What Causes Procrastination?
Maria Rocha
face some time in your career. In some cases, when procrastination
occurs the question that comes to mind is – does this person have a
time management problem? If you do have a time management problem then
the answer is obvious, you will need to pick up time management
skills.
Sometimes procrastination isn’t just about poor time management
skills. If you have good time management skills and still
procrastinate, then you may want to take a look at these causes of
procrastination.
1. The Task Isn’t Meaningful And Motivating
This is one main reason what causes procrastination. The task at hand
isn’t motivating to you, as it does not match your aspiration. It is
not meaningful to you and therefore you drag your feet in completing
the task.
If this is what causes procrastination for you, then you can overcome
it by making it meaningful. One way is to see the task in the bigger
scheme of things. Hence, how completing that task contributes to the
organization and your career growth.
2. Feels Like Helping Someone Complete Their Goals
Let’s face it; sometimes in the working world jobs are assigned to you
against your wishes. There is then a tendency to think that completing
the task is helping someone accomplish their goals instead of your
own. In such cases, you hardly want to commit the time to it. Is this
what causes procrastination for you? If this is the case, understand
your role. Each of us has a role to play in an organization. And each
has the responsibility to do their best. That contributes to the
bigger goal.
3. Care Too Much About What Others Think About You
To determine if this is what causes procrastination for you, you need
to dig deep into yourself. I have seen it in young executives - they
want to impress others so much that when given a task they feel so
much pressure that it delays their work.
The term for it is ‘evaluation anxiety’. You are too anxious about
other’s opinion of your work. Once you know this is what causes
procrastination for you, do this – Do Your Best. Doing your best means
accomplishing your task. If you care so much of other people's
opinions and delay your work, then the repercussions can be much
worse.
4. Striving For The Perfect
It sounds weird, but perfectionism can be what causes procrastination.
You may want to strive for perfectionism so much that you feel
disheartened even before you begin. This is because a goal that seems
unachievable can be demoralizing.
If the strive for perfectionism is what causes procrastination for
you, remember this – doing your best is more important. You can’t
measure perfectionism but you know when you have given your best.
5. Doing Things Totally New To You
This is a common cause of procrastination for many career newbies. You
need to embark on a totally new project and they have no idea at all
on how to tackle it. The first reaction is to procrastinate. The
uncertainty of the result of this task causes you to delay commencing
the project.
Do you know if this is what causes procrastination for you? Then do
this – learn up the skill to complete the task. Ask people who have
completed similar tasks before. The key thing is to do your research
and lessen the uncertainty in your mind.
6. The Lack Of Confidence
Another common cause of procrastination is the lack of confidence in
completing a task. It can be real that you lack the skills but
sometimes it may be a perception that you lack the skill. Because of
this you may totally avoid completing the task.
This cause of procrastination is easily avoidable. If you truly lack
the skill then training is an obvious option. Someone to show you the
ropes will also help. Ask yourself, is it a perception or is it real
that I lack the skill?
Now that you know what causes procrastination, work on these one step
at a time. Remember, change is slow and gradual.