Procrastination

A simple definition of procrastination is to unnecessarily postpone decisions or actions. It affects 20% of adults and 50% of students. For them procrastination is a lifestyle. They don't pay bills on time, they miss opportunities, they don't cash gift certificates or checks and the list goes on. It is not a problem of time management or planning; they are usually doing other things. Procrastinators are made not born. There are big costs to procrastination. It shifts the burden of responsibilities onto others, who may become resentful. Procrastination destroys teamwork in the workplace. Students that procrastinate have a compromised immune system with more colds and flu, gastro issues and insomnia. 

There are three types of procrastinators: 

Thrill-seekers who wait until the last minute to do things. 

Avoiders who are avoiding the fear of failure or success, concerned about what others think of them.

Decisional procrastinators cannot make a decision. By not making a decision it releases the procrastinator the responsibility for the outcome.

Of course, with every problem there is a solution and here it is: 

1. If there are too many tasks it becomes overwhelming as to where to start. I recently felt that way. I had gotten off track doing other things, and the small meaningless tasks were left undone, lots of them. Then I had an Aunt Joan talk with myself and I came out of it with the solution, "stop talking about it and do it attitude". I dialed in my focus and viola it was impressive what I accomplished in a very short amount of time. It was just getting started that was the issue, once I was doing it, it was happening. 

2. Don't wait for the right moment or the right frame of mind. Oh boy, what about this one. I convince myself that if I am not in the mood to do something, I will only do a poor job, so I don't do it. Therefore, I put it off until I am "in the mood", which may not ever happen. Doing a good cleaning of my place falls in this category. I can procrastinate cleaning for days and days. I make sense of it by saying, "cleaning is overrated".  

3. Get organized. Figure out a way to motivate yourself to get at the tasks that are mounting. This is my long-term way of organizing myself. I have a white board where I write ideas or long-term goals. if I write it on the white board, it will get done. The end date for things on the white board are not identified, they fall under the category of, "sometime". I am devoted to the white board, and it is a good organizational tool for me.  

4. Break the list down. I like this idea, accomplishing part of list is better than accomplishing nothing.  

5. Celebrate small wins. I barter with myself all the time. Some days, I just get up and do the three things without even a thought. Other times, two are moved to the next day. If I do complete a nasty task or there is something that comes off the white board, it is celebrating time. Usually, the celebrating is sharing with others. No one is spared the conversation that starts like this, "I have to tell you what I did today". 

6. Reward yourself. When I have a trip planned, I like to leave with my house neat and cleanish. If I can I change the sheets. I seem to be in the mood to clean and organize when I am going away. I look at it as a reward for me when I get home, everything is in order, I only have to do buy groceries and wash the clothes in my suitcase. 

7. Make tasks non-negotiable. How many times have you said, "I HAVE TO DO THAT TODAY". It has reached the eleventh hour and there is no more putting it off. If I reach this point, I am overwhelmed and often things are not done as well as they could be. I guess the secret here is not to get to the eleventh hour.

8. Ask others to make you accountable. I do like this one. I have said to others, I am going to follow up with you on that. I have also had others say, they will follow up with me. This keeps it real, not only am I accountable to myself but another person is making me accountable. Excuse time is over. 

9. Don't let things build up, do them early in the morning. That works for me. I am productive in the morning so getting up and getting at it is a great plan for me. 

10. Work in small bursts. How many of you have a rest between tasks? I certainly do. I think the issue is to keep at the task until it is done, just that task. Many of us struggle with being a jackrabbit. We start to do one thing, then hop onto another, then off to another until we have a big mess of nothing done. I am not sure that is what they meant when they suggested working in small bursts.   

We all know those procrastinators out there; they can be frustrating. Deadlines are the way they run their lives, although, once they do a job it is always well done. A deadline could be as simple as getting to work on time. I have come to understand that procrastinators are not lazy, they will do other less urgent jobs instead of the one needing to be done. Apparently, procrastinators have a fear of failure, they are perfectionists. One thing I am not, and that is a perfectionist, I just want the job done, the perfection of it, is not important. Although, I do believe in a job well done.   

I believe we all have tasks that we procrastinate over, it doesn't make us a procrastinator. I certainly have procrastinator traits, but I don't think I am one. There are things I simply don't like to do, so I don't do them, until I absolutely have to. I do know that I never procrastinate when I am responsible to others, they are always done. I love to organize events, so they are complete long before a deadline. In retirement, we simply don't have deadlines like we used to. But we still have commitments and responsibilities to others. We need to be aware of our procrastinating traits and how they affect others. I think they may be more frustrating than we realize.