This week is National Procrastination Week. Or not. I could be wrong.
You see, it moves around from year to year just because. It’s usually in March, but has been slowly moving later and later in the month. Oh, those funny procrastinators…
Per Merriam Webster, of course, to Procrastinate is:
: to put off intentionally and habitually (or)
: to put off intentionally the doing of something that should be done.
It means to delay the doing of something that needs done for no particular reason, or at least not a particularly good reason. Here are some of the reasons WHY we procrastinate, and what to do about them!
Sometimes we procrastinate because we’re not sure just how long a project will take.
- Put your project on your own terms. Instead of believing we need to start and finish a project in one sitting, start believing that progress towards a goal is often enough. We may never be able to finish our big projects in one session, but that shouldn’t keep us from starting!
- Set a timer and make some progress, even if you can’t finish.
- Progress towards a goal is plenty for today!
Sometimes, we procrastinate because it is what we’re used to doing. Perhaps, we just have to overcome our inertia.
Today,
Start with the easiest task… or
Start with the hardest task… or
Start with the quickest task… or
Start with the longest task. Just
Start.
Sometime we procrastinate because a project feels SOOOOO BIG AND OVERWHELMING!!!
- Once, a client had “buy paper towels”, “call the plumber” and “learn how to play the guitar”
all on the same daily to-do list. Obviously, the scope of the guitar task was far beyond the other two simple tasks. And not surprisingly, “learn to play the guitar” was too broad and too vague to really allow any progress towards the goal! - Break down big projects into smaller, more manageable pieces. My client’s first step might be to locate the family guitar in the attic, or contact her friend who’s taking guitar lessons for the instructor’s contact information. Little pieces!
Sometimes we procrastinate because we don’t actually know how to do what needs done.
- If the task was assigned by someone else, request clarification. And if it is our own task, think it through and make a plan!
- Fortunately, information is at our fingertips all the time, so we can learn how to do something we don’t know how to do.
- We can also ask our experts, or outsource the task. Two examples that come to mind are:
- For months, I researched and internally debated if I should become an LLC or a corporation. Finally, I asked my attorney who answered my question in 5 minutes and then set everything up for me without breaking a sweat.
- Same goes for my web design expert! What would have taken me weeks of fumbling took my expert a week, and I still LOVE my website redesign.
I should have started with my experts!
So, next time you find yourself procrastinating and you don’t know why, take a look at this list for insight and solutions to the problem!