Overcoming Procrastination
by Annette Dubrouillet
Copyright, 1999

You’ve heard the jokes about the procrastinators’ recovery group that keeps putting off their meeting date? And we all laugh because we all know it is true. We’ve been there.

Procrastination is a behavior that seems to hit everyone at some point.

• We procrastinate about things we don’t like to do.
• We procrastinate about things that will take energy or time.
• We procrastinate about things we think we can’t do well.
• We procrastinate about thinking about procrastination!

I even procrastinated about sitting down to write this tip on procrastination. I just couldn’t get myself to sit down and do it.

So just how do you overcome procrastination? It is basically a two-part problem:

1. Know what kind of procrastinator you are.
2. Know the steps you can use to avoid procrastination.

Yes, there are different types of procrastinators. The end result may be the same – not getting anything done – but how people get to that end result can vary. Dr. Linda Sapadin, co –author (with Jack Maguire) of It’s About Time: The Six Styles of Procrastination and How to Overcome Them, as the title indicates says there are six different types of procrastination:

1. Perfectionists – set such high expectations for finished products that they fear they may not be able to reach them. They use that for justification not to start.
2. Dreamers – spend time daydreaming of what it will be like to be doing or finishing a project, but they rarely do anything. Actions get in the way of dreams and the dreams are so much more pleasant and easier.
3. Worriers – have a long list of “what-ifs” that is so real to them that they feel better off not doing anything than having to face all those pitfalls.
4. Defiers – want to be in control of their own time, energy and accomplishments. They highly resent any infringement on this control and use that resentment to avoid doing tasks or projects that may have come from an external source.
5. Crisis makers – believe they work better when time is short and the pressure is on. They will put off tasks until the last minute feeling they will work better that way.
6. Overdoers – have typically signed themselves up for too much. They have underestimated timeframes and overestimated how much they can do. The result is their not being able to have enough time to fully accomplish any task.

Do you see yourself there? If not, Sapadin and Maguire’s book has self-assessments you can take to pinpoint your problem.

Most procrastination specialists (to be distinguished from people who specialize in procrastinating) agree that a “divide and conquer” philosophy is good for technique to overcome putting things off. It isn’t finishing a task or project that is always a problem; it seems it is the starting the task or project.

So let’s give you five simple steps you can take to get going.

1. See the separate tasks of a job, not the entire job.
Does cleaning all the kitchen cabinets seem too overwhelming and time consuming? Then, divide and conquer. List all cabinets separately and see each of them as a task unto themselves. You don’t have to clean all the cabinets at one time. Cleaning one will be enough of a task.

2. Schedule a small chunk of time when you are going to accomplish the first task.
Don’t set yourself up for failure by saying you will do 45 minutes or an hour of a job you really don’t like. Schedule small chunks of time. Usually 15 minutes works well. Don’t try for more than 30 minutes. For the kitchen cleaning, if one of the cabinets looks like it will take longer than 30 minutes, then divide and conquer again. Separate the top part of the cabinet (one small chunk of time) from the bottom part (another small chunk.) Actually write on your schedule when you will do that desk. Give it a specific timeframe, not a “when I have time-frame.”

3. Check out how you feel at the end of the first chunk of time.
When you tackle jobs in small chunks, at the end of each chunk, you will find yourself saying one of two things:

a. “That wasn’t so bad. I think I will do some more.” Go for it right away! But only in another small chunk. (You may want to add in a quick break before you start the next chunk.)

b. “Man, oh, man, have I had enough of that. I really hate this job.” STOP! Don’t force yourself to do more than you really want. But do schedule your next small chunk.

4. Know what imperfections you can expect and what you will accept.
It is easy to say that no one is perfect. But that kind of talk doesn’t do much to help a perfectionist. Instead, use your perfectionism as a skill to precisely identify what pitfalls or problems could come up in the task you are now facing.

Do you have a kitchen drawer that has been the catchall for everyone in the household? That could be overwhelming for a perfectionist or a dreamer. After carefully analyzing the situations, you may be find that there are actually 12 drawers in the kitchen and having one be junky isn’t so bad, as long as the others are organized. You can live with that level of imperfection.

5. Celebrate what you have accomplished.
Here’s where you need to see the glass half full instead of half empty. Okay, so after one short 15-minute session all the kitchen cabinets aren’t clean, but one cabinet is! Celebrate that success. Good grief, you have just done something you didn’t want to do, and saw it through to the end of a specified section of the job. You deserve to be proud of yourself. Go ahead and indulge yourself in something you do enjoy.

A woman attending one of my seminars told me she hated filing. So every Friday she filed from 11:30 to 12 noon. When she finished her 30 minutes of drudgery, she celebrated by taking herself out for a nice lunch. What a great way to show herself she appreciated herself. No one else was going to do it for her!

In fact, I did it! Hooray! I finished my procrastination article. Now, I’m going to fix myself a cup of tea and heading out to the deck in the sunshine to read a few minutes of that novel I am enjoying so much. Bye

It’s About Time: The Six Styles of Procrastination and How to Overcome Them by Sapadin and Maguire is published Penguin Books and is available from www.amazon.com and major bookstores. The book list price is $8.95

Note: For you hardcore procrastinators, Dr. Sapadin also does one-on-one telephonic or in person consultations. You can reach her at Lsapadin@aol.com or at 516-791-2780.

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