New
research from Stockholm University has
confirmed that procrastination isn’t just a time-management issue. In this
study, researchers found that emotional reasons are often a trigger for
procrastination, and some people claim they purposely leave things to the last
minute because they work better under stress, but that only feeds into their
stress.
Here’s how to start
redirecting your energy from mood-fixing, goal-derailing activities and get
yourself back on track.
1. Get to the Root Cause
First, you have to
understand and identify what you’re trying to do and what is holding you back.
What feelings crop up when you attempt to write the proposal or have a
difficult conversation? What do you fear could happen if you actually do it?
What’s the worst-case scenario? For many, if not most, anxiety is to blame. The
anxiety of botching the job or not getting it done leads us to put it off
until, ironically, we can’t get it done well or done at all.
2. Reward Instead of Avoid
If
your mood plummets at the prospect of taking action, your tendency, as Carleton
University psychology professor Timothy Pychyl says in a recent Wall Street Journalarticle,
is to heal your mood first. This is how you end up in the Facebook vortex.
Instead, tell yourself that doing something, anything, will yield a
reward--later. Think of it as procrastinating the fun stuff.
3. Watch for Icebergs
You have a whole
bunch of ideas about how the world works and should work that have gradually
formed in your head, beginning when you were very young--but you’re barely
aware of them, since they’re sunk below the surface of your consciousness. We
call them iceberg beliefs, and they can be a problem, because you’re likely
unaware of how they’re affecting your thinking. One example of an iceberg
belief at play with procrastination is, “I should get everything perfect”
(sound familiar?). This need to have things a certain way before you take any
action will stunt your progress and keep you stuck. How do you know you’re
dealing with an iceberg? The signs include words like “I should” or “I must”
zipping through your mind.
4. Change Your Thinking
The way you
perceive a situation will determine how you respond to it--and ultimately, what
you do. What happens to many of us is that we get stuck in thinking traps, or
ways of thinking that leave us no way out or forward.
If
you think, “This project is too hard, I’ll never get it done,” you may be a
magnifier and minimizer, making the more challenging aspects of a job way worse
while minimizing the benefits, both of which kill your motivation. Instead,
say, “This is a challenge but it's doable, and the rewards
of even getting started are well worth it.”
If
you think, “I could never do this on my own,” or, “I’m just never good at this
kind of thing,” you’re likely a personalizer or over-generalizer, which points
to low self-esteem. Because you don’t believe you are capable of doing it, and
you tell yourself that, well, you believe it, and your fear becomes your
reality. Instead, say, “What I’m attempting to do
wouldn’t be easy for anyone. Who better than me to take it on? Who else but me
is even willing to take it on?”
If
you think, “Nothing ever works out for me,” or “I don’t have what it takes to
get this done,” then you have a self-defeating explanatory style. You see
situations as unchangeable, and if you believe that, well, you can see why
you wouldn’t bother attempting to do anything. Instead, say, “Every project, no matter how big, has a beginning,
and this is it.” Find one part of the project you know you’re good at
and start there.
5. Reframe It
The pain of doing a
tough thing now pales in comparison to the pain of regret later if you didn’t
even try. Ask yourself, what do you stand to lose by not doing it? How will
your life, your career, your relationships suffer as a result of inaction?
Remind yourself that it’s not just about how hard this or that task is--it’s
about putting real effort into a thing you care about. And I promise you,
there’s no better reward than that.
So next time you
find yourself putting off a major task, find the root of the problem, shift
your thinking, and reframe the obstacle. You’ll find yourself checking things
off your to-do list, and enjoying down time much more.
PUBLISHED ON: SEP 21, 2015
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