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End Procrastination With Motivation ?

Do you think the best way to deal with procrastination is to “get tough” with yourself and “just do it?” Plenty of people take this approach. This supports the idea that procrastination is basically a character flaw, a weakness, and the only way to deal with it is to power past it through sheer will. But the truth is there’s a more effective way to approach the challenge that also happens to be much more self-respectful.

Basically, the idea is to discover what is MOTIVATING the procrastination behavior, consider it legitimate, and then address that. For example, you may be putting off doing something because you actually do not know how to do it. The way to solve that challenge would be to get some help. Or, perhaps you’re avoiding making a particular phone call because you’re afraid of the outcome. The way to address this fear is to arrange a call with someone you trust and can confide in before and after the fear-inducing call. Now you know you have support both before and after the difficult encounter.

Get the idea? Abandon the character flaw idea, and look for what is really underlying the procrastination. Once you know what that is, you can usually figure out a way to deal with it, get unstuck, and get moving again.

What follows are real life examples of how some of my friends resolved the problems underlying their procrastination:

Situation: I’m not writing that letter.

Why: I need the letter to be amazing and creative but just now I do not feel amazing and creative about it.

Thought: Do not get it right, get it written. “Expedient” isn’t a dirty word. Sometimes, it serves you better to have the B+ letter out in the world already, being read, than to have the A+ letter still sitting in your head, unfinished, and nagging at you.

Solution: “I realized it was more important for the letter to be on paper and that it didn’t have to be amazing. Once I decided I could write a less-than-spectacular letter, it became less difficult to sit down and do it.”

Situation: I’m not unpacking the boxes in my new office.

Why: It is not productive or fun it’s simply boring!!

Thought: Get someone else to do it. Delegate! If a task seems boring, it’s often a clue that this is a job to delegate. You may need to supervise or train someone to do it. Find someone and work out a deal. There are many different ways in which delegation arrangements can be paid or bartered for. In fact there is an infinite number of creative ways. Do not be stopped by failure of the imagination.

Solution: “I hired my young brother to unpack the boxes, shelve the books (I had to tell him where), and take apart the boxes. He was happy to do the work and earn a little extra money, plus he thought it was lovely to help me. I was happy because we got to spend some quality time together and . . . the job got done.”

So discover what the motivation behind the procrastination is, approve it, and then take action.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008 at 6:46 pm and is filed under Motivation, Personal Development. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.