Top 6 Reasons Why We Procrastinate

Want To Stop Procrastinating?

Are you a procrastinator? Procrastination can be overcome or stopped when you understand what causes it. We all procrastinate to a point. It is not necessarily a bad thing unless it starts to affect the rest of your life or the ability to produce income. Just like the David Letterman Show, here are the top 6 reasons why e procrastinate, in reverse order.

#6: Reason Why = Haven’t Really Committed to Doing the Job

One reason why you may chronically put off an activity because you never really committed to doing it. This happens frequently when a spouse asks you to do something, and you say yes to keep the peace. It also happens often when you have a job and someone else is telling you what to do. You might think it’s not your job or somebody else’s job, or you just think the project is a waste of time.
Think about:
• What’s in it for me if I do it? The answer to this may increase your motivation
• What are the consequences if I don’t do it?

#5: You Procrastinate Because You Have Fear

It is hard for many of us to admit our fears. Fear may be keeping you from doing a job you need and want to do. If you can identify your reluctance as fear and track it to its source, you can deal with the fear and get on with the job. Here are three of the most common fears.
• Fear of failure: How about the student who never studies and flunks out. He can always tell himself, “If I had studied, I would have passed the stupid course.” But what if he had studied–and still failed?
• Fear of success: If you pass, people will expect you to do it again, or to go out and get a job, or to apply what you’ve learned. If you never try, you’ll never have to face the consequences of success, either.
• Fear of finishing: “If I pass the course, I’ll graduate. If I graduate, I’ll have to…..” It is sad to let such fears prevent you from ever trying. The fear won’t go away. But if the goal is worth pursuing, you’ll be able to act despite the fear.

#4: You Procrastinate Because The Project Does Not Have A High Priority For You

You’re sold on the idea that somebody ought to do the task. You’ll even agree that you’re the person to do it. You may even want to do it. This sort of procrastination problem may eventually work itself out. As the other tasks get done, those leaf-filled gutters work their way up the list. Or the problem may take on a higher priority after the first hard rain of the season.

#3: You Procrastinate Because You Do Not Have Enough Knowledge

Learn to discern between the legitimate need to gather information and a stalling mechanism whereby reading the book or going to talk to the guy at the hardware store is simply a way to put off confronting the job. If your problem is “lack of want to” rather than lack of information, you’ll need a different strategy, namely, what to do when…

#2: You Procrastinate Because You Just Don’t Want To Do It

On a 1 to 10 scale, giving Scoobie a bath rates a minus 2. It isn’t merely unpleasant. It isn’t just disgusting. It’s downright dangerous. He doesn’t like a bath. Last time you tried this little experiment in torture, you wound up scratched, the dog was traumatized, and the bathroom looked like a tidal wave had hit it. The fleas are back. Scoobie is scratching. If you don’t do something, and fast, you’ll have fleas all over the house.
You’ve got two choices, and you don’t need a book on time management to tell you what they are:
• Do It
• Delegate it

The REAL Reason Why We Procrastinate

And the real reason we procrastinate, the number one reason we procrastinate is that: we have something else we would rather do more!

You have some host calls to make and you decide to do so, after you fix a cup of tea, then sit down to make the calls and real quick check the email. Thirty minutes later after responding to a friend, the tea is cold. Let’s go warm it up and get to those calls. While in the kitchen, let’s get that dishwasher unloaded, and heading back up to the office the phone rings and you chat to Mom for 20 minutes. Now, it is time to hit the calls and uh-oh, it is 9:15, too late to make calls now! Has a similar scenario happened to you?

How To Stop Procrastinating

Truly, we allow things that we prefer to do more stop from doing what we intend.
Procrastination is nothing more than allowing more enjoyable tasks come first. We procrastinate because we like to do something else better. You can stop procrastinating when you understand this and begin to take responsibility for you choices and keep procrastination in check. Overcome procrastination by making choices.