Overcoming Procrastination - Part 3

In this final instalment on procrastination I want to go through some more reasons why someone might be prone to putting things off. We have already discussed the "no time" factor and reasons that might be to do with the project itself. Today I will highlight the reasons to do with someone's personality. These could be

1. Perfectionism
2. Thriving on adrenaline
3. Lack of self confidence
4. Internalised negatives
5. Externalised positives

Let's look at these hurdles for getting things done in detail, see what they are about and how they manifest and what you can do about them.

1. A lot of people have a perfectionist trait. Some more, some less. "I can't start this project until I have got everything I need and until the conditions are absolutely perfect." This kind of mindset is fine if that perfect condition is feasible and you have a good track record of starting and finishing your projects. If you don't, then your perfectionism is probably an excuse for not starting the project at all. Turn it around and ask yourself, what is the minimum I need for this project? Once you've got that sorted, put a start date in your diary and get that project on the road.

2. "I work better under pressure." We all know people like that and we might have used that phrase ourselves. Again, there are two ways of dealing with this. Number one, it's a good excuse not to start until the last possible moment, and it's simply a way to put things off. Make life easier for yourself; and divide your project into segments and do one each day until it's done. Number two, if you literally work better under pressure, and some of us do, then make the project more challenging. Set minigoals with a shorter deadline. This way you keep yourself on your toes but are still making timely progress towards your end goal.

3. If you suffer from a lack of self confidence and feel that you simply can't tackle the project try one of these options. Find out what the first thing is you need to do to start the project and divide the project into smaller chunks. Smaller bites are easier to digest, the same goes for project size. If you are unsure of how to do this, find someone who has done a similar project before and ask for advice. That way you get some expert help and you will soon be on the way to completing the once daunting task.

4. What I mean by internalised negatives are that you look for faults within yourself. If you do this, you will quite easily come up with negative emotions, such as "I'm lazy that's why I don't get things done" or "I'm stupid that's why I don't know where to start". First of all, I can assure you that none of this is true. You are neither lazy nor stupid or anything else of that kind. You might lack motivation or not be an expert on a particular subject but you can easily do something about that. Why don't you think of a treat that you reward yourself with, once you have completed the first part of the task and then keep rewarding yourself for every bit that you achieve until the project is completed. And just as with number 3 (lack of self confidence) there is no shame in asking people for help and advice on how to tackle a particular project. We don't all have to reinvent the wheel and most people are very happy to share their skills and knowledge.

5. Externalised positives are usually the reverse side of the same coin as internalised negatives. It means that you attribute anything positive that you do to outside influences and not to your skills and abilities, such as "I was lucky last time and it was easy. I could never do that again." It is usually a sign of lack of self confidence. Achieving something has most often nothing to do with luck. It is more likely to be the result of hard work and skill. Luck is good for gambling and that's about it. And when you found something easy then you had the skills and talent to do it and nothing less. Don't hide your light under a bush - as the saying goes and be proud of your achievements. Especially when it comes to what you tell yourself. We are usually our own worst critics and forget to be our own strongest supporters.