According to the Oxford Dictionary “Procrastination is the action of delaying or postponing something” and it’s said to be thief of time and the proverb “if you delay doing something, it will take longer to do later on: maybe TV and procrastination really are thieves of time.”
As the proverb suggests when you delay something you take longer to do it later on. The biggest thieves of time are TV and Procrastination. It’s very important that people understand the importance of time and not procrastinate as it will cost them dearly in the long run. People often put off important tasks due to numerous reasons and also because they are just lazy and disorganized. .
Sitting on a chair reading newspaper or watching TV will lead you nowhere in life and it’s time to analyse this and start taking action. This chapter will explain more about research on procrastination and why people choose to procrastinate.
Procrastination develops first in the mind and thoughts of a person before the action of delaying it takes place. We all receive numerous thoughts in a day and research suggests that 60% of them are negative so we need to train our brain to ensure that the thoughts are positive otherwise it can lead to putting things off, depression, anxiety, depression and much more.
Many procrastinators give importance to least prominent task to none more important tasks such as chatting with friends on mobile, social media sites and watching TV rather than focusing the task such as sending a report, not studying, not meeting deadlines and many more.
Procrastination can give instant relief as the person is able to follow his ego however in the long run it can be very painful. A lot of people are scared of taking action because it involves pain and suffering but they don’t realise that the suffering will be much more if they don’t act now.
Procrastination can damage a person very badly and it affects the emotions of the person and can affect their self-esteem, morale, self-confidence and also health in a great extent.
Procrastination is very lethargic and if you are not out of the comfort zone then it can potentially become a habit and it takes time to change a habit. Everything starts first with thoughts in our conscious as well as subconscious mind and only after that action is delayed or taken.
WHY DO PEOPLE PROCRASTINATE?
There are numerous reasons why people procrastinate and some of them are lack of skills, poor mind-set, don’t want any pain, lack of drive, bad attitude, self-limiting beliefs, fear, poor decision making and perception.
Lack of skills is one of the reasons why people procrastinate. If you don’t have certain skills to complete a project, it’s pretty normal to avoid it. It can be any form of deficit such as slow at writing or bad at painting and many more. Every person is different and we all lack different skills. However if we lack something than we should not avoid it in fact we should embrace and take it as a challenge to turn things around and make it happen. Some people are embarrassed showing their lack of skills in front of other people and that is another reason why they avoid it.
I believe that every problem has a solution and lack of skills can easily be rectified by stretching yourself and taking guided action.
Poor Mindset plays an important role in our lives. From the time we are born we are feeling and thinking. So it’s very important that we feed our brains with correct and positive thinking otherwise it can lead to no destination in life. It’s very easy to let negative thoughts into our brains which then create more negativity and the circle of negative feeds our subconscious mind which then can potentially lead to fear and stress and anxiety.
Don’t want any pain is one of the main reasons why people procrastinate because they don’t want to get out of their comfort zone and wants to get everything without taking action. Research has proved that a lot of people avoid doing certain tasks or activity because its associated with pain and people don’t want to bear any form of pain and that’s why they keep on putting things off.
Lack of drive is another reason why people procrastinate because they don’t like the task and in their mind it’s not a high priority. They just don’t feel enthusiastic to take any further action. Another reason is procrastinators feel that they are not interested in doing certain tasks and avoiding it for a period of time because some of the are not pleasant such as cleaning the toilet, sorting out the laundry and many more which is not very interesting but due to it being a necessity people have to do it at some point. So taking the first step and not putting off is great start for procrastinators.
Bad attitude is another reason people procrastinate is because their perception and attitude towards certain tasks are bad. Some people think negatively about the task which has been offered to them and that is due to their own attitude such as I am Manager and she is telling me to do this tasks which is nowhere near my position and standards and I am way above her to do this small task.
Self-limiting beliefs is another reason why people procrastinate because their mind and heart are playing games and they listen to their ego and that leads to procrastination. Some people say to themselves I am not good enough, I don’t deserve this, I want it all etc. which are all self-limiting beliefs which leads to nowhere in life.
