What is procrastination and how can you overcome it?

It’s so hard to find the motivation to write, produce content or complete a difficult task. So often I find myself procrastinating on a task, particularly when it comes to writing. Unless I’m really feeling it, I just can’t think of an idea to write about. That’s my experience of procrastination, but what exactly is it, what causes it and how can you overcome it?

Procrastination is the act of delaying something, often till the last minute or even worse, past the deadline. It often occurs when you have anxiety about a task and instead of actually doing that task, you put it off and distract yourself with other things.

The five main types of procrastinator:

Anxious

Problem: does not start a task because it seems too daunting. They have a fear of failure

Solution: schedule downtime/ fun between periods of work and try to break down a large task into smaller tasks

Perfectionist

Problem: similar to the anxious procrastinator, the perfectionist does not start a task because they fear not completing it to perfection

Solution: have lower standards and sometimes it might even be beneficial to allow procrastination (which stops them spending as much time on the task)

Plenty of time

Problem: they believe that they have plenty of time to do a task so can continue to postpone it

Solution: set earlier deadlines, leaving you less time to delay a task. They should also announce their goals publicly, motivating them to meet those deadlines

Over-doer

Problem: working on so many different things that they fail to prioritise tasks

Solution: work on fewer projects, prioritise and focus on what’s important

Fun

Problem: would rather be doing anything than work on a certain task

Solution: pick a fun task to start working on, build up momentum and then tackle a harder task

Identifying which category of procrastination you fall into can be incredibly valuable to help you try to solve it. Personally, I often fall into the over-doer or anxious categories, so I need to work on focusing on my most important projects and breaking down a task into smaller, more manageable subtasks.

Thank you so much for reading this and I really hope you found some value in it! Try to implement these solutions to help reduce procrastination!