Do You Procrastinate?

​At times we choose to do something, plan to achieve a goal and we may be initially excited but when the time comes to put plan into action, sometimes we pull back. We delay taking actions and come up with very many reasons/excuses. We tell ourselves we will do it tomorrow, or there is another thing has come up which is urgent. We try to delay as much as we can.

Have you been there before? I have and I have and still do work with clients who bring this issue in the room.  We explore together what stops them in completing the task.
 
The delaying process is called procrastination. But why do we procrastinate and can we overcome procrastination?
 
Here below are 12 possible reasons why we procrastinate:
 

1. We fear we don’t know how to successfully complete the task
2. We lack confidence
3. We are “asked” or “made” to complete the task
4. We have lost interest but the task needs to be completed
5. It is a tedious, boring, hard and/or time consuming task
6. We seek control.  We want to do it our way at our pace
7. It might be a huge task
8. We might be a perfectionist
9. We might worry about failing
10. We might lack self-control and discipline
11. We may lack organisational skills
12.  We underestimate the commitment and time it require

 
So, how to overcome procrastination? Here are some steps to help you
 

1. Be kind to yourself when you procrastinate. Try and understand why are you procrastinating.
2. Break-down your task into small chunks.
3. Schedule a deadline to finish the task
4. Commit yourself to perform at least a small chunk of the task everyday
5. Tell yourself ….the sooner you finish, sooner you will be free from this task
6. Think of a reward/incentive for completing the task
7. Get help.  If you are stuck always ask for help
8. Stop catastrophising – It seems huge and hard task when we are forced to do something
9. Just do it.  Plan out for each day to complete at least a small part of the task

​If you resonate with procrastination and want to learn how to overcome, contact me via my contact page.