As The Boss, you continually face unpleasant tasks. Sometimes it’s all you can do to venture outside the office or cubicle to handle something you’d rather not deal with.
But that never works. Problems don’t sort themselves out. You’ve probably discovered that already. And I’m sure you know better.
Aside from that, do you find yourself procrastinating in other areas? If so, let me suggest three reasons why.
- Fear of Change. As humans, we’re wired to seek safety and comfort. Anything that shakes up our current reality represents a threat. It’s why some people stay in a miserable job. Or relationship. The unhappiness we currently have is better than the chance things could get worse. So, we procrastinate.
- Fear of Failure. Nobody likes to fail or lose. In fact, some of us have personality Types that are wired for competence and even the thought of failure can seem debilitating. It’s why some people prefer the status quo. If we try something new and fail, we’ll end up worse off than we are now.
- Fear of Success. Believe it or not, this is a legitimate cause of procrastination. If we don’t try or if we try and fail, we at least know what we’re dealing with. If we succeed however, that presents a whole new array of challenges. How do we succeed in the next steps? What happens if we can’t sustain success. What if somebody tries to take our success from us?
So rather than tempt fate, we simply procrastinate.
And we never experience what might have been.
So how do we prevent procrastination? Treat it like a disease. Because you don’t want it to spread!
- Isolate it. Take some time to evaluate and list which tasks you procrastinate. Be specific. Procrastination becomes a habit if you don’t identify the tasks you really don’t want to do. Don’t let procrastination spread into every area of your life.
- Vaccinate. Vaccination is preventive. It involves injecting a little bit of the disease into your body so your body can build up immunity. For procrastination, let yourself put off a task but pay close attention to your mindset and attitude. Be mindful of what you’re thinking and feeling. It could give you clues as to WHY you’re procrastinating. Then, work to deal with those reasons.
- Wellness. Take some time to get your mind right. Practice stress relievers such as meditation, exercise, and personal development. By clearing out the clutter from your mind, you may have more energy to take on tasks rather than put them off.
Remember, nothing gets better if you ignore it. Take some time this week to deal with the deadly disease of procrastination.