Have ever noticed that there are different types of procrastination that creep up on you?
Or maybe you wonder why you struggle to do the 1 thing that your sister never seems to have an issue with?
Over the last 12+ months I have set out some really big goals in my professional and personal life.
In order to make progress towards them I have had to learn how to overcome laziness.
No wait. Let me take that back.
I’m not lazy.
I had to learn how to stop procrastinating.
And in order to do that, I had to understand why people procrastinate so I could make the necessary changes that would help me improve my productivity levels and achieve the goals I wanted! You know, all the while achieving work life balance (or some resemblance of it at least!).
I convinced myself regularly why it was ok to push things off; instead of taking action towards my goals.
In order to put action towards the things I want most but often found myself procrastinating, I had to learn what was holding me back and replace that with good habits.
And today I am going to share with you the biggest things that have helped me overcome chronic procrastination!
Because if there is one thing I have learned on this journey, it is that
Stewing is worse than the doing
English Proverb
Causes of Procrastination
The causes of procrastination can vary and if you think about your own life, you may jump right into something that your friend or partner is always procrastinating.
It probably drives you insane when they won’t just do what they keep talking about. However, odds are that they feel the same way about something you procrastinate.
I am a big procrastinator when it comes to things that are physically hard, but my husband is a major procrastinator when it comes to things that require overcoming mind power.
He can jump out of bed no big deal at 4:30am, hit the gym and give 110% by the time most Americans are even on their first alarm snooze.
He doesn’t understand why I push it off.
And I don’t understand why he constantly pushes off doing things that require him to get pushed outside of his comfort zone.
Which is really funny because that is exactly why I push out working out… it is hard.
The fact that I have made approximately 214,103 promises to myself that ‘this time is going to be different’ and then failed miserably on those promises haunts me and I will procrastinate the crap out of going for a run when given the chance.
As we have both set out to figure out how to overcome laziness, i.e. what we thought was really going on, we discovered that to really learn how to stop procrastinating, we needed to better understand why we procrastinated.
Through my experience, I have discovered four main types of procrastination.
Four Types of Procrastination
As I mentioned above, my husband and I stand on the opposite side of things when it comes to our ability to justify our procrastination.
It fascinated me so I started paying attention and this what I saw: 4 types of procrastination.
1.The ‘I Have More Fun Things To Do’ Procrastinator
2.The ‘Perfect Procrastinator’
3.The ‘I Can Probably Just Get To It Tomorrow’ Procrastinator
4.The ‘I Am Afraid To Do The 1 Thing I Need To Do’ Procrastinator
Which Types of Procrastination are You?
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To give you an idea of what these types of procrastination look like in real life, here are procrastination examples to give you a better idea of when you might be leaning into one bucket or another.
I think we can all dip into each bucket but I have found that generally we lean towards a particular types of procrastination more often than others.
The ‘I Have More Fun Things To Do’ Procrastinator
I have a family member that falls into this category and while I won’t tell you who it is because I’m pretty sure they are going to be reading this, I will tell you that this types of procrastination looks like someone who is justifying that they don’t need to do what they know they really should be doing because they “deserve” to take a break:
They worked a long day, they had a hard day, the post office had a super long line, the grocery store was out of the good bread…
I can keep going and list out all of the procrastination examples they use to justify to themselves why they can’t keep the commitments they made to themselves or others, but I think you get my point.
The ‘Perfect Procrastinator’
When it comes to causes of procrastination for my fellow perfect seeking individuals this flows right into the main reason they procrastinate, or as I like to think of them as the ‘someday-ers’.
Someday the kids will be older and it will make more sense for me to get a promotion then.
Someday the house will be paid down and we will be better equipped to take that trip we’ve talked about taking for the last 10 years.
Someday there won’t be rain outside, the wind will be perfect and I will have acquired the perfect pair of running shoes and THEN I will go out and run.
Does this sound like anyone you know?
The ‘I Can Probably Just Get To It Tomorrow’ Procrastinator
I am no stranger to this type of procrastination:
Don’t worry, I have plenty of time to finish this project. It is Monday and it isn’t due until Wednesday at 10am so I can just start it tomorrow. Yes, that is what I’ll do! Tomorrow will be THE DAY. I will get my coffee, sit down and not let myself be distracted by anything. Total focus, all day!
No need to worry, I can just start it tomorrow.
Even writing this makes me laugh at myself because it sure is easy to let this sneak up on you. And before you know it, your half way through Tuesday, you haven’t even had a chance to start the project because you’ve had a sick kid, 3 urgent matters have taken the spot at the front of the line for your attention today and you are now wondering how you will finish this project in the next 18 hours.
The ‘I Am Afraid To Do The 1 Thing I Need To Do’ Procrastinator
Where are all my fellow friends at who need to remember how capable they are? My friends who know that procrastination and anxiety are closely intertwined in their life.
