Don’t you hate it when you have so much on your pending list, but you do not want to do anything or do not want to get motivated. Everyone procrastinates things at one point or the other but when we start procrastinating things a lot it turns into a habit. We all are capable of doing great things in life but sometimes we fail to do so.
Procrastination is one of the roadblocks that hinder our way to greater achievements. It is something that robs us of productivity. Sometimes, we don’t even realize that we are procrastinating our tasks. However, there are times when we already know that we are procrastinating but we just become unable to control it.
The habit of procrastination can take several different forms. We start delaying things because of another urgent task, investing time in some unimportant tasks rather than the important ones, and thinking that there is enough time available to complete the work. There are people who procrastinate frequently while others do it as a now and again thing. Whatever group you belong to, the underlying reasons for procrastination are same so, it is worth understanding that we do it or what leads us to procrastination.
Reasons for Procrastination
I have listed down some major reasons for procrastination. Let’s check out which of them resonate with you:
- You lack interest & motivation
If some person is passionate or interested in a specific job, it does not mean that everyone else will also be automatically interested in that particular job. Everyone holds a different kind of interest and passions. If you do not feel the trigger while performing your tasks, you will surely get tired after some time and will start finding ways to avoid them. This is a major and famous reason for procrastinating things.
Some people believe that it is important to feel fully motivated before starting some work so that the work can be done with utmost efficiency and effectiveness. I guess this is an unrealistic expectation. There are times when the “real” motivation does not arrive until and unless you have started your work and begun to see some progress. When you start seeing the results of your labor, you feel motivated to continue your job. So, there is no perfect time to start some work better than “now”!
- You become overburdened
When you have a lot to do on your list, it becomes really easy to shut down. This case is particularly true when you have to deal with big and complicated tasks. You start telling yourself that you do not have enough time to complete the work so it is better not to even start the work. You just put your work off instead of digging in. You start making promises to yourself that you will start your work on time for the next job but this never really happens! So, the solution to this problem lies in an old saying – “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.” What you should do is to break the bigger and complicated tasks into smaller ones. You should set a deadline to perform those smaller tasks until the work gets completed.
- You fear failure
For some people, the fear of failure is a devastating thing. They see failure as a permanent thing that cannot be rectified or altered. They feel like getting failed is a permanent stain on their reputation. When these people fail to reach their objectives, it greatly hit their self-esteem and they develop certain kind of fear in them. The lack of confidence causes them not to take any proper action until the results are not 100% guaranteed. Of course, we cannot guarantee 100% success in each and everything we do. When we stop taking risks, we stop learning. Thus, because of the fear of failure, procrastination becomes a frequent occurrence and an endless spiral for them.
- You have deficiency of skills
Achieving new goals and objectives in life requires constant personal growth. You need to learn new skills and knowledge in order to reach your new aims of life. This is what life’s journey is all about. Unfortunately, many people do not realize this in their entire life. They start seeing skill or knowledge deficiency as a permanent obstacle and easily give up on their dreams. They beginning to procrastinate their goals because of lack of skills. But, remember that, giving up is not an option that successful people use in their life. What these people need to do is to make a genuine assessment of the skills that are required to reach their goals and start having training sessions for them. Procrastination makes you a lazy person that loses the capability to achieve something in life. So, never ever allow it to overpower your dreams.
All you wrote is so true!
thanks @tom28
God bless you
You forgot a vital reason. When you believe the reward is not worth the effort. I recently had a topic on incentives that goes into detail about that.
https://steemit.com/life/@thatanimesnob/how-incentives-work
I hope I don't roll over now and cry myself to sleep. I thought I had the skills to compete.
Procrastination is a really dangerous hindrance which people don't pay attention to......procrastinating will always bring a task to partial accomplishment or even unaccomplished....your article will really help to alert people of the cause and defect of procrastination...
Yes, totally agree. I have been removing cable television lately and it has helped with finding productive activities.
Very true! Ironically, while reading your article, I am procrastinating on schoolwork. A while back I made an article about The Less Free Will I Have, The Happier I am 🤔. I essentally realized that I only get things done when I REALLY have to get things done, and without this presence I am almost miserable.
It is crazy how the human brain knows what is best for us, but blatantly ignores it.
I’m learning how to not procrastinate at university. I propcrastinate with everything, and I’m trying to learn to not do that
I always practice procrastination haha, it's terrible. I lie mostly in the "lacks motivation and interest" camp
The ability to do what we do not want to and forcing ourselves to do the right thing regardless of our feeling takes strong mental strength! Thanks for posting!
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I guess I'll read this post later... 😜
Just kidding - upvoted and followed!
Procrastinating controls my life. Who's in?
This post has received a 17.36 % upvote from @booster thanks to: @jasimg.