by Eric Sudler, M.S.
It happens to the best of us and the worst of us, the young and old alike, the organized and the disheveled: Procrastination. For some reason, it’s hard to silence that voice in the back of your head. That voice that says, “Just do it tomorrow. It’s easy. It shouldn’t take that long, so I don’t have to start it now. I have forever to do it. It’ll get done by the time it’s due. (Insert name of friend here) hasn’t done it yet, so I’ll start when they start.” I’m sure we’re all familiar with this all too common stream of thoughts. However, no matter how many times you’ve been burned by procrastination, no matter how many times deadlines have come and gone, no matter how many people (including yourself) that you’ve let down, despite all of the personal resolutions to finally get on top of things… you don’t.
There are millions of reasons why people procrastinate. Some argue that it is a perfectionistic trait where one has to have the perfect conditions in order to begin/complete a task. Other times, a person may be afraid of the response of another person causing them to put it off until they feel more confident to handle possibly bad news. There could be times when emotionally we are not ready to deal with certain issues or activities, such as right after the loss of a loved one or the end of a long-term relationship. Engaging in activities that remind you of that person may not be so easy to dive back into. Putting them off seems to make things a lot easier.
Sometimes people procrastinate simply due to the increased difficulty of a task. As if everything were supposed to be easy, people may put off that difficult assignment at work, starting their doctoral dissertation, approaching the attractive co-worker, or just cleaning the house. These things always appear to be monumental and difficult tasks. Of course we tell ourselves that the skills needed to accomplish them are just not in our repertoire.
However, it all comes down to perception. Perceiving these tasks as insurmountable usually makes them just that: insurmountable. Because we have deemed them impossible, enduring a little discomfort to overcome them seems unbearable. Dr. Ellis might describe a lot of instances that involve procrastination as Low Frustration Tolerance. However, the only way to build tolerance is exposure to that task that seems so aversive to you. In other words, NIKE was on to something when they said, “Just Do It.” Often times, people attribute a lack of motivation to their procrastination. “I’m just waiting for motivation to strike me and then I’ll magically take on any and every obstacle that comes my way.” Well, more and more I’m finding out that sometimes, you actually have to do something in order to feel motivated as opposed to waiting for motivation to strike in order to get something done. For those of you waiting for that motivation to strike or some mystical savior to come in and make things better… you may be waiting for a mighty long time.
Outside of Hollywood, these Deus Ex Machina moments don’t happen to often. So why put yourself in the position to be disturbed and then wonder how you got into that position? As I have recommended in a previous post, when faced with a large, annoying task, do not think of it as a whole, but rather focus on the part. For example, one exercise I have suggested for chronic procrastinators is pick a task that they find menial and annoying that they usually avoid, such as doing laundry, washing clothes, etc. Create a list breaking down the activity into as MANY steps as possible. I have seen people divide ironing a shirt into 37 steps. Next, I ask them which is easier: to view ironing as a whole or to just do each individual step one at a time? It’s much easier to see yourself walking to the room where the ironing board is (step 1) than to see yourself grudgingly iron a shirt when you really don’t want to. Again, with the completion of each individual step, motivation increases and the task seems much more conquerable. This is a much better way to approach a task as opposed to telling yourself that you have forever to do it. Trust me, forever is always just around the corner.
