Why do you procrastinate important things?
And how do you stop procrastinating the things you want to do?
These are the questions I am going to answer in this article.
Here is what you are going to learn:
- Why you procrastinate (in general)
- Why you procrastinate important things even more
- How to stop procrastinating
Why You Procrastinate
Imagine an alien species came to Earth who never procrastinated.
A species who had limitless will power and energy to get things done.
If a species like that came to Earth and saw people procrastinating, they would be very confused.
The Alien Perspective
Alien: Rob, why are you not taking that computer programming course you keep saying you are going to take?”
Rob: “I will, I will, I just have to finish binge watching Game of Thrones for the third time.”
Alien: “But you aren’t getting anything out of watching Game of Thrones. And the computer course will get you a promotion, higher salary, and the satisfaction of doing more fulfilling work.”
Rob: “Shhh!!! This is that awesome scene with Hodor!”
Alien: “Does. Not. Compute.” *Alien’s brain explodes*
To the alien, Rob’s actions seem completely insane.
But what the alien doesn’t realize, is that there are powerful forces at work which cause us to procrastinate.
Why You Procrastinate – Reason #1: You Try to Do Too Much at Once
I’ve seen this time and time again. People set unrealistic expectations for themselves, and then get overwhelmed and give up entirely.
Imagine you are up at night, planning out your next day.
“Tomorrow I’ll study four hours, do an intense workout, meditate, clean, and start a new diet!”
Then the next morning you wake up and lose that motivation.
Why?
You are trying to do too much at once.
And you end up going “there is no way I can do all of this, so I may as well not do anything.”
Why You Procrastinate – Reason #2: You Bias Your Present Self Over Your Future Self
You have two versions of yourself:
- Present Self: The version of you who is living in the present moment
- Future Self: The version of you who will come into being in the future
Your Present Self is the part of you that is a huge procrastinator.
Why?
Because your Present Self has to do all the work and isn’t going to see the benefits (your Future Self will get those).
All your Present Self wants to do is eat cookies and watch YouTube all day.
So, your Present Self has a very compelling reason to procrastinate.
This is a phenomenon that has been extensively studied and is known as present bias.
Why You Procrastinate – Reason #3: You Are Only Focused on Extrinsic Rewards
Whenever people have goals, they have certain rewards (benefits) they are seeking from the work they are doing.
There are two types of rewards you can focus on:
- Extrinsic Rewards: Rewards that come from outside yourself (e.g., doing things to get money, better grades, or impress others)
- Intrinsic Rewards: Rewards that come from within (e.g., doing things because of the joy of learning, the creative expression involved, or the sense of accomplishment you get)
When you focus ONLY on extrinsic rewards you are more likely to procrastinate.
Why?
Because extrinsic rewards are more outcome-focused, and the outcomes you are looking for aren’t going to happen for a while.
Whereas intrinsic rewards are more process-focused. So, you will get those benefits right away.
And your Present Self is going to be a lot more likely to want to do something if it gets immediate benefits.
Side note – much more on intrinsic vs. extrinsic rewards in this article.
Why You Procrastinate – Reason #4: You Rely on Motivation Alone
Motivation is very unreliable.
Sure, those days you are super motivated are great.
But what about all the times you are not motivated?
No one is going to be motivated 100% of the time. There are times you are tired, low energy, or just plain feeling lazy.
And those are the times you procrastinate.
Side note – I will talk about a better alternative to motivation later when I discuss how to stop procrastinating.
Why You Procrastinate – Reason #5: Distractions
Another huge reason why you procrastinate is due to distractions.
Let’s say you want to spend the day studying, meditating, and working out.
But then things start to distract you.
- YouTube
- TV
- Friends
- Food
- Social media
- Spontaneous things that come up and occupy your time
- Etc.
And you end up procrastinating by giving in to these distractions, and not getting anything done.
Why You Procrastinate – Reason #6: It Isn’t Really a Priority for You
Do you have anything you have been procrastinating forever?
Some back burner project you never seem to get to. Which you keep feeling guilty about?
For example, say you always TALK about writing a book, but you never seem to get around to doing it.
One possibility is that writing a book truly is a dream of yours.
In which case, hopefully after reading this article you can stop procrastinating that dream!
But a second possibility, is that writing a novel ISN’T as big a priority for you as you may think.
It may be that the IDEA of writing that book sounds great, but the actual REALITY of it does not.
When you dream of writing the book, what you are really picturing is you magically transported into your Future Self.
And your Future Self is proudly looking at the finished book you wrote.
But in real life, you have to go through the full process of writing the book, which is a ton of work.
And you may be procrastinating writing because you really DON’T LIKE writing as much as you tell yourself you do.
Insert whatever it is you never seem to get to in place of “writing a book.”
