What is Procrastination?
Have you ever wondered why we procrastinate? Procrastination is something most of us deal with EVERYDAY! Do we even know what it is? There are decades of research on procrastination and I’ve been studying it! Here is what I’ve learned!
Procrastination is the action of delaying or postponing something.
Sounds simple? Ha! We all know that it is WAY more complex that that! The hard part is “Why” we procrastinate! This is what I’ve learned. When our self-discipline and motivation is outweighed by demotivating and hindering circumstances then we procrastinate! This is a mouthful so I’ll break it down further.
- To “Get Stuff Done” we need self-discipline. To trigger our self-discipline into action we need motivation to do so!
- Motivation is blocked by demotivating circumstances. Like anxiety/stress or fear of failure.
- Motivation is also blocked by hindering circumstances. Like mental/physical exhaustion or there is no good reason to get stuff done. i.e. “The Why” is not clear.
So! We need to increase our self-discipline and motivation to outweigh our demotivating and hindering circumstances!
A short term fix!
For those of you (like me) that are stuck right now needing help. Here is a quick method to break your procrastination.
- Grab a pen and some paper (like your journal)
- Make a small “checklist” of the smallest possible steps to get your work done!
- The first thing on the list MUST be “make a check list”.
- The list should be 5 things or less of the smallest things to get started.
- Put a check next to the “make a check list” item when you are finished.
- Celebrate that you have completed something small!
- Do the next smallest thing on the list and put a check next to it!
- Celebrate that you have completed the next smallest thing!
- Keep going until you need to create a new checklist of small things to get done!
Don’t forget to celebrate each time! Celebration is the best way to kick procrastination in the butt! 🚀
This is a widely known way of getting stuff done! Mark Zuckerberg has been known to say:
Doing the easy things first creates momentum. It teaches lessons and keeps you moving forward. Nothing gets big things done faster than getting the small things out the way.
Also check out this article to help productivity in the short term!
Fixing Procrastination forever!
Write every morning! You guessed it! Journaling is like ancient magic when it comes things like procrastination. When you feel demotivated or hindered from getting stuff done, then add this to your diet of writing for a few days.
1. My goals for this season of life are…
This could be also written “what is success for me in the next 6 months?”
Writing or Re-writing your goals (your vision) for yourself is super important. On the other hand goals can be tricky if they formulated poorly. 🤔 Let me know if you need help identifying smart goals. I know how create that will help you succeed.
2. My current situation is…
This prompt can be challenging. This is a self-evaluation prompt. What is my reality right now? What is happening to me now? What is the result? Why is this important right now?
This one really shines a light on the gap between where you are now and where you want to be in prompt 1.
3. My biggest obstacles to meeting my goals are…
Sometimes this takes a few minutes to think about. I find I write “I am my biggest obstacle!” but then explore why am I (myself) the obstacle. Other times it’s time, or money, or people… Give it a try. You might surprise yourself at what is keeping you from being successful.
4. The things I’m doing today to reach my goals are…
I love this prompt! It’s the here and now action prompt! This can even be a small check list (like in the short term description).
I’m looking for some feedback! Please join me on our private Facebook group if you’d like to connect with me and other journaling enthusiast (link is below)
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