16 Jul 2022
Overview
  • Are you cleaning your desktop, finally doing your washing or rearranging your room? You probably don't suddenly have time available, you're just avoiding what really needs to be done! Procrastinating, if you will. Find out below how you can combat this.

My mate James leaves everything to the last minute. 

He had months to edit a video project. What'd he do? He left it for when he went overseas to the middle east. In each new city, I'd ask "are you gonna start your video yet?". "I still have time"... Honestly, I'm putting that on his gravestone.

He then pulled three all-nighters to complete it. He walked around the city of Petra buggered with a capital B. We all know a James.

So, why does he leave everything to the last minute? Why does anyone? Let's delve into the main reasons people procrastinate. 

1. Lack of time management

James, I'm looking at you. If you'd organised your time a little better, maybe you would have enjoyed your holidays a bit more!

Are you always late? Do you take on too much and overestimate how much time you have? Do you never actually do the urgent tasks first? 

Yeah, time management may not be your strong suit but don't panic! This is a muscle that just needs to be worked on (and here are some hot tips on how to do so).

2. You hate taking orders

I'm guilty... sue me. I just hate being told what to do and how to do it. All through high school and uni, I'd subconsciously procrastinate as a way to resist the order. To stick it to the man. I'm on my own schedule playing by my own rules. This shows that I should probably find a job where I'm my own boss. When I realised this, I worked on my time management (and my ego), and just got to work. It's as simple as that.

3. Telling yourself that it works

I asked James "why didn't you just do the video ages ago?", he smiled and answered: "diamonds are made under pressure".

He's used to the adrenaline rush of the time crunch and he's grown accustomed to it working for him. Buuuut as we walked through Petra, taking in the sights where Indiana Jones was filmed, he said "man, I wish I just finished that ages ago". If he just did a few hours each day (preferably before he started traveling)... well, ya know... He would have gotten a lot more sleep.

Sure it "works" but at what cost...

4. The rewards are too far away

The further away the due date is, the easier it is for us to feel unmotivated to start. Why bother doing something for something far into the future when we could just rewatch Stranger Things on Netflix? Instant gratification is obviously much easier.

Why not reward yourself along the way? Two hours of study and you get a donut... that kinda vibe. (Maybe not always donuts though... that's a lot of donuts).

5. Excessive perfectionism

My mate Elena isn't lazy or negligent. She's a mastermind who could give Einstein a run for his money. But, she's constantly stuck in a neverending cycle of:

  • Planning what to do
  • Not actually doing it. Procrastinating instead
  • Feeling anxious and stressed because she procrastinated
  • Obsessively reminding herself that she has to complete the task
  • Finally cramming it out last minute.
  • Being buggered, like James.

Elena is a perfectionist. Her procrastination comes from fear - fear of not being able to reach the high standards she puts on herself. By not getting started, the mistakes/failures won't happen.

When it comes to perfectionism, the hardest part is starting. So start small. Keep it simple, stupid. Baby steps.

6. Fear of difficulty

Elena's assessments look like she's trying to solve the Da Vinci code to me. They're bloody hard. 

When we are given a big task, we might become frazzled, not knowing where to start or how. The motivation then downgrades to 0. What's not frazzling? Procrasinating. 

Leaving things 'til the last minute isn't the end of the world. Even time management junkies can be guilty of procrastinating. But after cramming out their tasks last minute, both James and Elena cop mental exhaustion thanks to the anxiety, nagging, dread and shame, as well as physical exhaustion thanks to not properly looking after their body. You need sleep, and food!

There's an old proverb that says: “If there is a mountain to climb, don’t think waiting will make it smaller". So start climbing. 

How can you fight procrastination? We have articles for days on the matter, such as: 5 Ways To Avoid Leaving Everything To The Last Minute, Time Management Isn’t Your Problem, Procrastination Is and 5 Ways To Stop Procrastinating When You’re Studying!

Send this article to whoever needs it most because diamonds certainly do not work better under pressure.