Pulling apart procrastination and anxiety might feel impossible. My friends, just remember that there is no room for lack of confidence or self-doubt in your life anymore! LINK
These are my other people; the dreamers of the world who have big audacious goals.
But put off the things that could be helping them take massive action towards their goals because they are afraid.
It can be fear of failure, fear of risk or fear of disappointment.
From my journey to discovering how to avoid procrastinating and finally feel like I was able to be productive as a working mom, I have found that there is a whole lot of us that fall into this type!
I think each of the types of procrastination has a little fear at the root cause of all of them but let’s save that conversation for another day!
How To Stop Procrastinating According to Your Type
By now you should have a pretty good idea of which of the types of procrastination you are from the procrastination examples listed above.
If you aren’t sure which one you fall into, talk to someone who knows you well and ask them what they think, your friends know you better than you might think!
For those of you who were able to see yourself in one of the 4 types of procrastination, now we are going to move you from professional procrastinator to reformed queen of procrastination by giving you a few strategies that can help you finally learn how to stop procrastinating!
The ‘I Have More Fun Things To Do’ Procrastinator
For those that fall into this bucket you are often justifying to yourself why you can put it off a bit longer because you deserve to treat yourself to a different activity.
Now comes your opportunity to flip the reward system on its head.
The reward comes after you get the thing done.
No more pushing it out.
The solution: Do the thing and then reward yourself with fun.
For example: You think you deserve to sit down and have a glass of wine because you had a tough day and you can just get that work out in ( you know, the one that you’ve promised yourself you would do tonight) tomorrow instead. STOP. Hold the corkscrew.
You get the glass of wine after you get the workout in.
The ‘Perfect Procrastinator’
Getting a perfect procrastinator to change their life philosophy to done is better than perfect takes a bit of work.
However, what so many of us do is use the drive for reaching perfection as a reason to delay taking action on our goals and dreams.
We let our someday sit farther and farther out each day as we wait for the perfect situation to arrive.
There is never perfect timing for anything, well I suppose a Halloween costume at Easter service might not be the perfect timing but otherwise, life is meant to be lived; not pushed out while you wait on hold for ‘perfect’ to pick up.
Some believe that procrastination is good for those striving for perfection because when push comes to shove, they will have to turn something in that isn’t their level of perfect based on timeline.
And that is why if you know that you tend to lean towards the perfect procrastinator type, I encourage you to make as many hard deadlines and commitments to other people so you can’t back out of it.
It will be a lot harder for you to push things out if you have other people waiting on you!
The solution: Set the date, make the invitations, claim the outcome on social media. Whatever it takes, make yourself accountable and then hustle!
The ‘I Can Probably Just Get To It Tomorrow’ Procrastinator
Mel Robbins 5-second rule is exactly what this type of procrastinator needs in their life!
Trust me, I basically have 54321 my life over the last year and am living, breathing proof that you can learn to stop procrastinating and tackle the challenges head on!
Her method will help you put quick action behind whatever it is that your brain is trying to convince you to put off. Before you know it your shoes are on and you are headed out the door or signed up for that new class you’ve been wanting to take.
The solution: 54321!
The ‘I Am Afraid To Do The 1 Thing I Need To Do’ Procrastinator
I’m fairly split between pushing things off until tomorrow and just surrendering to the fear of the task at hand (aka not doing it even though I really want to) when it comes to the 4 types of procrastination.
Which meant I had to face this last type even though I was afraid to.
Turns out I was procrastinating because I was afraid I’d find out I wasn’t as capable as I thought I was.
It is a lot easier to stay in denial when you justify that you can’t sign up for that 5k with your girlfriends because the kids need you after work and you don’t have time for the gym.
It is a lot easier to chalk up your dreams and say that you know you could be achieving them if only you had time to do it. But you don’t have time because you work a full time job and you have kids and, and, and…
Tough love moment: you are just hiding from yourself and blaming it on other things like not having time.
The solution: Instead of thinking about the big goals (the 5k, increasing your income etc) that you are desiring and letting that overwhelm you, think of small, manageable steps that you can take to get some successes under your belt!
I am a major believer that success breeds success so if you have been procrastinating that run, go out for a walk tonight instead. After 3 days of walks, commit to running 1 minute on and 1 minute off.
Eat the elephant one small bite at a time works well for self proclaimed professional procrastinators! You will find yourself not so afraid to do the thing you have been pushing off!
Procrastination is the thief of time
This quote has become pretty popular in the world of procrastinators because it is a great summary of what you are giving up each and every time you procrastinate.
Time.
The single most precious resource we have in our life and we let it go daily.
We convince ourselves it is ok because we deserve to have a break, we cave to the fear that we might not be able to do the things on our heart.
No matter what type of procrastination bucket you fall into, just remember every time that you let procrastination win, time is passing you by.
So starting today I want you to claim back your time by implementing the strategies listed above under the types of procrastination to help you finally stop procrastinating.
Your life is waiting.