Why You Procrastinate Important Things EVEN More
Now that I’ve laid out why you procrastinate in general, I’m going to talk about why we often procrastinate important things even more.
You’d think you would procrastinate important things less, because they are a higher priority for you.
But that’s not the case at all.
Here’s why:
Why You Procrastinate Important Things Even More – Reason #1: They Are Usually the Hardest Things
Think of all the important things you want to do. I bet you most of them are hard.
Perhaps your list looks something like this:
- Exercise
- Meditate
- Study more
- Eat healthier
- Start a business
- Learn a new language
- Etc.
Some of these things are easy in theory (e.g., meditation and eating healthier) but are hard to know how to get started, and to follow through on.
Other important things that may be on your list (e.g., starting a business, learning a new language), are long-term goals which are hard to do, period.
It’s no wonder you may have more trouble procrastinating important things, since most of them are more difficult.
Why You Procrastinate Important Things Even More – Reason #2: Other Urgent Short-Term Priorities
Often, you procrastinate important things because there are other things that are more pressing in the short-term.
Let’s say you want to start a YouTube channel, and that’s always been a major goal of yours.
If you could focus solely on your YouTube channel, you might eventually get around to it.
But in the real world, you have tons of other competing priorities occupying your mind.
Earning money, going to school, running errands, spending time with family and friends, etc.
You can’t just NOT do these things, because they are also important.
And even more so, these other priorities are more URGENT in the short run.
So, you end up devoting most of your energy towards these urgent, short-run priorities and putting off the big, important things forever.
Even when in theory you have free time to work on those important things, you still end up procrastinating them.
Since your energy is depleted from all the short-run tasks you had to focus on.
Why You Procrastinate Important Things Even More – Reason #3: Fear of the Unknown
Often the important things we want to do have a lot of unknowns in them.
Let’s say you want to start building muscle. There are a ton of unknowns there. Like:
- How do I start?
- What information can I trust?
- When should I work out?
- How often?
- What should my routine be?
You are much more likely to procrastinate something if you aren’t clear on how to do it.
Why You Procrastinate Important Things Even More – Reason #4: Big Up-Front Investment
A lot of the important things you procrastinate involve substantial work to get started.
For example, for a long time I procrastinated starting this blog.
Why?
A good amount of work was involved to get it going.
Such as:
- Figuring out where to host the site
- Designing a log
- All of kinds of weird technical stuff that I’m not going to bore you with
- And of course creating the actual content
I’m not saying it was the hardest thing ever, but it was enough of a hurdle to delay me for a while.
Now that I have all that initial stuff worked out, it is not quite as difficult.
I can spend more of my time writing, and less time on those other elements.
But the initial investment was big, which exaggerated the present bias effect I mentioned earlier in this article.
Why You Procrastinate Important Things Even More – Reason #5: People Say You Can’t Do It
This won’t apply to every goal you have, but for some of the bigger ones, you are going to get naysayers.
People telling you that you can’t do it or that it is not practical.
This is especially true with the bigger goals you have, like starting a business, learning a difficult skill, or dramatically transforming your physical shape.
It can be intimidating to go after something when people don’t believe in you.
Why You Procrastinate Important Things Even More – Reason #6: We Think It’s Too Late to Start
A lot of times you put off important things because you wish you had started earlier.
You think: “If I had only done that 5 years ago.”
Instead of thinking:
“5 years from now, how much progress will I have made if I start now?”
Why You Procrastinate Important Things Even More – Reason #7: Fear of Failure
Fear of failure is one of the biggest reasons why you procrastinate important things.
The idea that you could fail leads you to not even want to try it in the first place.
There are two reasons people fear failure:
- Actual: A legitimate understanding that it might not work out
- Perceived: An irrational sense of fear that paralyzes you
In many cases, it is the perceived fear that is deterring you.
And even when there is a chance of ACTUAL failure, that shouldn’t stop you from giving it your best shot.
But for most people, it does.
How to Stop Procrastinating
So, how do we stop procrastinating important things?
Here are 9 strategies you can use right now:
How to Stop Procrastinating – Strategy #1: Break Things Down Into Small, Specific Steps
One of the most overwhelming feelings is to imagine doing a really huge, difficult task.
It just seems impossible sometimes, right?
Well, the way around that, is to make it NOT huge/difficult.
That is, by breaking that big task down into smaller tasks.
For example, let’s say you have to study for an exam.
And you realize to get through all the textbooks/study material, it will take you at least 10 hours.
And that seems pretty daunting.
But if you just decide to just study for 20 minutes at a time, that smaller chunk might seem more manageable.
And you are less likely to procrastinate doing it as a result.
Recommended Article: How to Break Down Goals Into Steps
How to Stop Procrastinating – Strategy #2: Form Habits Instead of Relying on Motivation
As mentioned earlier in this article, motivation is not reliable on its own.
