12 procrastination activities
Know your procrastination behaviours → break the spell
TLDR: Procrastination is endemic. Constructing your own list of typical procrastination activities can help you break the cycle, and live more intentionally.
Word count: 627
Read time: 3 minutes
We all procrastinate, at least occasionally, if not chronically. Research estimates that 80% to 95% of college students engage in procrastination at some point during their academic journey (Ellis & Knaus, 1977; O’Brien, 2002). But it doesn’t stop there — approximately 15% to 20% of adults in the general population also struggle with chronic procrastination (J. Harriott & Ferrari, 1996; "Haven't Filed Yet," 2003).
The third most popular TED Talk of all time is Tim Urban’s ‘Inside the mind of a master procrastinator’, which has been viewed 73 million times, (often, one might presume, by people engaged in the very act).
It’s all over LinkedIn with viral posts like this.
I hear it all the time from people who have read one of these blogs or my book.
I observe the tendency in my own psyche and behaviour.
While it may be OK to delay our real tasks now and then, procrastination can hinder productivity, increase stress, and keep us from our full potential.
But how do we recognize when we're procrastinating? One method that has received curiously little attention is simply to know what the typical activities we engage in when we procrastinate are. These are the things we do without realising we're avoiding our main task. Here’s a dozen of the most common examples:
Carrying on with your current task, for longer than necessary
Tidying a room or drawer or desktop
Cleaning an already-clean space
Getting a glass of water
Reorganising your files/folders/apps on a computer/phone/tablet
Getting/being on social media
Checking emails
Making a snack when you’re not really hungry
Self-grooming
Online shopping, when you don’t really need anything
Doing laundry
Reading articles or blogs which are of some interest but no real use
Which of them apply to you? What would your list look like? Take 2 minutes now to consider what you do when you’re avoiding a task. In undertaking that exercise you’ll be much better placed to implement the solution below.
Personally, I’m susceptible to 1, 4 and 11.
Notice that almost all of the 12 activities above are positive-sounding. That is to say, in certain contexts, they are absolutely the right thing to be doing. That’s why they’re so dangerous! Our minds have a ready-made narrative that this tangential activity is justified, that there’s some reason to keep doing them, that we’re not actually avoiding the real task at hand. Beware!
What to do?
Recognising these behaviours for what they are — false friends in your quest to get done what you actually want to get done — is the first step. They are side-shows, distractions, traps, keeping you from what really matters. Once you know them for what they are, you can start to break free from their hold on your behaviour.
More specifically:
Become very familiar with what they are (second reminder to write out your own version of the list above — it might be just 2-3 activities but you want to know them, explicitly)
Notice when they happen. This requires a little practice.
Associate that noticing with a behaviour to get you back on track. In my case, it’s the mantra — which I utter out loud — ‘One thing at a time’, I go back to my calendar, see what I’m supposed to be doing, and come back once more to intentional focus. Of course, this is a key component of timeboxing.
Of course, you won’t always notice when you’re procrastinating, and even when you do, you won’t always succeed in stopping it. But if you manage to break the cycle even occasionally, that’s progress to build on. And by claiming a little ground back from procrastination, you will be living a more intentional, purposeful, and happy life.
Marc
Links you may like
7 days of Timeboxing (the free email micro-course)
Timeboxing, the book (US)
Timeboxing, the book (UK)
Connect with me on LinkedIn (I will say yes!)