  I’m not weak and I’m not a wimp, and I’m definitely not lazy – it’s time to stop acting like it.”

Taking a “no excuses” approach to procrastination may seem intimidating at first, but if you give it a fair chance you might learn to love the feelings of inner strength and empowerment it can create.  Like any habit, the longer you do it the more comfortable you’ll get with it, and the easier it will be to keep it going!

The Good Side of Procrastination

Most of us are used to thinking of procrastination as a negative thing, but did you know that there are sometimes benefits to procrastination?  It’s true!  Procrastination can be used constructively if you do it in a conscious manner.

Below are a few ideas for how to do so in your own life:

• Procrastination provides space to allow your ideas to fully form.

Sometimes when you get an inspired idea you want to get moving on it right away, but acting hastily before you’ve fully fleshed out all the details can result in unexpected problems and delays. 

By choosing to hold off on a new idea until you’ve planned and prepared for the best course of action, you can save yourself a lot of headaches and regrets!

• Procrastination gives you time to build up your courage.

Sometimes you may be eager to move forward but know instinctively that you’re not yet ready to handle the challenges you’ll have to face.  If you try to force yourself to progress more quickly than you’re prepared to do, you may end up failing and avoid trying again!

In this kind of situation, procrastination can give you time to build up your courage and commitment so you’re truly ready to handle any challenges you encounter.  It can be tricky to tell whether you truly need time to better prepare, or you’re just avoiding taking action because of fear.  However, a quick review of your previous accomplishments along with a prediction of the most likely challenges you’ll face with your current goals should provide the clarity you need to tell the difference.

• Procrastination gives you time to gather your energy.

Even if you have a clear idea of how to proceed and you’ve got the courage and commitment to do so, you may be aware that you don’t yet have the level of strength or stamina you need for the long haul.

Holding back in order to gather your energy and prepare for the challenges ahead can often make all the difference in your ability to persevere through the most daunting obstacles.

The most important thing is to use these techniques wisely and deliberately.  Procrastination can quickly become destructive if you allow fear and avoidance to override your conscious will.  If you instead do your best to be honest with yourself about your goals, capabilities and options at all times, you’ll avoid slipping into behavior that will cause problems later.

 

Starting is the Hardest Part

Procrastination can quickly create a logjam of unfinished business in all areas of your life, including financial crises, relationship problems, chronic underachievement, physical illness and more.

There are many ways to deal with procrastination, but one of the most effective is simple – yet powerful:  starting!

Getting started is often the hardest part of any intimidating task.  We tend to build up difficult tasks and chores in our minds, which makes them seem bigger and more unpleasant the longer we put them off.  If we avoid these tasks for long enough, it can seem like the hardest thing in the world to take them on!

However, once we commit to simply getting started working on a task we often lose much of our fear and hesitation.  Once we’ve started, we can usually keep going and make a fair amount of progress – more than we expected to make at the beginning.

But how do you push yourself to start when you’d rather keep avoiding a particular task?

First, talk yourself into believing that it won’t be so bad once you get started.  Remember, one reason you procrastinate is because you convince yourself that a task will be incredibly difficult or unpleasant.  If you turn that perception around and affirm that it’s manageable, you’ll be more receptive to taking action.

If that doesn’t work, try committing to a short amount of time, like 10 or 15 minutes.  Most often you’ll be able to face only 10 or 15 minutes of a task, no matter how unpleasant you think it will be.  Once you’ve completed those few minutes, you’ll probably decide to keep going.

Another helpful tactic is to consider the unpleasant consequences that could result if you don’t make some progress on your chore or task.  This may not work if there won’t be any immediate consequences, but it can be extremely effective otherwise.

If all else fails, get angry!  Not angry at yourself, but angry at fear and procrastination.  Tell them that you’re not going to allow them to control your life any longer.  Tell them that YOU make the decisions around here, and you’re going to get moving on this task because you know it needs to be done.  Then allow that anger to push you forward and do what you need to do.

No matter what needs to be done to push yourself to get moving, you’ll definitely enjoy a sense of pride and accomplishment when you overcome your tendency to procrastinate and begin seeing some real progress in your life!  If you stick with it for long enough, you’ll grow to love that sense of power and control – and you probably won’t have to push yourself to get moving any longer.

Awareness is Power

Procrastination can often grow to monstrous proportions in your life, but sometimes it can be much more subtle too.  Perhaps you don’t have huge, messy snarls in all areas of your life due to procrastination, but is it possible that you procrastinate just enough to limit your potential?

If you’ve had some big dreams and goals that you never seem to get around to achieving for any length of time, you may be procrastinating without even realizing it!  There’s nothing wrong with putting off your dreams and goals, unless doing so leaves you with a vague sense of dissatisfaction or boredom with your current circumstances.

In order to overcome even subtle levels of procrastination, you’ll need to work on developing a stronger awareness of when and why you’re doing it, and then take action to correct it.

Below you’ll find three easy steps to help you do so:

1) Clarify your goals.