Fear of failure and success is one of the common reasons why people put off some important tasks and decisions. Again negative thinking causes fear in procrastinators because they potentially see a negative outcome if a task is completed such as I will buy that property on buy to let scheme and take a loan which will need to be paid off within 6 months, however what if I lose my job and am not able to pay off the loan then I will get into trouble is one example whereby fear of failure is stopping them. Another example is fear of success and people might think I don’t want to be rich because I will be become very rude and arrogant like the others and will have media following me around and if anything negative happens then it will be exposed of. I am better off where I am and I don’t want to reach the top.
Poor Decision Making is another reason for procrastination as people sometimes are not able to judge whether one task is important or not and they put low priority task on high priority because they don’t make the right decisions. Another reason is procrastinators take a very long time to make decision and in the interim there is no decision made which is a decision made which potentially can cost them as they might have missed out on a good opportunity.
Perception is another reason for procrastination because there is saying “Perception is Reality” what means what we perceive we conceive. So it’s very important that our perception is good towards a given task because if it’s not then that can delay and can potential make you a loss.
The true reason we procrastinate is because taking action will cause us a certain amount of pain. Let’s do a simple exercise to understand this theory: Think of an action you have been avoiding. It could be any of the examples listed earlier or anything specific happened in your life. Imagine yourself rather than avoiding you are taking action. How does that make you feel? You are going to feel uncomfortable and hostile. Whenever someone is in their comfort zone they pay a huge price for staying there. Being in our comfort zone we can miss opportunities, ideas and new relationships which are presented to us. To make it worst, procrastinators waste the most valuable asset a human can have which is Time. We all are born in this earth with a life purpose and time is limited. Every moment is an opportunity we’ll never have again. However, procrastinators act as they have all the time in the world. But deep down they know it’s a waste of time. However procrastinators don’t know how to free themselves and take responsibility for their valuable time. As stated by American Author Henry David Thoreau “Most people live lives of quiet desperation and die with their song unsung”. I want you to sing your song before you die and turn your dreams into reality. I strongly believe that we should “Live each day like it’s your last and make the most of your present by grabbing those opportunities and taking action”.
According to the leading experts on Procrastination Joseph Ferrari, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology at De Paul University in Chicago, and Timothy Pychyl, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada said that “20% of world’s populations are chronic procrastinators. For them procrastination is a lifestyle, albeit a maladaptive one. And it cuts across all domains of their life. They don’t pay bills on time. They miss opportunities for buying tickets to concerts. They don’t gift certificates or checks. They file income tax returns late. They leave their Christmas shopping until Christmas Eve.”
As stated by Pychyl, “Procrastination is fundamentally a visceral, emotional reaction to what you have to do. It’s a strong reaction to the task at hand, and so story of procrastination begins there with what psychologists called task aversiveness”. The more aversive a task is to you, the more you’ll resist it, and the more likely you are to procrastinate. Pychyl is in his research has found characteristics of tasks that you are more likely to procrastinate which are: Boring, Frustrating, Difficult, lack personal meaning and intrinsic rewards, confusing, unstructured and negative emotions.
We are not born as procrastinators but we develop habits of procrastination. It’s something which we potentially see in our day to day lives such as parents, work colleagues, teachers, friends etc. and so we follow their footsteps.
Procrastinators are not honest with themselves which leads to their ego being hurt as they are not being their authentic selves and their inner self cries a little due to putting off work. Procrastinators actively look for disruptions particularly the easy ones so that there is no pain involved in the process. Examples can be checking emails, watching TV, taking a nap which is way of adapting their emotions such as fear of failure. Do you want to test yourself to find out whether you are a procrastinator or not, I have created a checklist for you. If you ticked any of the boxes then you are a PROCRASTINATOR.
