What is Procrastination?
Seven Possible Causes of Procrastination, How to Beat It, and Why Procrastination Isn't Always a Bad Thing. I decided to figure out what kind of animal this procrastination is and how to deal with it. I went through a bunch of materials, talked with several people from IT - that's what came of it.
First of all, let’s review what is procrastination
There are several definitions of the term "procrastination" found in Internet and in dictionaries. In our opinion, the following definition reflects the meaning as accurately as possible.
Procrastination is a syndrome in which a person constantly puts things off, replacing them with more pleasant activities (tea, coffee, games, etc.). As a result, life problems, stress and guilt appear, efficiency decreases, self-esteem falls.
Pay attention to the words "syndrome" and "permanently." If you put a few things off until tomorrow, and then again — this is not procrastination, you just postponed a few things.
Based on the definition, here is what is procrastination and what is not:
Sometimes procrastination is confused with rest: for example, if you play computer games, you definitely procrastinate. This is not so: having rest helps to switch the tired brain from work tasks and gives us energy, while procrastination, on the contrary, takes it away. And the less energy remains, the more willingly a person postpones further.
Procrastination is not laziness. A lazy person does not feel guilty about things not done. A person suffering from procrastination blames himself/herself, but cannot pull himself together and take action.
When did procrastination become as an important topic?
Procrastination is mentioned in the poem "Works and Days" by the ancient Greek poet Hesiod (VIII-VII centuries BC).
And do not put things off until tomorrow, until the day after tomorrow.
Barns are empty for those who are lazy to work
And he loves to put things off forever: wealth is given by diligence.
Baggy struggles with troubles all his life continuously.
Probably, procrastination has always existed, it’s just that the name for this syndrome was invented relatively recently. According to Google Trends, people in Russia have been talking about procrastination since more or less 2004. in July’s people are less interested in "Procrastination"…
Reason 1. Problems with Rest
Do not lay down the time to switch the brain. Fatigue often manifests itself in defocusing: when the brain is overloaded, it is difficult for it to focus on a task and it begins to look for a way to unload and relax. As a result, a person begins to get distracted too often.
Procrastination due to sleep inefficiency
The quality of sleep is also important: it is he who helps to restore strength and work more productively.
Reason 2. You’re about to burn out
When a person gets tired systematically, he/she can even hate the thing that was previously loved. Interest in work and the quality of its performance are falling, irritability appears. Strength and desire to work less and less. Typically, burnout is related to stress at work. This stress always has a reason — usually it is something that you do not want to face. For example, constant trouble coming from your line manager. Or always super busy daily plan. In such a situation, burnout is a way for the psyche to protect itself from stress.
Remember: Stress is not normal
Reason 3. Procrastination due to perfectionism
A perfectionist strives to make everything perfect. Because of this, the focus shifts from the main thing to the little things that take up an unacceptably long time. As a result, a person spends several times more time on a task that could be done in an hour, or even does not start it at all.
Reason 4. You feel like you’re ineffective
In recent years, it has become fashionable to be a workaholic, solve a large number of tasks and be productive. You look at the social network feed — and there half of the friends hold business meetings, the second launches their new projects and still finds time to fly on vacation or ride horses, and some others are engaged in self-development.
When you constantly see this, you also want to achieve something really important, but not what you work on now. To reach the goal, you need a big plan and high efficiency.
Reason 5. You are not doing your job
Sometimes, your leader sets a new task, and you understand: "This is not my job, not my responsibility. But I’ll do it."
For example, you are a buyer and have been assigned to write an article about your company’s services. You start working on this and realise that you are experiencing internal resistance. You decide to return to the task later when you have more time. As a result, the task is delayed again and again.
Reason 6. You don’t want to think about what’s really important
One can have many aspirations. Someone dreams of becoming a pilot, someone — a doctor. But dreams remain dreams, and you need to continue with your life and earn money. As a result, we do not do what we want, but what we have to do.
There are several definitions of the term "procrastination" found in Internet and in dictionaries. In our opinion, the following definition reflects the meaning as accurately as possible.
Procrastination is a syndrome in which a person constantly puts things off, replacing them with more pleasant activities (tea, coffee, games, etc.). As a result, life problems, stress and guilt appear, efficiency decreases, self-esteem falls.
Pay attention to the words "syndrome" and "permanently." If you put a few things off until tomorrow, and then again — this is not procrastination, you just postponed a few things.
Based on the definition, here is what is procrastination and what is not:
Sometimes procrastination is confused with rest: for example, if you play computer games, you definitely procrastinate. This is not so: having rest helps to switch the tired brain from work tasks and gives us energy, while procrastination, on the contrary, takes it away. And the less energy remains, the more willingly a person postpones further.
Procrastination is not laziness. A lazy person does not feel guilty about things not done. A person suffering from procrastination blames himself/herself, but cannot pull himself together and take action.
When did procrastination become as an important topic?
Procrastination is mentioned in the poem "Works and Days" by the ancient Greek poet Hesiod (VIII-VII centuries BC).
And do not put things off until tomorrow, until the day after tomorrow.
Barns are empty for those who are lazy to work
And he loves to put things off forever: wealth is given by diligence.
Baggy struggles with troubles all his life continuously.
Probably, procrastination has always existed, it’s just that the name for this syndrome was invented relatively recently. According to Google Trends, people in Russia have been talking about procrastination since more or less 2004. in July’s people are less interested in "Procrastination"…
Reason 1. Problems with Rest
Do not lay down the time to switch the brain. Fatigue often manifests itself in defocusing: when the brain is overloaded, it is difficult for it to focus on a task and it begins to look for a way to unload and relax. As a result, a person begins to get distracted too often.
Procrastination due to sleep inefficiency
The quality of sleep is also important: it is he who helps to restore strength and work more productively.
Reason 2. You’re about to burn out
When a person gets tired systematically, he/she can even hate the thing that was previously loved. Interest in work and the quality of its performance are falling, irritability appears. Strength and desire to work less and less. Typically, burnout is related to stress at work. This stress always has a reason — usually it is something that you do not want to face. For example, constant trouble coming from your line manager. Or always super busy daily plan. In such a situation, burnout is a way for the psyche to protect itself from stress.
Remember: Stress is not normal
Reason 3. Procrastination due to perfectionism
A perfectionist strives to make everything perfect. Because of this, the focus shifts from the main thing to the little things that take up an unacceptably long time. As a result, a person spends several times more time on a task that could be done in an hour, or even does not start it at all.
Reason 4. You feel like you’re ineffective
In recent years, it has become fashionable to be a workaholic, solve a large number of tasks and be productive. You look at the social network feed — and there half of the friends hold business meetings, the second launches their new projects and still finds time to fly on vacation or ride horses, and some others are engaged in self-development.
When you constantly see this, you also want to achieve something really important, but not what you work on now. To reach the goal, you need a big plan and high efficiency.
Reason 5. You are not doing your job
Sometimes, your leader sets a new task, and you understand: "This is not my job, not my responsibility. But I’ll do it."
For example, you are a buyer and have been assigned to write an article about your company’s services. You start working on this and realise that you are experiencing internal resistance. You decide to return to the task later when you have more time. As a result, the task is delayed again and again.
Reason 6. You don’t want to think about what’s really important
One can have many aspirations. Someone dreams of becoming a pilot, someone — a doctor. But dreams remain dreams, and you need to continue with your life and earn money. As a result, we do not do what we want, but what we have to do.