Procrastination

We often procrastinate because that thing we need to do is not important right now, or we are afraid of failing at the task that we need to complete. We do that by not starting at the right time, not starting at all or not finishing a task. 

Notice an important point, we never procrastinate on things which matter to us the most! If something is really important to us we will make it done. If something is a “high priority” to us, we will get it done. 

So, if you are valuing in your life free time, relaxation, watching Netflix, you will spend a lot of time planning and executing your plans to make it happen. If you love to exercise, giving you pleasure and satisfaction, drive, challenge, then you will do “everything you can” during the day, week, month to make it happen. We only procrastinate on “low propriety things” and things which we understand what we get in return.

There are few things about procrastination you should know about: 

We procrastinate on “low priority” activities. If you are working on a new project, maybe you got a promotion and you manage a group of people, if these things are “not your highest priority”, even though in reality these things should be done, at the end of the day it won’t be done well, or it won’t be done at all, because “you simply think, believe that this is not high priority task”. 

We procrastinate when we don’t have the answer, or we simply don’t know yet how a task needs to be done. For example, you need to sort out a problem at work, and you have never done it before ( i.e no past experience), you have no help from the management, and you just need to find a solution because on your own. If there is no set deadline, it won’t get done, because you don’t have the right answer, or you don’t know how to do it. 

We procrastinate when we decide to do something against our values. For example, you have decided that a great idea will be running a marathon in 6 months time because some of the guys at work are doing it, it’s cool, and you just want to join in. During the preparation stage, you begin to find out few things about yourself that you did not know before, like:  I only exercise with my friend, I don’t like exercise alone. I don’t like the slow progress, I can’t see the results. I am hungry all the time, I don’t know anything about healthy eating. During this process, you may say: “ I don’t think this is for me, and the more you think about it, this conclusion follows: I value more my free time, rather than going for a run and train hard for this marathon which does not mean anything to me”. Your value is actually”  having enough free time and rest” not “ running and training at the gym”. So your value wins. 

We may procrastinate when we don’t know the prize, i.e: “what really are we getting in return” once we put our effort, energy, focus into this task. If we do something for the first time, it may be difficult to calculate and understand the full benefits of doing this thing. Most of us are risk-averse, which means if it’s something “unfamiliar” we don’t want to do it. If you don’t know your “why”, it won’t get it done.

Our minds will find the easiest, quickest way to full ourselves. We are so clever that we out clever ourselves and as a result, we get confused in our lives. You need to reverse engineer if you want to see the desired results. Simplify you’re thinking and you will simplify your life. Do what gives your pleasure, satisfaction in life, and live your life in line with “your own values”.

If you prioritise one activity over another, you know why you are doing it, you have a positive attitude towards this activity,  you will get it done- ALWAYS.