All of us from time to time have suffered from putting off tasks (sometimes important ones) and often we can’t explain why. This tends to make us feel guilty and we ‘beat ourselves up’ about it which causes even more anxiety and often further procrastination.
So if you’re a sufferer the first step is to understand what causes you to put things off, accept it as a phenomenon and then develop coping strategies for dealing with it.
We procrastinate most when we’re stressed and when we feel overwhelmed by the number of tasks in hand. When we feel highly stressed or frightened our brain automatically puts us into what Dr Michael Carroll refers to as ‘survival mode”. Carroll a specialist in employee wellbeing argues that while in “Survival mode’, we lose access to the part of our brain which among other things gives us the ability to reason, problem solve, plan for the long term and be creative. While we’re in survival mode some of the typical responses are ‘fight’, ‘flight’ and ‘freeze’. And procrastination for most of us could be partly due to the flight and freeze responses.
Often our stress is compounded by our own ‘inner voice’ criticising us for putting off the things we feel we should be attending to. This makes us feel worse and can put us deeper into survival mode, often making us feel overwhelmed by the list of tasks in hand.
So if stress causes procrastination and procrastination causes stress which is the chicken and which is the egg? Well, firstly it’s important to be frank and honest with yourself to establish how stressed you really are. If it’s easy to identify what the cause is and you have the resources to address it that’s great.
For some of us this is easier said than done so I’ve listed below some basic pointers but in addition to these are a wealth of helpful resources on stress at the NHS Direct website:
• Firstly, write down the tasks in hand – there are never as many urgent tasks as your imagination is making you feel there are.
• Next is to actually do something – this can be anything no matter how small that will benefit you in any way. Even just tidying your desk will make you feel more positive.
• Remember to share – talk to a coach, mentor, colleague or trusted other who has your best interests at heart. Be honest with them about outstanding tasks that are worrying you and if you feel brave share what you think might be making you stressed.
• Delegate – where possible give tasks to others and agree a review process to ensure they’ve been completed. It’s amazing how much better you feel once something is off your ‘to do’ list.
• Finally, and most importantly, don’t view procrastination as the ‘problem’ but as a ‘symptom’; if you’re stressed you’re putting things off as a coping mechanism. By addressing the cause of stress first the procrastination will often take care of itself.
And if none of the above works for you I’d encourage you to put off more tasks – try less hard, do less and see what happens.
Finally, this is the first in a series of ‘Agony Uncle’ columns focused on working smarter, coaching and providing advice on key issues affecting how you work and how you can get the most out of that work. If you would like me to cover a specific topic or answer a particular question, please post them in the comment section below.
Peter Welch is head of sales and distribution at Bridgewater Equity Release
