Michael Lee asked:

“Do not put off for tomorrow what you can do today,” so says the famous adage. Yet people all over the world are still victims of procrastination. Despite the presence of deadlines, people still do things at the last minute. What are the real causes of procrastination?

There are many causes of procrastination; but in this article; you’ll find the ones which plague humankind the most.

1) Fear Of Failure

One of the top three causes of procrastination is the fear of failure. When you feel that the task is simply too difficult or complex for you to take on, you tend to put it off.

Sometimes, you end up preparing too much for the task that you actually fail to finish the assignment itself. Other times, you keep yourself preoccupied with other activities, just so you don’t have to deal with the assignment right away.

2) Finding The Right Mood

When you’re an artist, finding the right mood is a big deal. But when you have a looming deadline, you don’t have time to get into the mood. You have to delve into the task assigned to you and let the mood follow in your footsteps. In other words, you just have to do it.

3) Underestimating The Time Required

Another one of the top causes of procrastination is thinking that you have all the time in the world to finish a project.

You might find yourself calculating that you only need an hour to write that essay. What you don’t include in your computation is the extra time you need when ideas don’t come pouring in or when your computer fizzes out.

Procrastination is a habit a lot of people have and will always have. However, knowing the top three causes of procrastination will surely help you deal with deadlines better and get ahead of others in life.

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Pat Brill asked:


Copyright (c) 2008 Pat Brill

Over time we have developed habits to deal with many areas of our lives. What thoughts we think, what we do, how we do it or if we do it are all indicators of our habits. All repetitive activities seem to generate a habit.

What about the “procrastination” habit? Basically, procrastination is defined as avoiding doing a task that needs to be done…putting the activity off until tomorrow.

When you create a “procrastination” habit, you reduce your ability to function effectively. This habit is controlling you and can be a hard habit to break. If you believe that procrastination is an issue in your life, what would it look like to no longer choose to resist doing something?

Use the 4-step process below to help you stop resisting what is important for you to do…one small step at a time.

Step 1: Evaluation

Generally, most of us don’t procrastinate with everything we do, rather we have select areas that we are more apprehensive about and resist handling them effectively. The resistance could be in the form of just not doing it or doing the activity at the very last moment when the pressure is on.

Take the time to do some honest self-assessment around the areas of procrastination in your life. Remember, you probably don’t procrastinate around everything you do, so create a list of those areas that you resist…and how you go about it. For example, you resist completing a report at work (your issue) and you wait until the last moment (how you procrastinate). Look to see if there are any themes in your procrastination as it will help you better understand what is motivating you to procrastinate.

As you create this list, eliminate the need to judge yourself. This is an assessment and judgments will block your ability to make any changes.

Most of the time people procrastinate because they are fearful of their performance, have not judged correctly how much time an activity will take, have too many activities on their To Do lists, or get overwhelmed by the project and don’t know how to break it down.

Step 2: Selection

Overcoming the procrastination habit takes time. It’s best to start slow. Choose an area that can be managed. Keep it simple so you are successful in your quest to decreasing your need to procrastinate.

For example, what if you procrastinate around paying the bills? What could you put in place that would help you handle this issue more effectively?

Here is a simple system to handle the bill paying process:

-When bills come in, where do they go? Choose one place to put the bills immediately.

-How often do you pay the bills? Choose a weekly, every two weeks, or monthly system…whatever system that allows you to be on time with paying the bills.

-Select a day/time that you regularly sit down to pay your bills. Put this time in your calendar. Choose a time that you can actually perform the work. If you have children, choosing Saturday afternoon may not be realistic, whereas, Monday night at 8:00 pm could be perfect.

What if you are trying to do too much?

-Select 3 “must do’s” each day and tackle them first.

-If you have more time, add 2 more tasks and complete them.

-Over time you will see a list of activities that keep being pushed forward to another day. Now is the time to evaluate whether they are important to you or you need to let them go. If they are important, can you delegate some of your tasks to someone who would be willing to assist you?

Step 3: Share It

Tell others what you are trying to do…and ask for their support. Think about how they can best support you. I find that when I reach out to others I receive some great ideas that help me be more effective with my commitment. Maybe you can find another “procrastinator” and buddy up to support each other in change.

