Business Bites: A guide to overcoming procrastination

Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today; here is your guide to procrastination and how to overcome it…

Anxiety is a driver of procrastination

Jason Fitzpatrick, in his article, ‘Overcoming procrastination and enjoying guilt-free play‘, says: “Non-procrastinators think of procrastinators as lazy and careless. The reality for most procrastinators is that they care way too much.”

In a lot of cases, procrastinators end up living at constant peak levels of stress. What this does is put their emotional balance at risk – and it unintentionally and indirectly harms their environment.

According to Neil Fiore, author of The Now Habit, procrastination may lead to an imbalance affecting both work and personal life.

Examining your procrastination ‘style’, i.e. the reasons behind why you’re not doing what you need to do, can lead to important insights. Styles may include those driven by anxiety, by perfectionism, by poor concept of time and, finally, by fun.

Four types of procrastination

In the article, ‘Four types of procrastination and how to beat them’, we learn about: Anxious procrastination, Perfectionist procrastination; ‘Plenty of time’ procrastination; and Fun procrastination. Let’s look a little further into these different styles…

1. Anxious procrastination

Neil Fiore, defined procrastination as: “a mechanism for coping with the anxiety associated with starting or completing any task or decision”. He suggested that people who procrastinate a lot are usually bad at managing their time and often end up scheduling in more work than they can actually do, leaving no time for fun activities or resting. He also suggested that not fulfilling these unrealistic expectations causes stress and anxiety, which some people deal with by procrastinating.

2. Perfectionist procrastination

Perfectionists are always striving for the best and, as such, are constantly criticising their own work. For some perfectionists, the fear of failing, or producing work to a low standard, can be so overwhelming they never actually get around to starting anything.

3. ‘Plenty of time’ procrastination

Many people find it difficult to start a project when they know the deadline is a long way off. This type of procrastination is clearly visible in students who often struggle to start an essay earlier than a few days before the deadline. You may also have tasks that don’t have deadlines.

4. Fun procrastination

The fun procrastinator would rather be doing anything except that one dreaded task. After all, there’s so many fun and exciting things you could be doing instead, how can you bear to start that boring project?

Five types of procrastinators

In her article, ‘Which of these 5 types of procrastinator are you?’, Gwen Moran covers five common types of procrastinators, and the best tactics to help them get unstuck.

Are you procrastinating because you’re overwhelmed?

1. The perfectionist

This procrastinator is trying to avoid being embarrassed by mistakes or judged, Fiore says. They may spend too much time on one component of a project, failing to manage their time properly, or avoid the project altogether, then rush to finish it at the last minute. Of course, this may increase the likelihood of making mistakes.

2. The impostor

Afraid of being revealed as unqualified or inferior, this procrastinator puts off doing anything to avoid that risk, Fiore says. Often this type of procrastination is learned when the person is surrounded by people who are difficult to please.

3. The dread-filled

When work is boring or unpleasant, we may procrastinate just to avoid doing it, says Nicole Bandes, founder of the consultancy the Productivity Expert. If you hate what you’re doing or you find it mind-numbing, it’s tough to get motivated to take action.

4. The overwhelmed

Sometimes, there’s just too much to do, and it’s hard to figure out where to start – so we don’t do anything, Fiore says. Whether they’ve chosen to take on too much or a manager is piling on the work, the sheer thought of getting it all done makes us avoid doing anything at all.

5. The lucky one

Some people believe they do their best work under pressure, so they procrastinate until their back is up against the wall. If they have a history of doing this without consequence, they’ve essentially been rewarded for procrastinating.

How to overcome procrastination

The approaches to managing and overcoming procrastination are similar for each type. Make sure the work really needs to be done. If you’re procrastinating because you’re overwhelmed or hate your work, first ask yourself if the task really needs to be done at all. Where can you streamline or delegate? By removing some of the unnecessary components, the path forward often becomes clearer, Bandes says.

Break down the tasks

When you know exactly what you need to do to move forward, you remove uncertainty, which can foster procrastination and give you a clear series of steps to follow, Bandes says. The process of mapping out what needs to be done – preferably with deadlines attached to each step—can also help you see that it’s not as bad as you made it out to be in your head.

Commit to it

Fiore says it’s important to truly commit to the thing you’re doing and get in touch with why you’re doing it. For example, if you’re trying to improve your health and exercise is part of the plan, he says it’s important to truly commit to taking action.

Do one small thing

Forcing yourself to take action often helps dissolve procrastination, Bandes says. Even if it’s just looking up some research or organising the project, the action puts you on a course to getting it done. It’s like working out – getting started can be the hardest part, she says.

In ‘Beating procrastination with 5 minute rule’, Brian Dordevic offers the following advice on getting started in overcoming procrastination: “If you have a problem with starting, perhaps this is the thing you should try. Getting yourself to do something for five minutes. This is often more than enough to get you going. It’s no commitment approach to work. Often I’ve found myself surprised that I’ve done a bunch of stuff in exactly five minutes. The only trick is getting started.”

Add a new urgency

Fiore and Bandes both agree that adding an element of urgency to the project or task can help overcome procrastination. Set a deadline for a first draft and tell yourself it doesn’t have to be perfect.

Other useful links

Stillman J. 5 scientifically proven ways to beat procrastination. Inc 3 April 2014.
Stillman J. A quirky new trick to beat procrastination. Inc 8 May 2015.