If you’ve never formally identified and clarified your goals, it’s much easier to keep putting them off.  Perhaps you think that “someday” you’ll do something to create a more fulfilling life, but you never get around to doing so because the demands from your current life seem more pressing.

When you get very clear about what you want and set goals to make it happen, you suddenly find yourself feeling much more inspired and motivated about taking action!  Putting your goals off no longer seems so attractive, and you’re more willing to overcome any tendencies to procrastinate.

2) Be aware of potential problems.

Once you’ve set your goals and you’re excited about achieving them, do what you can to become aware of any temptations you may have to set them aside again.  If you normally shy away from challenges, write that down and come up with some possible strategies to build up your courage and determination.  If you tend to let the demands of your life take precedence over everything else, make a commitment to keep working on your goals no matter what.

Just by planning and preparing ahead of time for potential problems, you greatly minimize the possibility of getting overwhelmed and giving up.

3) Form a plan of action and begin moving forward.

Finally, once you’ve set your goals and prepared for potential obstacles, there’s nothing left to do but create a plan and begin working it diligently!  You may find it helpful to continue to review and evaluate your progress frequently so you don’t slip back into old habits without realizing it.  Awareness is power!

Avoidance Sneaks In

Have you ever noticed how sneaky procrastination can be?  It’s incredibly easy to fool ourselves into thinking that we’re being productive, but at the end of the day we find we’ve gotten precious little done. 

Have you ever found yourself using avoidance activities like surfing the internet, watching television, doing housework or laundry, or running errands in order to avoid working on something you don’t want to do?  For example, you might have a work project due by the end of the week and instead of working on it you keep finding domestic chores that “just can’t wait”.

We all do this to some degree, but it can quickly get out of control if you don’t keep a close eye on it.

Here’s what to do when you find yourself avoiding certain tasks and activities that you really need to complete:

First, becoming aware that you’re avoiding them is most important, and probably the most difficult simply because you may be tempted to rationalize your behavior.  One good way to develop a stronger awareness is by monitoring yourself throughout the day.  Periodically, stop what you’re doing and ask questions like these:  “Is this activity really important to do now? Is there something more important I could or should be doing?  Am I using this activity to avoid doing something else?”

When you do catch yourself avoiding certain tasks or activities, question exactly why you’re avoiding them.  Do they seem too overwhelming or intimidating?  Do they seem boring or unpleasant in some way?  Get clear on exactly what’s happening in your head – and avoid rationalizing!  Be honest with yourself, even if you have to say, “I just don’t feel like doing something mentally intensive right now because I’m tired.”

Then consider whether you can make the task easier by breaking it down or perhaps delegating parts of it to someone else.  For example, if a task is too mentally intensive to do in its entirety, maybe you could do some background work like research or preparation that will make the job less draining later.

Also important is to acknowledge the negative consequences that could result from putting the task off until a later time.  Do you have a deadline by which it needs to be complete?  Will not doing it create bigger headaches for you?  Assess the pros and cons of holding off, and then make a conscious decision about whether to push yourself to do it, or set it aside for another day.

Just by making this a more conscious process, you can overcome the sneakiness of procrastination – and the negative results that usually follow.

A Little Goes a Long Way

One damaging aspect of procrastination is the way it tends to snowball and build a chronic sense of stagnation and inertia in your life.  It usually starts innocently enough: you try to avoid doing one thing that feels intimidating or unpleasant, and before you know it you’re avoiding even things you want to do but feel too frightened to face.  If this trend continues long enough, your entire life can become extremely messy and complex.

When you consider that one of the biggest causes of procrastination is the perception that a task is too big or difficult to handle, it’s easy to see why you would want to put it off.  Few people actually enjoy being challenged, so it seems easier to keep putting it off until you feel better able to handle it in the future.

There’s a great way to handle this type of procrastination, and that is by changing your perspective to one that is more manageable.  Rather than trying to psyche yourself up to tackle a big project or task all at once, attack it in bite-sized pieces.

As an example, let’s use organization.  Imagine that your home is a terrible mess, completely disorganized with big piles of clutter all over the place.  It seems like an impossible challenge to get it all straightened out, so you keep procrastinating.  To make matters worse, all of the clutter makes you feel overwhelmed and scattered, which adds to the illusion that you can’t handle the task of getting organized – which causes you to procrastinate even more!  It becomes a big, vicious cycle that will continue until you take control of it.

Rather than trying to overcome your fear and push yourself to tackle such a huge job, start with one drawer, one closet, or any small section.  This more focused approach usually works like a charm because it’s hard to get overwhelmed by such a tiny chore, so you find your tendency to procrastinate disappears for a short time, enabling you to make some progress.

Then, simply keep the process going!  Each day do a little more, and work your way through small sections of the larger task.  This is very important – you can’t make a little progress only once in a while because nothing will change over the long-term.  And if you don’t see consistent progress, you probably won’t continue putting in the effort.

If you instead do a little bit each day, you’ll begin to notice the positive results piling up.  Before you know it, you’re feeling more in control of your circumstances and you’re not procrastinating nearly as much as you did before.

Once you’ve completed a larger task, then you can maintain it in the same way you resolved it – little by little, day by day!