Step 4: Celebrate

Reward yourself for accomplishing what you set out to do. Know before you start what you will reward yourself with. As soon as you accomplish your small goal, celebrate by rewarding yourself.

Make sure the reward is something you like to do. Time is always an issue for most people, so your reward needs to be realistic…something you can do in an hour. Take a bubble bath, buy a new book, or make time to read your favorite magazine.

Final Thought

There really isn’t a tomorrow, only a today. Choose what is important to you today.

Remember, small steps are wonderful and bring more energy into your life. This is your personal journey in creating more joy in your life.



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Khoon Eng asked:


“Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday”. – Don Marquis

Well, with that quote Don Marquis certainly hit the nail on the skull as far as I was concerned. But that was a short while ago when I was considered the king of procrastinators. I am a changed guy now, but I’ll tell you what – read how I changed, and maybe that could be of some help to procrastinators around the world.

Before I begin snitching on my lazy life, let me first describe procrastination – procrastination is the habit of doing something today that ought to have been done day-before yesterday. Yes, simply speaking, procrastination is the art of keeping on postponing tasks. Now, let’s move on to my story:

Once upon a time, specifically three months back, my routine went something like this – loitering on the couch sipping cups of coffee instead of attending to my daily rest room rituals; bunking exercise, thinking I would catch up on it tomorrow; delaying writing checks that needed immediate attention; faffing around on the couch and staying up late nights watching the TV instead of catching up on my sleep; pushing important tasks such as filing my tax returns till the last date, and so on.

The consequences kept adding up and my slips started showing – my colleagues lost their respect for me as I was fatigued during work hours; my children began treating me as a part of furniture; my friends began avoiding me as I had not bothered to catch up with them for old time’s sake, and every time I gazed into my wife’s eyes, I could read “shape up or ship out” loud and clear. The only guy who loved me was Bud, our dog, but that was not good enough.

From a fun loving human being, procrastination turned me into a lazy dog and from lazy dog I was turning into a sloth pig. I had to do something to shake off my procrastination and restore my self-confidence. I knew my path to salvation lied in my self-determination, but I needed some help. I took my wife into confidence and laid bare my soul, and from there on began my journey of redemption – my wife would now be my guide and mentor and she would help me shrug off my procrastination.

As I look back, I realize that shaking off procrastination is not as difficult as it seems. Here are some of the measures I resorted to – and here’s what I did:

1. First of all, I had to steel my mind. If I had to do it, I had to do it now. This sort of became a chant and though I was a slow starter, I began by immediately attending to important tasks and slowly got a grip on myself.

2. I started thinking positively. I trashed all the negative feelings I had nursed about my boss, my friends, my colleagues and even my wife, and I painted everybody with the color of sunlight and my whole thinking process changed for the better. The cobwebs in my mind cleared and I began looking at people and things in a new perspective.

3. Thinking positive gradually pushed away all the self-defeating thoughts that used to lurk in my mind. “Can’t” became “can; “Shall not” turned into “Will do”, and things began changing because I began getting initial positive feedback from my family members!

4. Gradually, I began planning for tasks and began enjoying the process too! Okay, there was my wife around to goad me on, and my children were looking at their dad in a new light and that somehow gave me the strength to carry on with my anti-procrastination drive.

5. Okay, I’ll be lying if I say that the transformation was magical, because it wasn’t. To begin with, I had to break down important tasks into small do-able pieces and then attend to them. But, with time, I found I could manage monstrous tasks in a snap.

6. Well, I did try out a little meditation and found it had a calming influence on me. Believe me, a calming influence can give you the inner strength to go about your work without anyone’s help or interference.

This is the gist of how I went about busting my procrastination. Today, the sun shines brightly on me as I command the respect of my colleagues and friends and the love of my family.

And, now, if you will excuse me – I’m off to plan my next month’s budget and helping my lovely daughter with her school project work. I began my story with a quote and will now end it with one:

“Someday is not a day of the week”. – Author Unknown

Good luck!



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Christopher Stigson asked:


at you have a time management problem – that you procrastinate. You need to get this part of your life handled or some pretty bad things may happen. Procrastination is a world-wide problem and has hurt more people than it probably has helped. Read on in this article to learn how to deal with procrastination.

