Why Do We Procrastinate?
There are many reasons why we procrastinate. Some of these reasons include fear, exhaustion, or feeling sorry for ourselves. Many of them can be wrapped up in emotions, and sometimes we don’t even understand how or why we are not doing things we know we should be doing or even things we ultimately want to do. Take a look at this graphic for some other reasons we procrastinate:
The bottom line for procrastinating, however, is that we’re just not ready to tackle the task at hand. And in most cases – that’s okay. (However, in some cases you may need to seek professional help.) Sometimes things take time, and when we are ready, we will get to that task.
And have you noticed that when we do procrastinate, we will choose to do so many other things? The most obvious thing we will do is something else we would rather do. But sometimes, we will even choose to do something else we would rather NOT do, so long as it ranks higher on the list than the task at hand. Some things we do at this time may be considered mindless, like surfing the net or even watching a show without even paying attention to it. Take a look at this graphic for some more things we do when we procrastinate:
But sometimes we get insistent on needing to do something else first, such as cleaning or exercising – almost like a ritual. If you’re at this point, good for you – that means you’re close to getting the task done. If this works for you, it’s a good thing because you’re actually getting two things done that need to get done.
Sometimes we need to set the mood first, such as with background music. Sometimes it is beyond our control and the mood is set for us. Have you ever noticed that an emotion like anger can trigger you into getting a task done? This connection kind of makes sense. If it’s an emotion that started your procrastination, it can take an emotion to end your procrastination.
Other ideas that can help us stop procrastinating include changing scenery, gathering resources, making a plan, and just trying something new and different. Take a look at this graphic for more details on ideas that can help us stop procrastinating:
If you have another idea that has helped you to stop procrastinating, please share.