Procrastination
Procrastination is the action of unnecessarily and voluntarily delaying or postponing something despite knowing that there will be negative consequences for doing so. The word has origin from the Latin procrastinatus, which itself evolved from the prefix pro-, meaning "forward," and crastinus, meaning "of tomorrow.
Why fight procrastination?
"While we waste our time hesitating and postponing, life is slipping away."
-- Seneca
Procrastination is one of the main barriers blocking you from getting up, making the right decisions and living the dream life you've thought of.
Recent studies have shown that people regret more the things they haven't done than the things they have done. In addition, feelings of regret and guilt resulting from missed opportunities tend to stay with people much longer.
Sometimes all our opportunities seem to be on our fingertips, but we can't seem to reach them. When you procrastinate, you waste time that you could be investing in something meaningful. If you can overcome this fierce enemy, you will be able to accomplish more and in doing so better utilize the potential that life has to offer.
We now know that the world today is conducive to procrastinating and learning how to overcome it is, therefore, one of the most important skills you can learn.
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Why do people procrastinate?
Willpower is often perceived to be the leading cause of procrastination, but it is mainly our intrinsic motivation that helps us to overcome the habit of putting things off on daily basis.
Decision paralysis
The number of opportunities that today's world offers is staggering. Modern society idolizes individual liberty in the belief that the freer people are, the happier they will be. So then why aren't people today significantly happier than in the past? Because with more freedom to make our own decisions and to perform our actions, we have become easily confused about what is a priority, what is essential and what is not, and with what is right and wrong, and therefore we have become demotivated to do anything at all.
We need to set straight our values and personal visions and to cultivate our positive habits. This is the essential thing that can help us overcome not only procrastination but also all the other obstacles that life brings.
Ignoring The Value of Time
We were all born and unfortunately at some point will all die too. The time we spend on Earth is both limited and finite. In light of these facts, time is the most valuable commodity you have. It’s not money; unlike time, you can borrow money, save, or earn more. You can’t do that with time. Every single second you waste is gone forever.
The mere realization that life is finite leads people to begin managing their time more carefully. It makes you think about how you would ideally like to spend your time on Earth.
Lack of self-discipline
You can imagine self-discipline or self-control as a moment when you give yourself orders, but you are having a hard time following them. It is not the primary cause of procrastination, but an important compound. To be disciplined, you need to have the correct type of motivation and learn to maintain and work on positive habits.
Types of motvation and why setting goals will never work
Extrinsic motivation
Rewards and punishments or carrots and sticks were developed to force people into performing actions they would never consider on their own. But when people do things they don’t want to do, they are less happy, and their brains release less dopamine. Many studies have confirmed that using extrinsic motivation lowers performance in activities that require even a little brainwork and creativity.
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Goal-based motivation
This motivation drives people forward, causing them to work hard for their goals, which means that sooner or later, they will indeed achieve them. And when that finally does happen, a one-time dose of dopamine is released, resulting in an intense emotion of joy. The problem is that what follows next is a phenomenon known as hedonic adaptation. This causes people to get accustomed to their accomplished goals unexpectedly. A few minutes, hours, or, at most, days upon reaching a goal, positive feelings will disappear.
Intrinsic motivation
Meaning and vision provide long-lasting and satisfying motivation. When people see the purpose in their actions, particularly when they actually want to perform these actions, one of the strongest forms of motivation arises, it is called the intrinsic journey-based motivation. This type of motivation is based on the concept of having a personal vision. Unlike chasing goals, a personal vision is an expression of something lasting. It answers the question of how you would most like to spend your time in life. It focuses on actions, not results. It focuses on the journey, not the destination.
What procrastination is not
Procrastination is not laziness
Procrastinators often put off doing things, leave them to the very last moment or sometimes even spend their time staring at the wall. However be careful, procrastination is not a synonym for lazy.
Lazy people, simply don’t do anything and are just fine with it. Procrastinators, on the other hand, have the desire to actually do something but can’t force themselves to start.
It's a good idea to start using the word procrastination instead of using the terms laziness or putting things off. It provides a much more accurate description of your situation. Only by giving the right name to your problem can you begin working on it.