Know the causes of this behavior – and address it strategically. You should work towards crushing procrastination from your system. There is no better time to do it but now. You shouldn’t wait a little longer, because by then – a lot of time would have already been wasted.

Again, there is no better way to deal with the habit of procrastination than by addressing it as quickly as possible. The problem of procrastination is an issue of inaction. You can best solve it with action – and by pounding on it day in & day out.

Thus, even small steps towards a goal will be all it takes to keep the ball rolling. Small steps will eventually lead to bigger ones – one only has to start with the former to serve as an ignition switch, then you will be ready to go.

It is also important that you do visualization. This entails picturing yourself doing your work and completing it. It is about building your confidence and projecting the right attitude & the energies necessary to the completion of the tasks on your list. Being able to picture yourself completing the tasks successfully will be a good psychological advantage for you.

Defeating procrastination may be difficult – and many will continue to struggle with it. At times one will succumb to it, but for the most part one should be able to overcome it. One should learn from the damages procrastination has brought in the past – and such should not be allowed to happen again. Starting today, you should have no more time to procrastinate.

The emotional attachment to either the fear of loss or increased benefit should be CLEAR for the person who wants to overcome procrastination in any fair amount of time. This means that you will need to know why you want to change. Is it because of your fear of loss or because of your intended goal?

Now that you have learned about how to deal with procrastination it’s time to take action and do what you need in order to live life to the fullest!



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Larry Rivera asked:


Overcoming procrastination is one of the major dilemmas facing anyone, whether in their personal or professional life. The habit of putting off work instead of attending to them right away has caused several lost opportunities or missed deadlines. In your aim towards increased productivity, this can be considered an unhealthy habit.

Who Is A Procrastinator?

To overcome the habit of a procrastinator, you should first identify the common tell-tale signs. Because this is a habit shared by several people, sometimes you won’t even be able to identify that you possess these characteristics.

A procrastinator is someone who puts off task at a later time, thinking they have the ability to complete tasks last-minute. Plus, s/he likes to believe that they have things under control until confronted by the reality that time is fast running out and there are still loads of work to be done. Even though he or she manages to complete the task on time, the quality is questionable.

Reasons For Procrastination

There are several reasons why people procrastinate. Oftentimes, it is innate to an individual or it could be lack of self discipline. However, it is important to point out the reason for this unhealthy habit so as to know how to deal with it.

1.Desire for perfection. Aspiring for perfection is not a negative thing. However, you have to make sure that it is realistic enough for your own skills. If not, then you are merely finding an excuse to postpone tasks.

2.Frustration. When tasks become too difficult, an individual’s response would be to give up easily due to frustration. Aside from complaining about the task, you often decide to put it off until such time when you are at a better mood to attend to it.

3.Lack of belief in own ability. When you start doubting your own skills and abilities, you will find it of no use working on the task assigned to you. Hence, you will lose productive time and end up accomplishing nothing.

Finding A Cure

Only when you have been able to recognize the reasons for your procrastinating habits will you be able to arrive at a resolution to your problem. There could be several reasons for this, so you have to arrive at a specific angle to effectively address this unhealthy habit.

For some people, responsibility is a burden. Therefore, when they are obliged to do something, they initially resent it and look for ways not to deal with the responsibility. However, by embracing your task as something that you actually enjoy doing, then you’d become more productive in it. In order to do that, you must create a balance between work and recreational activities. Do not punish yourself by depraving your schedule with fun. Make room for fun into your schedule. This might seem unproductive but by doing this, you will realize that you become more productive.

As soon as you start work on a task, the amount of work you need to put in could readily discourage you. Therefore, you need to mentally condition yourself to appropriate this one large task into smaller tasks that are more manageable. Once you get started on one, you will find it easy to pick up the pace and before you know it, you are finished.

Benefits of Overcoming Procrastination

1. Peace of mind

2. Having a sense of accomplishment

3. Regaining control of your life

4. Increased personal freedom

Self discipline is essential in helping overcome the habits of procrastination. When you learn to identify the unhealthy habits you possess, you can be on your way to overcoming procrastination and increasing your productivity.



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