PROCRASTINATOR OR NOT TEST Tick the Box Applicable
You don’t like to prioritise a task
You start tasking low priority tasks and filling the day with it
You start reading and checking emails the whole day but not responding or taking action
You start by sitting down to a high priority task and immediately get up to make a drink
You Leave a high priority task for a long time before acting even though you know the importance of it.
You like to delegate your task to other people to do
You want the task to be completed perfectly without any mistakes
You like to clean the environment such as desk, chairs, bins etc. before starting a task
You like to watch TV and say to yourself after this show
You convince yourself mentally by saying I can do it tomorrow
You get scared by even thinking of an important task
You say to yourself I will take a quick nap before I start
You want to do research into a task before taking action
You like to share your pictures on social media sites rather than working
You start a task and then you get another idea for another task which is less important and you start to focus on that task
Please Note: Delaying an insignificant task is not necessarily procrastination, it can just be a good prioritization. Putting off an important task for a short period because you are feeling particularly tired isn’t necessarily procrastination either, so long as you don’t delay it for many days. If you have a honest reason to reschedule something important then you are not necessarily procrastinating. But if you are simply finding an excuse because you really just don’t want to do it, then you are procrastinating.
Now that you have learned about procrastination and why people procrastinate; as Tim put it in his book, “[w]hen we procrastinate on our goals, we are basically putting off our lives.” Since procrastination is very much an emotional reaction and poor mindset to what you have to do, activating the rational part of your brain to identify the costs of procrastinating is a great strategy to get unstuck. As explained by Abraham Hicks if we know how we are emotionally connected than it’s very easy to switch frequencies from low to high and from bad feeling and vibrations to good feelings and high vibrations. Procrastination is a very low frequency emotion and as you can see in the picture it’s nearly at the bottom alongside Insecurity, Guilt and Unworthiness and below that comes fear, grief, depression, powerlessness and despair. If we know that procrastination is down at the bottom and to achieve any desires we need to be at the top where the frequency is high with good feelings and high vibrations then we know how to get there. There are numerous levels of emotions and Level 1 starts with Joy, Appreciation, Empowered, Freedom and Love and Procrastination is at Level 21 alongside Insecurity, Guilt and Unworthiness and just before Level 22 which is Fear, Grief, Depression, Powerlessness and Despair. The difference is 20 levels upwards which are a big jump and more likely not going to happen overnight. It will involve immense pain and being persistent to accept the change and continuously improvement to reach 20 levels upward.
Mindset plays a very vital role to a person’s success whether it is a small dream or big dream. We need to have a good mindset to achieve whatever our dreams are. However the problem is a lot of people although being are aware what mindset they need to have to achieve success they don’t take the necessary steps to achieve that mindset. Especially when it comes to procrastinators they love to be in their comfort zone and pay a very hefty price to stay in their comfort zone and are tied up in that circle. Research has shown that 98% of world’s population has poorer mindset and those are the ones who are procrastinating whereas only 2% of the world’s population have rich mindset and they are the ones who are action takers and the millionaires and billionaires of the world. They are the ones who utilise their brain and activate it wisely to achieve anything they want with positive thoughts and actions. As you can see in the picture which clearly shows that procrastinators are the ones in the comfort zone alongside depression, fear, lifelessness, bored, secure, stable, easy and comfortable and the rich mindset are far away in the Achievement zone alongside confidence, financial freedom, security, peace, lifestyle, prosperity, fearlessness, blue sky thinking, wealth, abundance, health and fulfilment.
