Procrastinating Over Purging My Procrastination
Image by Pitsch from Pixabay I know what I need to do, it’s doing it that’s the problem You think that “procrastination” is something unique just…
Author: Paul Walker
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Image by Pitsch from Pixabay I know what I need to do, it’s doing it that’s the problem You think that “procrastination” is something unique just…
I know what I need to do, it’s doing it that’s the problem
You think that “procrastination” is something unique just to you?
Think again.
According to a recent survey, only about 1 in 6 people claim they never suffer from procrastination.
This survey of 1000 people (taken in 2020) found that:
Perhaps a “procrastination purge” can help us overcome this problem?
However, before we get into this, a word of warning. There’s a vicious cycle at work here — and we might need something to break the logjam.
Here’s the problem…
The biggest barrier to purging procrastination is going to be procrastinating over a procrastination purge.
Now, the first step to purging procrastination is to figure out the causes of our procrastination.
The personal development website, sidsavara.com asked its readers this question
What causes you to procrastinate?
From a list of options given, there was a runaway winner.
A few people spoke about their lack of time or confusion about next steps. But by far the majority answered that they simply didn’t feel like it.
It wasn’t even close.
Almost two-thirds, 63%, said that the number one reason they procrastinated was that they didn’t feel like doing what needed to be done.
Procrastination is not a time management problem, nor is it a problem with setting priorities.
We know what our priorities are. We have the time to do them. And yet we just don’t feel like doing anything.
Sound familiar?
For most of us, it’s not about time management, managing our schedule — it is about self management.
If that’s true for procrastinating, it is likely to be the same with purging that procrastination. It’s not even that we don’t have time — deep down, we all know that we will save time in the long run. We don’t eliminate procrastination from our life because we don’t feel like it.
Basically, it means getting rid of the things that cause us to procrastinate.
Think of it as removing the procrastination prompts from our life. The procrastination prompts to consider purging include:
See a connection? It’s the internet.
The tools created to make our lives more productive have become tools that make us MORE busy, MORE confused and LESS productive.
Constantly checking social media and receiving endless notifications can prove a real distraction.
And, yes, I include checking our Medium stats in that category.
Then there are the hours wasted browsing random websites.
If the key distraction is social media — and it will be for many — we can start by setting time limits.
Commit to only checking social media at certain times during the day.
Some of us might consider taking a complete break from social media.
Cold turkey, eh?
This won’t be easy if we are used to using social media throughout the day. However, we might get a shock at how much better we feel when we aren’t checking what everyone is up to every few minutes.
Notifications can also prove distracting. When we hear the notification pinging through, it automatically distracts us from the task at hand.
Studies show that after picking up our phone, it can take up to 30 minutes to refocus on what we were doing. Setting notifications onto silent until we have finished what we need to get done is a good first step. Switching off our phone and blocking certain websites during specific hours is another option.
If we find apps like YouTube, Spotify or even Medium distracting, as a last resort, we can simply delete them from our phone.
The key is to identify how YOU procrastinate — and it is different for different people — and then work out practical steps to eliminate it.
I worked in church leadership for most of my working life. When I had a mental health breakdown in 2020, I realised I had a big problem with how I was organising my life.
I realised my life had become dominated by other people’s priorities. The nature of church ministry meant I spent much of my time “giving out” to other people.
I needed space to refresh and recuperate.
But instead of finding that space, I was spending more and more time avoiding that. Instead, I was scrolling through social media, checking notifications and mindlessly browsing the internet.
I was caring for other people’s souls, but neglecting my own.
Not that I didn’t know this. I did. But I couldn’t motivate myself to do anything about it. It was always something for another day.
Procrastination had me in a vice-like grip. And even though I knew it, I did nothing about it until my mental health crashed.
How did I break the cycle?
I slashed my social media. I deleted Twitter and Instagram, and reduced Facebook to personal friends and family members only. There was no need to follow church members on social media. After all, I’d spent time with in person most days.
I turned off all notifications on my phone. In fact, they are still turned off. I will check messages, WhatsApp and Facebook when it suits me, not when it suits those sending the messages. This is essential if we are ever going to control our lives.
I set emails to download twice per day — once first thing in the morning, and then in the early evening. It amazed me just how many “urgent emails” aren’t actually urgent at all.
I restricted my internet browsing to an hour per day — maybe a bit more on leisure days. Being intentional about internet usage meant I wasn’t going down rabbit holes that did nothing other than suck up time.
This method of eliminating procrastination isn’t easy and you may need to ask friends and family for help. They can help to keep you motivated and accountable. I know my own wife helped massively in my recovery.
Try to understand why you procrastinate. Start by eliminating the distractions that undergird the procrastination habit.
Easier said than done, I know.
But, after taking action, I slowly climbed out of the procrastination pit, rebuilt my mental resilience and found balance in my life again.
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