Where Does Procrastination Come From?
Why do we procrastinate?
It’s easy to procrastinate. You delay applying that nice check mark against a task because, let’s face it, the task doesn’t interest you as much as the others, so you leave it unchecked. It’s wise to share now, before you’ve even begun reading this piece in its entirety…letting that task spill into the days that follow does more harm than good. Obvious reason, it’s annoying to see it there unchecked and begging for your time. There’s a high chance you become tense every time you see it. The goal with this article is to share wisdom that may help you have a better (not perfect) relationship with your to-do list.
The history of procrastination.
In looking through several articles on the topic it was evident that procrastination has been around for-ever! Essentially, at the onset of the first task being created, procrastination joined the evolution of getting stuff done each day. You can take in a great timeline explanation of procrastination here.
Excerpt: A great poem from the 1500s.
Poem of Today:
Today follows today, how few todays one has!
If he doesn’t do today, when can it be done!
How many todays one will have for a hundred years of life, what a pity if there is no action today!
If you say just wait until tomorrow, you will have something else for tomorrow.
I’m writing the Poem of Today for you, please just working hard from today.
I like the word choice, action: “what a pity if there is no action today!” We’ll cover action in a little bit.
Making to-do lists.
If you regularly take in the exceptional admins podcast or read through the articles provided throughout this website, you’ll be know mindset is a theme. Why, because it’s just as important as breathing.
For example, let’s look at a perception:
For the sake of this example, we’ll go with an average happy feeling about your role vs. a valley season of meh in your role.
Happy: If you have a list of personal tasks associated with an upcoming vacation, you chip away quickly and excitedly - you have a great relationship with these tasks on your to-do list.
Meh: If you have a list of tasks with 50% of them being enjoyable and 50% being annoying - you have a split relationship with the tasks on your to-do list.
So, the question is, how do you create a better relationship with your least favorite tasks?
It first starts with being aware of time and your intentions. It helps to understand how you envision these tasks unfolding and affecting (you) each day. When I facilitate consulting sessions, I’m often asked about time blocking. Professionals believe that if they block time to tackle things they will be more productive. I believe this is a great place to start but it is not a one size fits all solution.
A popular time management method, the Pomodoro Technique, asks you to alternate pomodoros — focused work sessions — with frequent short breaks to promote sustained concentration and stave off mental fatigue.
Try the Pomodoro Technique if you...
Find little distractions often derail the whole workday
Consistently work past the point of optimal productivity
Have lots of open-ended work that could take unlimited amounts of time (e.g., studying for an exam, research for a blog post, etc.)
Are overly optimistic when it comes to how much you can get done in a day (aren't we all 🙃)
Enjoy gamified goal-setting
Really like tomatoes
Alleviate procrastination.
Understand why we do it. Understand the goal. Understand the joy that could come sooner rather than later if you just get it over with. These questions help you break free from lots of procrastination.
For example: If I need to do research on a topic for an episode, article or really, whatever, I decide that 45-minutes should be enough time to make a decent dent in my intention. Now, being a recovering perfectionist and type-A person (I go by a lower-case “a” now - be sure to check out the type-a podcast episode), I often want an entire block, with no disruptions, so I can get it done in one sitting. Life doesn’t always work that way (hence the reason for procrastinating even more, because there isn’t enough time…or, is there). So, I’ve learned through the years, I need to create a system/plan that will help my personality avoid procrastination so I can chip away at all of my tasks, the ones I like and the ones that drain me. (Confession: I would absolutely procrastinate with expense reporting.)
Love what you do.
The Pomodoro Technique is my go to. I throughly enjoy breaking down my tasks into smaller segments. I’m able to work more diligently, in short bursts, resulting a sense of accomplishment. This is what we want to achieve, a sense of accomplishment. If we can develop this emotion with anything we are tasked to handle in return, we move quicker. Have you heard of Eat the Frog? It’s a Mark Twain quote, “Eat a live frog first thing in the morning, and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.” I see this as get the annoying stuff done first. I embrace this philosophy, does it fit you too?
Take in this short podcast episode to hear more
Launch Pad:
1) Identify why you procrastinate and what the ‘triggers’ might be.
2) Consider taking the task you least enjoy and doing it first to ‘get it over with’ (eat the frog).
3) Treat yourself to a new journal and plan out your pages with inspiration at the top to help you get through your to-do list.