The big LOOMING project and why DO we procrastinate?

Hi, I don't know about you, but I too often seem to have that BIG LOOMING project that I can't seem to get done, make progress on, get started.

OK, sometimes it is not that BIG, but it feels big.

Please tell me I am not the only one….pretty please!!

Well, my husband also does it, my sister does it, my sister's husband does it.  So, either it is some disease in my family or maybe we are not the only ones!

But the real question, is WHY do we procrastinate and HOW can we stop.

I found this great simple article today….from Psychology Today published in July 2005.

Here are a couple of great points from the article:

"Procrastinators are made not born. Procrastination is learned in the family milieu, but not directly"

"Procrastinators tell lies to themselves. Such as, "I'll feel more like doing this tomorrow." Or "I work best under pressure." But in fact they do not get the urge the next day or work best under pressure."

"Procrastinators actively look for distractions, particularly ones that don't take a lot of commitment on their part. Checking e-mail is almost perfect for this purpose."

And my personal favorite….a quote of Dr. Joseph Ferrari, PhD, one of the foremost leading experts on procrastination: "Telling someone who procrastinates to buy a weekly planner is like telling someone with chronic depression to just cheer up,"

So, procrastination is not nature, it is nurture…..we LEARN to do it.  Maybe from our family situation growing up or other environmental factors.

So, in my mind we CAN learn to NOT do it.

The article suggests that to STOP doing it, we should go through cognitive behavioral therapy.

This may be necessary for some of us, but I do think there are a few steps we can try ourselves.  Remember as adult learners, we LEARN through our experiences.  So, how about we create experiences ourselves in which we get things done and don't let ourselves get distracted.

Then let the success of those little wins, help us break the bad habits of procrastination?

It is really (again) about the daily choices we make, isn't it.  How about I make choices about my "to-do" list that are a little more consistent with my thriving??

I am going to suggest to myself that starting NEXT week, I will do 3 things:

1. Make my "to-do" list realistic.
2. Pick twice  a day to deal with email and not let myself LOOK at it other times
3. Recognize when I am letting myself become distracted with "easier" things that can occupy my day.

What do you think?

If you want to see the whole article, CLICK HERE.

Have a Great Day!

Barb