Procrastination
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It is a simple problem because the solution to procrastination is obvious: just do it! However it is also a complex problem because the real reasons why you aren't "just doing it" can come from many different sources. Everyone has their own strategies for combating procrastination, but most tend to approach the problem from a few major points:
- Energy - This assumes procrastination due to some combination of physical, mental, emotional or spiritual fatigue.
- Motivation - This assumes it is caused by a lack of drive or internal force to get the task done.
- Fear - Here delays in initiative are believed to be caused by some hidden fear or the desire to avoid pain and drudgery.
- Task Value Assessment - My favorite viewpoint, this assumes that procrastination is simply a result of the estimated worth of the task when compared to alternatives.
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[edit] Energy
A lack of energy can cause procrastination. Being physically tired, stressed, frustrated or dulled from too much work can leave you burnt out. Here are some signs that your procrastination may be linked to a lack of energy:
- Prior Workload - You are having difficulty staying on task after a prior period of working very hard, or an extended period of work without rest. If you find yourself procrastinating the last few tasks after a ten hour day at work, energy could be the culprit.
- Emotional Stress/Frustration - You're stuck on a difficult problem or recently faced with more stress than usual. Here too, a drain on your energy could be the cause.
- Sleep/Diet/Exercise Changes - If you've had any life changes recently that interrupt your normal sleep, diet or exercise cycles then procrastination may be your body fighting the extra demands put on it.
- Poor Sleep/Diet/Exercise Habits - While making changes in your life can cause a lack of energy, if you've been feeling sluggish for long periods of time it could be a sign that you need to make changes to your existing sleep, diet and/or exercise habits.
Getting around this problem with procrastination means ensuring you are getting enough recovery to match your energy expenditures, building a larger energy capacity and ensuring your sleep, diet and exercise are adequate.
[edit] Motivation
A lack of drive can cause procrastination. Here are some signs your procrastination may be due to low motivation:
- Unclear Goals - What is your objective with the task? Why are you doing it? When does it need to be done? How is completing this important to your other goals? If these questions are immediately answerable, low motivation may be sapping your initiative.
- Low Confidence - Do you doubt this tasks ability to make an impact? If you feel the task has low potential value or it has only a small chance of succeeding, you'll kill any motivation.
- Relative Importance - Are there other goals you want to pursue with more force when this task is only a distraction?
Overcoming motivation problems means stepping back and reassessing your approach. Define why you need to do the task, know the benefits of doing so and determine it's worth. It can be hard to motivate yourself when confidence or relative importance are low, so you may need to use other strategies to push yourself through it.
[edit] Fear
Fear can cause procrastination if you believe that there is the potential for a negative impact of taking action. This doesn't just mean giving speeches, asking for dates or skydiving. Fear can manifest itself in avoiding a lengthy project you feel will be unpleasant to work on. Any time you procrastinate to avoid a negative outcome, fear is your problem.
Fear is the opposing force towards motivation, so they are essentially the same problem. High motivation will override potential fears and low motivation can allow even small fears to stop you. Here are some places to look for fear:
- Task - When visualizing the upcoming task you imagine it will be unpleasant.
- Outcome - There are risks in the outcome itself. Writing a controversial article may lose readers, settling upon an interface design could mean locking out better solutions.
[edit] Task Value Assessment
A task value assessment takes all the different viewpoints for procrastination and puts them into one formula. If you value each task you can do by the following formula:
Task Value = (Confidence * Benefit) / (Wait * Task Unpleasantness)
Then procrastination occurs largely when the task value is less than alternative tasks (such as web surfing, watching TV or other timewasters). Let's look at what each these components means:
- Confidence - This is your expectation that your efforts will yield a positive result.
- Benefit - This is what you expect to be the benefit of completing the task successfully.
- Wait - This is how soon the rewards will become available to you.
- Task Unpleasantness - This is how much pain, drudgery or boredom you need to go through before the task is complete. This can also be used to factor in how much of your energy/time is required as a five minute unpleasant task is less costly than a four hour one that leaves you exhausted.
