Are you guilty of procrastinating work that needs to be completed till the last minute?
Whether it's an assignment you need to hand in for school, a proposal you need to submit to your manager, or an errand your spouse made you do...
I'm sure we've all gone through some extent of procrastination over the years because we dread it.
Studies show that over 20 percent of the adult population put off or avoid doing certain tasks by allowing themselves to be overtaken by distractions.
So why is it so hard to get over procrastination?
At its core, procrastination is an avoidance strategy. Procrastinators would rather do something else instead of doing what they need to do because it’s much easier to choose pleasure over pain.
But thankfully, despite how hard it seems, it is possible to get over procrastination.
But before I show you how, let's dive deeper into the common types of procrastinators.
Yes! There are different types of procrastinators. And identifying the type of procrastination you personally experience is the first step to fixing the problem at its root.
So they are:
The Perfectionist
Being perfect is the pleasure perfectionists want. Because of this, they frequently fail to complete things, as they’re forever seeking the perfect timing or approach. Tasks end up never being completed, because in the eyes of the perfectionist, things are never perfect enough.
Instead of finishing something, perfectionists get caught up in a never-ending cycle of additions, edits, and deletions.
Ostrich
An ostrich prefers to stay in the dreaming stage. That way, they don’t have to work for real, or deal with any negativity or stress.
Dreaming gives this type of people a false sense of achievement, as in their minds, they envision big, ambitious plans. Unfortunately for them, these plans will most likely stay as dreams, and they’ll never accomplish anything truly worthwhile.
Self-Saboteur
A self-saboteur has bought into the line that ‘by doing nothing, bad things won’t happen.’
In reality, self-saboteurs have developed a fear of making mistakes or doing anything wrong. So their way to avoid these mishaps, is to do nothing at all. And this also results in few accomplishments.
Daredevil
Daredevils are those who believe that deadlines can push them to do better. Instead of having a schedule to complete their work – they prefer to leave it to the last minute.
It’s most likely an unconscious thing, but daredevils evidently believe that starting early will sacrifice their time for pleasure. This is reinforced in their minds and feelings, by the many times they manage to get away with burning the midnight oil. Often they sacrifice the quality of their work because of rushing it.
Chicken
Chickens lack the ability to prioritize their work. They do what they feel like they should do, rather than thinking through what they really need to do.
Prioritizing tasks is a step that takes extra time, so chickens will feel it’s not worth it. Because of this, they usually end up doing a lot of effortless tasks that don’t contribute much to a project. They’re incessantly busy on low-impact tasks, but seem oblivious to urgent, high-impact tasks.
So now that you know the 5 types of procrastinators, can you identify with any of them?
Whether it's an assignment you need to hand in for school, a proposal you need to submit to your manager, or an errand your spouse made you do...
I'm sure we've all gone through some extent of procrastination over the years because we dread it.
Studies show that over 20 percent of the adult population put off or avoid doing certain tasks by allowing themselves to be overtaken by distractions.
So why is it so hard to get over procrastination?
At its core, procrastination is an avoidance strategy. Procrastinators would rather do something else instead of doing what they need to do because it’s much easier to choose pleasure over pain.
But thankfully, despite how hard it seems, it is possible to get over procrastination.
But before I show you how, let's dive deeper into the common types of procrastinators.
Yes! There are different types of procrastinators. And identifying the type of procrastination you personally experience is the first step to fixing the problem at its root.
So they are:
The Perfectionist
Being perfect is the pleasure perfectionists want. Because of this, they frequently fail to complete things, as they’re forever seeking the perfect timing or approach. Tasks end up never being completed, because in the eyes of the perfectionist, things are never perfect enough.
Instead of finishing something, perfectionists get caught up in a never-ending cycle of additions, edits, and deletions.
Ostrich
An ostrich prefers to stay in the dreaming stage. That way, they don’t have to work for real, or deal with any negativity or stress.
Dreaming gives this type of people a false sense of achievement, as in their minds, they envision big, ambitious plans. Unfortunately for them, these plans will most likely stay as dreams, and they’ll never accomplish anything truly worthwhile.
Self-Saboteur
A self-saboteur has bought into the line that ‘by doing nothing, bad things won’t happen.’
In reality, self-saboteurs have developed a fear of making mistakes or doing anything wrong. So their way to avoid these mishaps, is to do nothing at all. And this also results in few accomplishments.
Daredevil
Daredevils are those who believe that deadlines can push them to do better. Instead of having a schedule to complete their work – they prefer to leave it to the last minute.
It’s most likely an unconscious thing, but daredevils evidently believe that starting early will sacrifice their time for pleasure. This is reinforced in their minds and feelings, by the many times they manage to get away with burning the midnight oil. Often they sacrifice the quality of their work because of rushing it.
Chicken
Chickens lack the ability to prioritize their work. They do what they feel like they should do, rather than thinking through what they really need to do.
Prioritizing tasks is a step that takes extra time, so chickens will feel it’s not worth it. Because of this, they usually end up doing a lot of effortless tasks that don’t contribute much to a project. They’re incessantly busy on low-impact tasks, but seem oblivious to urgent, high-impact tasks.
So now that you know the 5 types of procrastinators, can you identify with any of them?
(Lifehack)