Some days you are motivated, other days you aren’t.
The key is to form habits, which are things you do REGARDLESS of whether you are motivated.
To quote myself from a previous post:
Habits are about getting things so ingrained into your routine that you consistently do them without giving them a second thought.
Side note – Want to know how to form good habits? You may be interested in this article on how to focus on the process not the outcome (it will really help!).
How to Stop Procrastinating – Strategy #3: Focus on the Process Instead of the Outcome
Remember how earlier I said one of the likely reasons why you procrastinate is that you are too focused on extrinsic rewards – like money, fame, and success?
Well, if you start focusing more on the process, then you are more likely to find intrinsic rewards in what you are doing.
And when you truly enjoy something, you are much less likely to procrastinate doing it.
Side note – Here is a full article on How to Focus on the Process (you can also watch the video below)
How to Stop Procrastinating – Strategy #4: Reward Yourself for the Little Things
Speaking of rewards, another way to procrastinate less is to reward yourself for the small achievements.
If you are working out, don’t wait to give yourself credit until you achieve some very long-term goal (e.g., “gaining 50lbs of solid muscle!”).
Instead, give yourself credit for the little successes along the way.
For instance:
- Doing another rep on a lift.
- Learning a new exercise.
- Or sticking with your routine for a week.
If you reward yourself for those small things, you reduce the present bias we discussed earlier.
Because you don’t have to wait as long for the benefits to arrive.
Side note – If you are interested on how to stop procrastinating working out, check out my article on how to stick to a workout schedule (or the video below)
How to Stop Procrastinating – Strategy #5: Focus on a Few Goals at a Time
If you ever find yourself procrastinating because the tasks on your list seem overwhelming, consider narrowing your focus.
Instead of trying to do a zillion things at once, focus on just a few goals at a time. Or even just one.
If you try to do everything at once, you are likely to get intimidated, and start procrastinating.
And then you’ll end up getting nothing done.
But if you focus on just a few goals at a time, things will be less overwhelming.
And you will be less likely to procrastinate.
How to Stop Procrastinating – Strategy #6: Use a To-Do List and Stick to It
A to-do list can be a very valuable tool for avoiding procrastination.
It allows you to:
- Keep track of your goals
- Prioritize them
- Determine when you are going to accomplish each task on your plate
You are much more likely to stick to something if you write it down.
Also, a to-do list helps you develop a specific plan for what you are going to do and when you are going to accomplish it.
Of course, a to-do list only helps if you stick to it, so make sure your schedule is reasonable.
Side note – here is an article with 17 Simple, Yet Highly Effective To-Do List Strategies
How to Stop Procrastinating – Strategy #7: Don’t Overthink
One of the biggest reasons for procrastination is overthinking.
Ideas are one thing – acting is a whole other matter.
Most people spend far too much time thinking about what they want to do and not enough time acting on it.
And one of the biggest ways people overthink is spending too much time in the planning stage.
Planning is incredibly important of course, but there is a delicate balance between being well-prepared and overthinking.
The best way to get things done is to take in enough information to develop a good plan, then dive in right after that.
This is especially important when you find yourself procrastinating important things.
When I was making this blog, it was very tempting to get lost in all the articles and YouTube videos out there on how to start a blog.
At first that information was helpful.
But at some point, things began to shift from taking in helpful knowledge, to procrastinating.
At that point, I had to stop overthinking, and just go for it.
How to Stop Procrastinating – Strategy #8: Stop Feeling Guilty
A lot of people feel guilty about procrastinating.
The problem is, guilt is not a very energizing emotion.
In fact, it’s the complete opposite.
When you feel guilty you get completely demoralized and discouraged.
And when you are down on yourself, you end up procrastinating even more.
Which leads to this endless cycle:
- Procrastination —-> guilt
- Guilt —-> procrastination
Instead of feeling guilty, forgive yourself when you procrastinate, and focus your energy on trying to do better next time.
How to Stop Procrastinating – Strategy #9: Ask Yourself if This is Something You Really Want/Need
If you have been procrastinating something important for a long time, you need to ask yourself the following questions:
- Is this something I am required to do?
- If not required, is it something I truly care about?
If the answer is “yes” to either question, then see the above points for how to stop procrastinating and finally get it done.
But if the answer is “no”, remove it from your list entirely, and stop worrying about it.
Conclusion
Procrastination is something that has plagued all of us at one point or another.
Especially when it comes to procrastinating things that you really want to do.
I hope this article helps you better understand why you procrastinate important things and how to stop.
Want more on how to stop procrastinating?
Check out these resources:
- How to Stop Putting Off Work (& Get Stuff Done!): An article/video on two things. (1) WHY you put off working on things. And (2) HOW to stop putting things off, and start getting stuff done.
- Click here for a collection of my best articles on how to build self-discipline (including how to stop procrastinating)