Although this is a simplification of how your brain would actually work, let's use this formula with tasks available to John, our fictional freelance writer:
- Write Article - C: 4, B: 6, W: 7, TU: 3 Total Task Value = 1.14
- Build Website - C: 2, B:10, W:9, TU: 6 Total Task Value = .37
- Surf Net - C: 9, B: 3, W: 1, TU: 4 Total Task Value = 6.75
Here John is procrastinating building a website to promote his skills primarily because he sees the benefits as being far off, the task unpleasant and his confidence is low. Web surfing, alternatively, is more attractive at being easily reachable despite minimal benefit.
Keep in mind that this formula isn't a rational assessment of the total value, benefits and unpleasantness, but a mental snapshot of each. John's web building skills might be better than deserving such a low confidence rating and he might enjoy the task more than he pictures. Similarly, surfing the web might yield less benefit and create more boredom than he thinks it will.
Identifying procrastination is the first step in overcoming it. Task Value Assessment along with theories of energy, motivation and fear can help you to step back and reassess chronic procrastination problems to come to a solution.
[edit] Key reasons of Procrastination
- Complex projects may cause procrastination because they are often daunting and overwhelming.
- Projects that are viewed as being unpleasant are also often the victim of procrastination. While many people will tackle a task that they enjoy with relish they may consistently delay working on tasks that are less appealing.
- The inability to prioritize also contributes to procrastination. Those who cannot view the tasks at hand and place them into different categories based on their level of importance sometimes have difficulty getting anything done because they are constantly switching from one task to another or trying to decide what to do next.
- The inability to make decisions also contributes to procrastination. Many people simply spend too much time trying to make decisions about their projects. While it is important to weigh your options carefully and make informed decisions, too much time spent wastefully trying to make a decision can cause a significant delay for a project.
- A fear of failure also causes some people to procrastinate. Some people will subconsciously delay the completion of the project because they are nervous about the reaction that their project will elicit.
- Distractions are a major cause of procrastination. Sometimes the temptation to engage in conversation with your coworkers, play games or do other non-work related tasks can be sources of procrastination.
- Perfectionism on tasks may cause procrastination. Perfectionists tend to avoid getting into situations that might reveal their imperfections.
[edit] Outcome of Procrastination
- Procrastination leads to depression. Furthermore, depression and procrastination form a vicious cycle. We put off something we really need to do, then get behind. This makes us depressed, which saps our energy, so we put off the next thing, too. The farther we fall behind, the more depressed we get.
[edit] Tips for overcoming Procrastination
- If it's a complex project, it is advisable to break the project down into smaller components and tackle each component individually.
- Although not all tasks are enjoyable, they still need to be completed. To avoid procrastinating in this situation, try implementing a reward system for the completion of an unpleasant task.
- Try making a list of all of your tasks and ranking them in order of importance. Then set a goal of completing a certain number of tasks in the next four hours. After four hours evaluate your progress and reassess the situation based on the remaining tasks.
- Set aside some time each day specifically for the purpose of making decisions and set a timeline for yourself to complete the decision making process. This will encourage you to use your time wisely and reach a decision in a timely manner.
- Visualize yourself succeeding in the project and imagine the steps that you will need to take in order to succeed. Once you have visualized the steps, it is time to act on them.
- Setting up your workspace to minimize distractions and scheduling time to converse with your coworkers will help to prevent procrastination and keep your project on schedule.
- Break down the task, One step at a time.
- Complete the task first before improving it.
- Use 15-second Principle. It says a minimum of 15 seconds work a day on any project will bring it to fruition.. The idea is to tackle a big project bits by bits. Promising yourself to do 15 seconds on the task that blocks you will help to go through the issues - at least you start thinking about it. When you are familiar with 15 seconds, try 30 seconds. After 30 seconds, try 1 minute. Eventually you will get into the habit of tackling the problem immediately instead of procrastinating.
- If stress about the work is causing procrastination, then effective stress relief can help overcome procrastination. Compared to simply "taking a break," "effective" stress relief would a) be of finite duration and b) (rather tautologically) leaves you ready to go back to work again.
