Feeling stalled? Unable to concentrate? Overwhelmed? Like you just can’t get started? Ever find yourself scrolling on social media or watching tutorials, even though your to-do list is far too long for such distractions?
It’s called procrastination, defined by Oxford Languages as: “the action of delaying or postponing something.”
A lot of different emotions can cause procrastination. And you should be wary of it, as it’s truly the enemy of good work. Here’s why.
I’m a digital marketer and copywriter in my real life, and I write articles, social media, and emails. And I’ve learned this lesson the hard way. If you do any project work, you probably know that it’s beneficial to be able to let your work “rest.” You put it away and come back to it with fresh eyes later. It simply results in much better work. You’ll notice weaknesses and errors. You may determine a way to present your data.
When you procrastinate and wait until the last minute, you don’t allow yourself that breathing room to get back and review your work to make it better. Is your first pass of work really your best pass? Not usually!
No, you don’t work better under pressure. You’re procrastinating.
I’ve said this. “But I work better under pressure!” Yep. I lie to myself. In fact, no one works better under pressure. Kicking, or at least managing, the procrastination challenge will make you a better team member, help you rise through the ranks of your organization, or, if you’re an entrepreneur, help you build a smoother operation with a better work product.
What’s Behind Procrastination?
When you procrastinate, your emotions are running the show, not your intellect. You’ll hear me say this a lot. When your emotions are running high, your intelligence takes a back seat. Fierce emotions mean less of your intellectual thinking will be involved in your decision-making.
When you find yourself delaying something that you know you should be doing and you’re feeling bad about it, take a look at how you’re allowing your emotions to run the show. Sometimes all it takes is awareness. Then you can redirect your attention back to the task at hand.
Procrastination as Distraction
For me, procrastination often shows up as distraction. I do social media for a living, so I’m always on the various social channels looking at what’s happening on my clients’ feeds. Unfortunately, interesting things come up and if I’m not careful, before I know it, I’ve visited three different websites, read six different articles, and a half-hour has gone by.
When I notice it, I stop and redirect my attention to the task that’s next on my list to be completed. It may sound odd, but one of the best tips that really stuck with me from a Chris Brogan workshop I attended in 2020 was, when you catch yourself not doing what will move you forward, don’t just observe yourself not doing it. Observe it, stop the distracted behavior, and move on. It sounds like the most basic piece of advice, but it stuck with me and now it’s become a habit.
Procrastination as Fear of Failure
Another reason that procrastination shows up is fear – fear of failure, fear of the task being too difficult, fear of not succeeding at the task or fear of not being able to complete the task at the appropriate level of perfection. That fear can be immobilizing! Fortunately, so much of what we fear never comes to fruition. That thought alone may help you push through fear that’s masquerading as procrastination. Taking yourself through a series of questions around “what’s the worst thing that can happen if you completely fail?” can be helpful, too. Seriously, how bad can it be?
Procrastination as Overwhelm
Another contributing factor to procrastination can be a feeling of being overwhelmed. Trust me, I’ve been in the workforce for 40 years and we’re all doing more than we’ve ever done during our “day jobs.” It can be challenging not to get completely paralyzed when you feel like your to-do list is too long for the hours left before the deadline.
One of the first things to do in that situation is to make a list. Write it all down. What do you need to do? And by when? And what’s priority? What’s the most important? And what can be deleted as low priority or unnecessary? Dump it all out of your brain onto a piece of paper or into a digital file, whatever works for you.
Getting Things Done
It’s one of the tenets of the Getting Things Done productivity system that’s stuck with me since I was first introduced to David Allen’s work a few decades ago. (It’s still just as popular as it ever was!) The first step of the system is to “capture” or “collect what has your attention.” Then you process it (decide what needs to be done), organize it (put it where it should be), review it and do it. The steps are spelled out here: What Is GTD?
Basically, David Allen says that your brain is really good at generating ideas but it’s not a good tool for keeping them. With that, I totally agree. Yeah. We all think we have this great memory and then you end up with all these thoughts running around in your brain. When you write them all down, it’s a relief! Consider Evernote as a great App for quickly recording thoughts and ideas that need to be “captured!”
The Cost of Procrastination
I love working with people who are early in their career journeys, and as an ad agency that contracts with different companies, I personally get involved on client teams. One of the things that I’ve noticed is that our recent college grads make a lot of mistakes, and they miss details. It has left me wondering how we can help young people get past that barrier to success.
Making mistakes and missing details makes it look like you’re not paying close enough attention to your job. And it doesn’t contribute to your success.
During some research, I came across the statistic that 90% of college students procrastinate. And while it may be okay in college, it’s a serious detriment and a habit you’ll want to break in the workplace.
When you’re a student, you don’t “brain damage” over an assignment. You do it, proof it once, and turn it in. Good enough is good enough. Done is done. And in many cases, done will get you good grades, too.
If you’re looking to rise through the ranks in your career quickly, good enough isn’t good enough. Done isn’t just done. You want to demonstrate the best of your abilities, so you can be trusted with more responsibility. If you procrastinate, you’re not allowing yourself the time you need to complete the work, review it thoroughly, think it through and really make sure it’s your very best work.
Procrastination as Wisdom
One of my favorite thought leaders right now is Dr. Benjamin Hardy. He has a really strong bank of content on EQ, which is emotional intelligence. It’s like your IQ, but measuring your ability to understand and manage emotions. Dr. Hardy has a new book out called “Who, Not How” with co-author Dan Sullivan. In it, the authors say that procrastination is wisdom, telling you that you may have ambitions that are larger than what you can accomplish on your own. In that case, they recommend you find people with whom you can collaborate to make those big goals a reality.
Consider creating or joining a MasterMinds group, which is an accountability group of five or six people. You meet every other week and talk about your goals. You talk about your company, you talk about what you’re up to. And you get you know the people in this group with you and they get to know you. They’re able to give you insight, point out blind spots and hold you accountable. I’ve been in some form of a MasterMinds group for 20+ years and it’s a great tool for accomplishing your goals in business and in life.
Tools for Day-to-Day Productivity
If your procrastination is related to your day-to-day work, you could be dealing with a simple lack of focus or poor self control. We all have those moments. When you’re not having a good day, it’s harder to get started and stay focused. In those cases, find a tool that you can use to keep you on track. In business, the quality of your work counts. Any time you waste procrastinating is time you’re not spending doing your best work. It’s less time that you have to do the work that counts. Here are a few tools I’ve found to be helpful in keeping me focused and productive:
Take 5 minutes. Just. Start. Doing It. You can do anything for five minutes. Once you get started, you’ll have broken through the procrastination barrier and will most likely keep going.
Try the Pomodoro Technique. This method of staying focused uses a timer and you work in 25 minute increments, with 5 minute breaks. Pomodoro is the word for tomato in Italian and the creator of the system used a timer that looked like a tomato, hence the name. Learn more about it here: Pomodoro 101
FocusAtWill.com is a website that helps you stay productive with music that’s been specifically written for that purpose. You take a quick quiz to determine your preferences, then it recommends a specific type of music to use during a 30-minute focused work session. It asks you to rate your productivity during each session and adjusts the track it plays for you based on your feedback. Check it out here: Focus At Will
Procrastination Vanquished?
Most likely, you’ll never completely vanquish procrastination. It’s a recurring issue for most people. Managing the degree to which it affects you is the best you can do. Would you like to hear more? Check out our latest podcast episode on this subject: Procrastination and Regaining Your Focus