Put Off Procrastinating

Before I finally sat down to write this article, I cleaned the kitchen, refreshed the cat litter, and wrote a thank-you note. Chances are that you, too, get a lot of things done other than the specific thing you should be doing. If so, don’t feel bad.

Procrastination is not about laziness or poor time management. In fact, experts say the reason many of us put off till tomorrow what we should do today is tied to our emotional life.

In her writings and presentations, Fuschia Sirois, Ph.D., professor of psychology at Durham University in England, explains that procrastination is not simply an ordinary, garden-variety delay of action. Rather, it’s often a sign that the task we are putting off is either boring, anxiety- or stress-producing, or otherwise unpleasant. Maybe you’re a perfectionist and don’t want to make a mistake. Maybe you resent the person who expects you to complete the work. Or, you could be a self-sabotager or a people pleaser who says “yes” to every request and, thus, spreads yourself too thin.

When we procrastinate, we tend to take what feels like the easy way out: avoiding whatever it is that causes us short-term displeasure in favor of long-term guilt. Unfortunately, that can cause problems down the road. Piers Steel, Ph.D., professor of organizational behavior and human resources at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada, has called it “a form of self-harm.”

Think about what happens when you put off preparing for a speech. You’re either up all night doing the work you could have done at a more leisurely pace and a more convenient time when you might have done it better; or you cancel the speech at the last minute, letting down your club members; or you stand in front of your club unprepared and try to wing it.

Any of these approaches could lead to potential stress and shame. But because we humans tend to be concerned more with how we feel in the present than how we will feel in the future, about 1 out of 5 of us tend to procrastinate like this on a regular basis, research shows.

And that, Sirois notes, can lead to symptoms of depression and even chronic illness such as hypertension and heart disease.

How to Deal With Procrastination

Fortunately, you can do many things to address the issue. Consider these following tactics to combat the problem.

• Diagnose correctly. Are you sure you’re procrastinating? Many of us solve problems in our heads while we’re taking a walk, playing an instrument, or even meditating. It’s possible that when you do get to work, you’ll be able to complete the project quickly and effectively.
• Practice forgiveness. Simply showing ourselves compassion and forgiving ourselves for procrastinating goes a long way toward helping us shrug off the negative emotions associated with a task.
• Question yourself. Why are you putting off this job? What makes one particular task so difficult for you? Sometimes just dealing with the root causes of the behavior can make it easier to work through.
• Avoid temptation. Step away from the television. Move the phone from your desk. Take your laptop to a cafe so you won’t be tempted to do household chores.
• Imagine starting. According to Tim Pychyl, Ph.D., a retired psychology professor from Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, imagining what you would do if you were going to start the project can be helpful. Not only is this a good way to break down the job into bite-sized pieces, but like all visualization, it also tricks your brain into believing that you’ve actually done what you’ve imagined, so it’s not so hard to begin for real.
• Just do it. Don’t wait until you’re in the mood, Pychyl says. You may find that the toughest part of the assignment was simply sitting down to start.
• Make the task as pleasant as possible. Do you prefer working in your pajamas? Would music help, or even something as simple as chewing gum or drinking a cup of coffee? Can you talk to a friend on speaker phone while you’re cleaning out the shed?
• Plan your reward. Sometimes, that slice of pizza waiting for you in the fridge can do the trick. Personally, I bring the chocolate right to my desk, so I can enjoy my reward in advance while I’m doing the unwanted task.
• Indulge in pride. Someone is counting on you to do a good job. By taking pride in yourself and in your work, you might find that extra motivation to get it done.

Another Question to Ask

When all else fails in your effort to stop avoiding a task, you might ask: If I procrastinate again and again over the same thing, maybe this is something I shouldn’t be doing. Am I cut out for this volunteer work? Have I bitten off more than I can chew with this assignment?

A couple more tips that can help:

• Delegate when possible. One person’s problem can be another person’s joy. While you may clean the kitchen instead of doing the gardening, someone else in your life may prefer to garden rather than tackle the pots and pans. Note: This isn’t a good strategy for homework!
• Buddy up and be accountable. If you can’t delegate the task, you can always enlist a “task buddy.” Is a friend or acquaintance working on a similar project? Either sit down together to work or make yourself accountable to each other on a daily or even hourly basis. Even if your buddy doesn’t face a similar task, they might check in on you, or you could text to tell them how much you’ve accomplished in a given time period.

Case in point: My niece regularly sends me excerpts from the novel she’s writing. She has asked me not to open the files; she just wants to know that I’m expecting something from her.

Practice in Toastmasters

Toastmasters is a great place for you to practice not procrastinating. Here are a few strategies to try.

1. Work through your speech ideas with a mentor or other club member. If you and that person get along well, the task can become automatically more pleasurable.
2. Reexamine your speech topic. If you’re feeling stuck and avoiding working on your speech, try tackling your chosen topic in a different way, using other examples or stories, or a completely new approach.
3. Maybe it’s the targeted skill itself, such as storytelling or body language, that is causing you to procrastinate. Consider moving on to a different skill and circling back at a later time.

When Is Procrastination Okay?

For some of us, that last-minute burst of adrenaline is exactly what the doctor ordered to make a project succeed. If you work best under pressure, accept that about yourself—as long as the pressure doesn’t bring on its own set of problems, and as long as you can still bring your “A” game to the job.

If that’s the case, incidentally, you’re in good company. Famous procrastinators include the Nobel Prize-winning spiritual leader Dalai Lama, the iconic architect Frank Lloyd Wright, the acclaimed author Herman Melville, and none other than the painter of the world-famous Mona Lisa, Leonardo da Vinci. And look what they managed to accomplish!

Above all, listen to what your procrastination is telling you. It can be a useful tool for getting you back on track.

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