Let’s talk about procrastination and why it isn’t a time management issue…

Every week I write an article.  Most weeks it’s not a big problem, I find 45 minutes and sit down to write.  Yet sometimes, even when I have designated time on my calendar I do everything I can to not write.

Something catches my eye on the Internet or by email that suddenly requires my full attention.  Or I wander off to get coffee and get distracted along the way. A number of good reasons that I rationalize as to what got in the way of my writing.  

Most of the time it isn’t that I don’t have the time or that something else important slipped into the time slot I have defined, it’s simply that I procrastinate until I have no choice and now have to force myself to write. 

Procrastination impacts our ability to get things done yet we all do it.

Why do we procrastinate?  Looking at my example of procrastination around writing here’s likely what happens.

I think “I really don’t love doing this but I’ve committed to others I will”.

I start thinking why am I doing this, is it helping my business, what results have we seen from my weekly articles, does it give me enough ROI to invest the time, especially when I don’t love doing it anyhow.

That turns to “I don’t have any great ideas this week so it’s going to take me longer than usual”.

I have so many other things I could and should be doing and certainly would enjoy doing more.

Maybe it’s not a big deal if a miss a week here and there.

Oh good, a client sent me an email and I need to respond to that.

You see it’s not about time management, it’s about emotions and feelings.  I have the time, I have simply talked myself out of doing it, or doing it now.

Then what happens…guilt sets in. 

Don’t we all feel guilty when we procrastinate?  How often do you create a to-do list either at work or home and get to the end of the week and two-thirds of what’s on the list is still there?  Sunday night rolls around and you look at your personal list and feel guilty about what you didn’t accomplish, in fact, didn’t even put any time or attention on.  I bet you had time, you just found a dozen reasons not to.

Procrastination isn’t something you need to fix. 

Yes at times we all need to power through doing something we don’t want to do but need to do.  What I want is for you to take a look at why you are procrastinating.

Procrastination is an emotional reaction, not a time management issue.

When clients commit to doing something between our coaching sessions and come back and haven’t done it I don’t chastise or judge them.  There was a reason they didn’t do it, just like there is a reason we procrastinate that has nothing to do with time.

What is getting in the way?

Years ago I had a client who told me there was a specific book she was going to read.  Every conversation she explained what got in the way, how busy she was and the dozens of reasons why she didn’t read the book.  After six or seven conversations I asked her if we could simply literally and figuratively shelve the book, and when/if she was ready she could pull it back out to read.  The sigh of relief was huge.  

She didn’t procrastinate because of a time management issue.  All her reasons were valid…kids, work commitments, illness, other priorities…but not what prevented her from reading the book.  It turns out this was something she felt she should do, and wasn’t invested in actually doing. It was an emotional reaction, not a calendar issue that interfered with her getting to it.

When you find yourself procrastinating instead of heaping guilt on yourself, justifying the dozen of reasons you didn’t get to it and blaming it on poor time management stop and take stock of what’s going on. For some reason, you are resisting doing this activity.  It’s not a calendar/time management issue, it’s an emotional issue.

Maybe you have to do it and will need to power through it.  But maybe it doesn’t have to be done now, or maybe there is someone else who can handle it.  Quit spending precious time feeling guilty or making yourself feel better rationalizing what got in the way. 

Take the time to understand why you aren’t doing whatever it is so next time you procrastinate you’ll have a better understanding as to what’s getting in the way.

We created the Time Management Checklist to give you ideas on how to more successfully manage your time.  Download for free at the link below.