Why do we procrastinate - How to break the cycle

byPaulREvans57

1.4K followers

Updated 5 years ago

We know we must do something that is important, but we find other 'important' tasks to do instead. Invariably, our day runs out, we are out of time, and we make some convincing excuse as to why we couldn't do that important task today. There's always tomorrow. Why do we procrastinate?

What is procrastination?

Procrastination is more than a habit, which we all have, to a greater or lesser degree. Our brains are wired to keep us safe, whether from physical harm or mental harm. As soon as our brain detects that our emotional self is getting stressed, (worried about writing 1,000 words), our brain kicks in, quickly finding us 'important' things to do that we are comfortable doing and in doing so, will relieve our stress. We feel happy and easily justify to ourselves that doing this 'other' task was essential and we didn't have time to start our primary work.

My mentor tells me that procrastination is low self-esteem. By that, he means that I believe I can't do it, or I am not worthy enough. The answer, in most cases, for low self-esteem is to learn that new skill enabling you to feel proud of yourself. We can all learn new things. It's just our reptilian brain telling us, "stay in your comfort zone", "don't do anything that will stress yourself", this affects us all in some way or other.

I left school many years ago as a 15-year-old, because of my low self-esteem. I felt then that I wasn't good enough. I was just no good at learning. Other people were smarter than me. And so it was!

Little did I know what the future had lined up for me. Again and again, events in my life showed me that I could learn things, that Icould stay focused. One classic example is with art. My drawing has been 'child-like' for most of my adult life. I have always had an interest in art, and I always wanted to draw. I felt my art was laughable (low self-esteem again). Then I found a couple of resources online that proved to me that anyone, who previously thought that they could not draw, can draw very well with the right training.

Here is a drawing of my hand, drawn a few years ago.

With my new found confidence, I can draw. I can write. I can blog. I am learning Thai!

Managing time.

How we cope with it varies also. First, we need to take ownership of the fact that we do procrastinate. Set a time, agree a time with family or friends. The time you set is to be your time. You have now set the scene. Your brain will accept that that whatever 'other' tasks you have for the day, they can wait.

Now that you have managed your time, you now need to prepare ahead. Schedule some time to do some keyword research. Identify a least four related keyword phrases. Do this perhaps two days before your scheduled writing session.

If necessary, set a time, perhaps a day ahead, where you can sit down and make a list of topics you want to include in your article. Utilise your list of keywords. Doing so will help you create your section headings. They don't have to include your keywords but should relate to them, so that the keyword can be incorporated into your paragraphs.

In short, managing time is merely being organised. Plan to get the job done.

How to break the cycle!

Don't start the task until you have planned to complete the work. What do I mean by that? Well, assume that the job entails something that you are not well skilled in, perhaps something that you don't feel comfortable doing.

Kyle and others in this community have touched on this problem elsewhere in Wealthy Affiliate.

Carson has written an excellent article on Article Marketing - Getting Started Guide.

Kyle has written several articles on the subject. Perhaps the most helpful is one of his most recent Creating Your Initial Website Content, where he extols the virtues of the SiteContent tool. SiteContent is incredible and is a must for everyone for overcoming their procrastination when it comes executing our principal task as affiliates, which is writing articles.

I will use a topical example below to explain.

Write That Article.

You want to write a 1,000 plus word article. You know that if you succeed in writing a lengthy article, it will be good for you "emotion", it will be good for your website ranking "work", and it will be good for you financially "better life".

What do we do? What we have to do is plan to succeed.

Sentences should ideally be less than 20 words. Too long and you'll lose your reader. If you are making a statement, then try for less than ten words. If you need to explain something, then you can go a little longer.

If you write between five and ten words per sentence for each paragraph, as an average, you will reach around fifty words for each paragraph. If you write five paragraphs for each of your four sections, then the maths tell you, that you can write one thousand words coherently. Well done!

If you want to write a longer article, then create more section headings. Sit down and brainstorm. Write a list of ideas. These ideas become your section headings. Hopefully, you haven't forgotten about your keywords? By the way, whatever task or sub-task you are doing keep it fun! Doing this will help to quieten the reptilian brain, and stop the panic. Less stress, more work.

Say you have come up with seven section headings related to your chosen keyword(s). Do the sums. You are now on schedule for 7 x 5 x 50 = 1,750! Don't forget; these are only averages. The article will look more natural when sentences, paragraphs and sections vary in length. But do still as close as you can to the average. Hello, success! Goodbye procrastination!

So, why do people procrastinate?

I hope I have answered this question. We don't believe we can complete a given task. We don't think the result will be good enough. With any skill, that we have not yet mastered, we can learn. Not only can we discover new talent, but we can also excel at it. We are all worthy enough to do better. You are worthy!