But achievement only comes when you go out of your comfort zone and continue through to stretch zone where you can achieve small dreams and desires. However, if you want to be like the rich mindset than you having to come out of the stretch zone and bear the pain in the Panic Zone by reversing the negative traits and then you will reach the achievement zone where your big dreams turn into reality. In order to take your time back you need to embrace the change and be ready to accept the pain. When we move away from pain, it increases and like a ghost hounds you around however if you face it will run away. I learnt this lesson when I was studying “I didn’t like the subject history and it was painful to study and I use to procrastinate studying it and use to just about pass the exam. However, I realised this was the only subject affecting my overall performance and if I can study the subject then I will pass with flying colours. So I decided to start learning it by being creative and I started drawing images of everything I had to memorise and this made the subject more interesting and I was able to remember everything about it and so I started enjoying and loving the subject and I did eventually passed with flying colours”
Life is the same if we can embrace the pain we will gain and Pain will turn into power. As we now know more about procrastination and the reasons behind it and different types and how much it can costs us. This philosophy would help anyone who procrastinates; however desiring pain is not natural for most of us. That’s where a system is needed to turn that pain into gain. If there was a magical cure to stop procrastinating then scientists would have found it by now, however though there isn’t a magical cure there are numerous steps which we can use to quit procrastinating and turn our dreams into reality.
So I created a system called D.R.E.A.M.S. which is 6 steps process of turning your dreams into reality. This system will explain step by step how to take action and turn any dreams into third dimensional reality. I strongly believe “Dreams are within reach. All you have to do is to visualise and believe in what you want to be, create an action plan and the universe will guide you through the next step to make it a reality.”
As you can see in the picture on the left, you can see that:
D stands for Desires which means what is it that your heart really desires and understanding yourself as a person by analysing yourself and what is your desire.
R stands for Reason which means why that desire is so important to you and the underlying reasons behind it.
E stands for Enemy which means what will stop me from taking that action steps to achieve my dreams and turn into third dimensional reality.
A stands for Advice which means what guidance do you need to turn your dreams into reality as taking the right action is very important
M stands for Methods which means how are you going to turn your dreams into reality by using different methods and techniques
S stands for Set Timescales which means by when am I am going to complete this desire and turn it into reality and what potential consequences can be if we don’t.
No matter what your next step is in life, consider this D.R.E.A.M.S. system as inspiration and motivation. They’re easy to remember and quite simple. Begin applying them when you can and emotionally absorb them in pursuit of your aspirations. This system is a process which can be followed to achieve any type of dreams you have such as personal dream, professional dream, family dream and universal dream. This system will work when you stop procrastinating and start doing which is costing you by the minute and also your life. Reaching your passions won’t necessarily come easy. It’s going to take real dedication and commitment, and you must be willing to put in the necessary hard work and effort.
When things get tough and seem like nothing is going right, you must know deep down inside that things will turn out okay. You must believe and have faith that you will achieve your goal despite obstacles that appear.
It may not happen as planned or at the exact time you expect, but ultimately with precision, desire, and effort you can achieve anything.
If you’re a pessimist or lack confidence in your ideas you will get exactly what you expect. Change your attitude and outlook before it drains you spirit for growth and expansion, and keep faith that your time for flourishing and thriving will come. So Take Action Now and follow the DREAMS system.
This article is being written based on my book Awake Your Dreams Stop Procrastinating! Start Acheiving! and more information can be found on http://rachanaajain.com/book
This article is being written based on my book Awake Your Dreams Stop Procrastinating!
Great piece, Really good article
I like your Dreams system, such a good idea to implement
Can you elaborate more on the Dreams system or write an article about it.
I am going to buy your book. Looks very good and very motivational
Very thorough research done on procrastination and great points on how to achieve your dreams
Its so important to get out of comfort zone and bear some pain to achieve gain
I call TV The Vampire as it distracts us from our goal
Mindset is so important to be successful
I am still very fearful and depressed but reading this article has made me more positive. Thanks.
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Very well researched article on motivation. I agree with the author on many points mentioned specially the last bit that being pessimist lack of confidence in an idea you exactly get what you expect.
Thanks for honest feedback. Really Appreciated. :)
Not sure why my previous comment was removed,therefore i decided to comments again. I am a great believer in motivational talks article and i find this article quiet informative and amusing.
So True, Procrastination is the biggest killer of time. I often procrastinate and put things off but it has cost me so now I am taking more action. I like the procrastination test which you have created.