I’ve had a certain item on my to-do list for about a week now. Each morning when I plan my day, there it is, staring me in the face. It’s even got one of those red exclamation points by it… clearly it’s important.
And yet… I haven’t done it.
Why do we procrastinate? Pretty much all procrastination comes down to two reasons.
- We don’t like to do it.
- We’re afraid to do it.
Yes, I’m sure you’re thinking of other reasons right now.
- We think it has to be perfect. (Uh huh, that’s fear.)
- We’re overwhelmed by the size of it. (Again, fear.)
- We’re not sure whether others will like it. (You guessed it… fear.)
Yes, unless you just plain don’t like to do this thing (taking out the trash comes to mind) we typically procrastinate because we’re afraid of something. But why does fear play such a big role in procrastination?
Fear keeps us in check… keeps us from doing things that could hurt us. The fear you feel standing atop the platform just before you take that bungee jump is useful. It makes you think – is the harness properly hooked? Will the bungee cord hold my weight? Why did I have that burrito for breakfast?
But fear can also keep us from moving forward on things that are not life-threatening. We fail to act because we fear others will judge us or the results might be less than we desired. We fear change. We fear failure or success.
It may sound ridiculously simple, but the best tool I’ve found to combat is procrastination is to get started. With no expectations, no judgments. Think of it this way: if you start, and you complete 1/10th of the project, that’s a tenth that is done. If you don’t like what you’ve done or have to start over for some reason, you’re no further behind than you would have been had you not started at all. I like to set a timer for 10 or 20 minutes, and work on the dreaded task until the timer goes off. Frequently just the act of getting started has the effect of releasing much of the fear that’s built up around a task, and you find yourself off to the races and maybe even enjoying what you’re doing.
But if you just can’t seem to get out of the starting gate, enlist the help of a friend. Tell him what the project is, what your deadline is and what’s holding you back. Ask him to help you by holding you accountable for making progress.
By verbally stating your intentions and putting an accountability measure in place, you’ll have the support you need to move forward. Try it. And now I’m off to check that item off my to-do list.
Are you ready to turn Insight Into Action and watch your business flourish?
Schedule a no-obligation telephone consultation with coach Sharon Reus to learn more.
