If you have ever felt the mental tug-of-war that takes place when you know you should be working on completing specific tasks only to delay them while doing something less meaningful, you aren’t alone. According to a recent survey from CareerBuilder, one in four workers (taken from a sample of 3,022 full-time employees) admits to spending at least one hour a day focused on personal activities using social media, calls or emails.
Procrastination has been around since the Greek poet Hesiod mentioned it in 800 B.C. However, with the ease of technology, distractions appear to be on the rise. This can lead to stepping into habits that keep you from being the most productive at work and in your life.
Putting off things you know you should do happens to everyone at some point and its effects produce a broad range of consequences from an occasional missed opportunity to a chronic state of being that directly impacts your goals. For example, procrastination can play a role in preventing Ph.D. candidates from completing their dissertations.
There’s no doubt that keeping your mind focused on accomplishing your goals becomes more challenging when other factors are competing for your attention. The good news is that procrastination can be drastically minimized by taking a few steps, one of which is to admit it and then secondly developing an awareness of the reasons that lead to procrastination.
Next time you find yourself struggling with making a decision or delaying tasks, consider the reasons that could be leading you to postpone taking action.
• Boredom – even though boredom doesn’t sound serious, it can be slowly distracting you from completing tasks, creating an energy drain.
• You don’t enjoy your work – all work will have elements of likes and dislikes; however, experiencing more dislikes is often a signal that indicates a need for change.
• Distractions – procrastinators tend to look for distractions especially ones that do not require a great deal of commitment on their part. The report from CareerBuilder indicated that half of the employees surveyed named cell phones and texting as the biggest culprits leading to unproductivity, while listening to gossip was a close second.
• Being overwhelmed at work – this is a slow creeping process that occurs when unpleasant tasks start to pile up to a mountain of unfinished work. The cycle of postponing leads to more work which leads to feeling overwhelmed, and in order to deal with being overwhelmed, you procrastinate.
• Lack of confidence – fear coupled with doubt is often the driving force that hinders taking action when facing change. Stepping out of your comfort zones can lead to delaying the necessary steps needed for new opportunities.
• Self-sabotaging – the adage “you can be your own worst enemy” is true, especially when faced with decisions that have an element of risk attached. Procrastination is a form of self-sabotaging, and a surefire way to sabotage your success is to avoid it.
• Wishing and hoping strategies – spending time wishing things were different while starring at a pile of reports due creates a mental escape rather than a solution.
Recognizing the reasons that lead to procrastination is the first step in developing self-awareness that leads to freedom from delayed actions. Awareness is helpful, but it helps to have an accountability partner to help support your efforts to break the procrastination cycle.
More importantly, research suggests that forgiving yourself when you do procrastinate is a powerful incentive that helps the next time you face the temptation to put off tasks.
How has procrastination affected your relationships at work?
