Stopping Procrastinating Start Taking Action

Why letting excuses get in the way is stopping you from succeeding

If you’re like most people working on time management, your first step to success is stopping procrastinating. There are many reasons why people procrastinate, but starting with action is always a good solution.

Procrastinating means putting off doing a task that you know you must complete. A lot of people procrastinate by finding excuses not to do the work. “I’m too busy with something else.” “I need to get this done first.” “I’ll start tomorrow when I’m fresh.”

One of the keys to overcoming procrastination is to understand why you procrastinate. There are several possible culprits. Reasons for procrastination include feeling overwhelmed by a task, fear of failure, and simply disliking the task.

Feeling overwhelmed by a task is one common problem that leads to procrastinating. People look at a job in front of them like “plan a birthday party” or “write a ten page report” and immediately feel a sense of dread and fear. They feel they can’t possibly accomplish such a large undertaking and immediately begin making excuses to avoid getting started. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by a job in front of you, try breaking the big task down into smaller, manageable tasks. Planning a birthday party, for instance, involves picking a theme, buying invitations, mailing invitations, arranging for refreshments, arranging for entertainment, etc. Pick one small step at a time and accomplish that. Then go on to the next small step. Before you know it, the entire task will be complete.

Fear of failure is another reason why people procrastinate. They think their work will be judged inadequate, so they put off getting started until the last possible minute. Then they rush through the project, often doing slipshod work and bringing about the very outcome that they’ve dreaded all along. If fear of failure is your problem, stopping procrastinating may be as easy as talking your anxiety out with the person supervising your work. You might say to your boss, for instance, “I’ve never handled such a large project before. Could we meet a couple of times before it’s due so you can check my work and be sure I’m on the right track?” Knowing that you will be meeting with your boss before the actual due date should be enough to get you motivated to take action.

Another reason for procrastination is simple aversion. You don’t like doing the task that must be completed. Perhaps, for instance, you have a report due for work but you’d rather have a root canal without anesthetic than write a single sentence. Or, perhaps you procrastinate about certain unappealing household tasks such as washing dishes or doing the laundry. The bad news is that you’re probably never going to make yourself fall in love with writing or housework. The good news is there are ways to encourage yourself to do what needs to be done in a timely manner. One of the best ways is to reward yourself for completing the task. If you love surfing the internet, for instance, promise yourself half an hour of guilt-free surfing time for every load of laundry you wash. If you’re into shopping, promise yourself an hour at your favorite store as soon as you get your report for work done.

Stopping procrastinating isn’t the easiest part of time management. But identifying the reasons behind your procrastination and starting with action can help you complete your tasks in a timely manner.