Why Do We Procrastinate On Things We Shouldn’t?

10 reasons behind procrastination and what they mean.

My headline reads, “Procrastination is your friend. Learn to get along.” When I said this I didn’t mean to say that it is what it is and to accept procrastination. In his book, Eat That Frog, Brian Tracy discusses what it means to procrastinate, how it develops through habits, and tips to mitigate the behavior. Procrastination is reward and habit based. Your focus is simply on other things.

But as Leo Babauta of Zen Habits writes, “One of the things I’ve found is that there isn’t always just one reason. Sometimes it’s multiple reasons at once or at other times its different reasons depending on the situation or the type of person you are.”

Here are some of the most common reasons we procrastinate:

1. We don’t take it seriously. We tell ourselves that we’re going to stick to a new plan, and believe that it’s enough to make it happen. The assumption is that it will just happen, be easy, despite all the past evidence that the only time things get completed is when we take them seriously. Most of the time, we just half commit to something, kind of like only being half in a relationship — with that kind of commitment, eventually, you’ll be out of it.
2. We just forget. We tell ourselves we’re going to meditate every day, with complete resolve. Then the morning comes and we just plain forget. We remember later, but we’re busy then. The next morning, we forget again. By the time we remember, we feel disappointed with ourselves and give up.
3. We run from discomfort or uncertainty. When the exercise habit (or meditation) gets uncomfortable, we stop enjoying it and makeup excuses to put it off. When we face a difficult habit like writing or big tasks at work, there is a lot of uncertainty in those tasks, so we start finding reasons to put it off. We don’t like uncertainty or discomfort, so we try to get out of it.
4. We give in to temptation, out of habit. The temptation is all around us: the temptation of chocolate cake when we said we’re going to stick to a diet, the temptation of the TV when we said we’re going to go to bed earlier, the temptation of the phone or Internet when we said we’re going to meditate. Actually, the temptation is just a bit of discomfort, but our habitual response is to just give in. Rationalize, and let the temptation rule our response.
5. We rationalize. When something gets difficult, or we have a temptation in front of us, our minds start to rationalize why it’s OK to do what we said we weren’t going to do. Our brains can be very very good at rationalizing: “Just one more won’t hurt,” or “You worked hard, you deserve it,” or “This time doesn’t count, you’ll start tomorrow,” or “It’s a special occasion, this is a good exception.” Those all sound reasonable, except that they sabotage our plans. Once we start to believe these rationalizations, sticking to anything goes out the door.
6. We renegotiate. We say we’re going to do something, then when the moment comes to do it, we’re feeling temptation, discomfort, uncertainty … and so we start to say, “Well, I’m still going to do it, but in 5 minutes, after I check my messages.” Or, “I’m tired right now, I’ll just take a day off and do it tomorrow.” This is another form of rationalization — basically, just a habitual response to not wanting to do something, a way to get out of it.
7. We dislike the experience and avoid the things we dislike. Our brains are hard-wired to take the easy way out. If it’s work, typically we turn the other way. This seems natural — if I don’t like to eat vegetables, I probably will avoid them. If I don’t like to face an uncomfortable writing task, I’ll put it off. But the problem is that with every habit, with every difficult project … we’re going to find multiple moments of discomfort, of disliking the experience. This negative cycle of behavior impacts our mood and overall self-esteem. We’ll never stick to anything if we bail as soon as we dislike something. Instead, we have to see that this habit of disliking, judging, resenting, mentally complaining, and avoiding … it’s hurting us. We don’t need to like everything about an experience to put ourselves fully into it. We are stronger than that.
8. We forget why it’s important. Maybe you started out taking something seriously, but then a week into it, you’ve forgotten. Proclaimed as the toughest man on the planet, David Goggins highlights the difference between motivation and drive. Motivated people are motivated when it’s appropriate such as following an emotional song, video, or speaker to begin exercising. However, when things get uncomfortable, such as waking up early or facing unfavorable weather, renegotiation sets in. Those who are but Now you’re just thinking about how uncomfortable it is. We forget why we began in the first place. This is mainly why those with drive never forget this and overcome obstacles. If we forget the importance of something — and if something doesn’t really matter to us, we shouldn’t commit to it — if we forget, we won’t have a good reason to push into discomfort.
9. We get down on ourselves or give up in disappointment. When we falter, when we don’t meet our ideals or expectations, when we mess up in some way … it’s actually not a big deal. Just learn from it and start again. But instead, we often beat ourselves up, feel super disappointed in ourselves. This isn’t helpful, and can actually sabotage our efforts.
10. There are too many barriers. This is the simplest one, but we often forget. Let’s say I want to start eating healthier and even have a plan for how I want to eat. But then morning comes, I’m hungry and in a hurry, and I’m supposed to make a tofu scramble, which requires a lot of chopping of vegetables, cooking, cleaning … too many things to do right now when I’m hungry, so I’ll just eat the bagel that will take 2 minutes to make. This is a big problem with most things we want to stick to — there are barriers that are too high for when we’re tired, rushed, or not feeling like it. Driving 20 minutes to the gym, having to declutter the living room before you meditate, having a lot of distractions when you write, anything that requires more than 5 minutes of prep time before we can get started … it’s too high of a barrier.

If I didn’t cover them here, what are some of your reasons for putting things off?

It’s been a joy, thanks for reading.

Get the “Power of Execution” e-book!

Get help designing your business, store, or idea: Creative Fly — 10% Off -PRINTERS10

Connect with me here let’s network: @modern.therapist