If you’re feeling tired and low on energy, the problem may not be a lack of sleep or poor nutrition. Surprisingly, the hidden culprit may be procrastination.
To quickly grasp the effect that procrastination has on your energy, close your eyes and recall the sense of relief and lightness you felt the last time you finally did something you had been putting off for ages. That unconscious burden is the price you pay for procrastinating; procrastination drags you down and robs you of your energy.
There are commonly 5 reasons that people procrastinate. In this article, we will examine what they are and learn to handle the worst one of them all.
Reason #1: It Seems Too Big
When a project or goal seems too big and you don’t know where to start, it’s easy to get distracted by whatever else calls your attention in the here and now. At other times, each step seems so small and insignificant compared to the massive size of the project that you feel hopeless (e.g., “What’s the use of doing these tiny steps. I’ll never get this project done”).
Reason #2: The Fear Of Failure
No one wants to fail, and the only guaranteed way to avoid failure is simply not to try in the first place.
Reason #3: Unpleasantness
Unpleasant feelings, such as dread, anxiety or fear arise for a variety of reasons. Sometimes unpleasantness stems from a fear of failure; you’re nervous about the sales presentation you’re putting together, and the resulting fear adds even more resistance to working on the project. At other times, unpleasantness is a side effect of a project’s overwhelming size; your stress about the myriad tasks that are involved cause a tremendous emotional and physical reaction. Other tasks, however, are unpleasant all by themselves, like firing someone, cleaning the cat box, making a cold call to a prospect, or talking to your parents about how they’d like you to handle their estate after they’ve passed away. Regardless of the source, it often seems like a good choice to avoid unpleasantness by putting off the task.
Reason #4: Perfection Paralysis
This unique form of procrastination comes disguised as a good intention. It occurs when you care too much. You want to do your task perfectly, so you wait for a big block of time to ensure you have plenty of time in which to do the job right. But let’s face it. Big blocks of time are rarer than proverbial hen’s teeth. And even if you’re lucky enough to block out a chunk of time on your schedule, a crisis always seems to intrude.
Reason #5: Pseudo-procrastination
Pseudo-procrastination is when you think you’re procrastinating; but you’re not. Because, in light of the time you have available and your other priorities, the project on which you’re procrastinating shouldn’t even be on your to-do list.
In my experience as a counselor, I have found that 50{7871f4c91f79cbddef59511eb5b9899c6f1d497baab0afdeab5a98ee6e504626} of the things people procrastinate on belong in this category. For example, I hear about recipes in a drawer that they’ll someday catalog; nuts, bolts and screws that they’ll someday organize; piles of magazines they’ve been meaning to read; construction projects that they hope to start planning one day. And it’s not just small stuff; a lot of seemingly big projects will fall into this category, too.
But once you look at where you really want to end up in life and compare it to how much available time you have in a day, week, month or year, you will find that you’d be wiser to cancel those magazine subscriptions and throw out some of those “rainy-day” projects stuffed in drawers in favor of working toward your life goals.
Diagnosing Your Procrastination
To recognize pseudo-procrastination, take a blank sheet of paper and draw a line down the middle to create a balance sheet. On one side, write all the reasons you’re procrastinating on a particular goal, and on the other side, write all the benefits of moving forward on it. If you’re procrastinating because you don’t know what to do, you’re afraid you might fail, or you’re concerned that you might experience discomfort, even though the benefits will truly fulfill your values, you’re dealing with real procrastination. But, if you’ve been accusing yourself of procrastinating when, in fact, you have more highly valued items to do, like spending time with your children, doing the extra work project to get a promotion, or taking time for a date with your spouse to maintain your romantic relationship, that’s a different story.
Take some time now to consider those chores, jobs, and goals that you never get around to. For each item, make a balance sheet, and list the reasons for not doing that item on one side, and your reasons to do it on the other side. Which items fulfill your deepest values? Which items aren’t all that important and would steal time from that which matters most in your life?
All forms of procrastination drain your energy. But pseudo-procrastination is the worst type of procrastination to suffer from, because it’s completely unnecessary. Once you’ve lightened your load by laying down the burden of pseudo-procrastination, you’ll be ready to learn how to get past real procrastination. I think I’ll write about that later.
