Flylady has declared this week Anti-procrastination week, so I figured, as that is the point of the blog I should make sure I write in it! (I know it is no excuse but I have tried to update it on my phone, but it lost the update when I published it :( )
One of the things I want to look at is why we procrastinate. Flylady says that we procrastinate because of our perfectionism. If we can't do it right we don't do it at all. To some extent she is right, and I definitely used to put things off for that reason (for example when I procrastinated cleaning the bathroom), but I do feel that I understand that reason now and so there must be other reasons for my procrastination. For example, I put things off because I get sucked in to the computer, I think that I have a habit of just looking at nothing! I find it very hard to pull away from the computer.
I recently read some notes by Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church about why we procrastinate. He listed 5 reasons:
1. Indecision. He says that "Indecision causes you to postpone buying a car, choosing a college, getting married, buying new clothes, changing a job."
2. Perfectionism agreeing with Flylady
3. Fear. We're frightened of booking an appointment for the dentist, so we put it off.
4. Anger. Rick Warren says that: Procrastination is a way to get back at people we don't like. We delay. Kids are great at procrastination. You ask them to clean up their room. They do it but they take so long doing it. One of the reasons may be that they're resisting your control. Procrastination is passive resistance. I don't want to do it because I don't like you telling me to do what I have to do. Anger causes us to put things off.
5. Laziness. We do things if they are easy, but if they are hard we put them off.
I guess that we could add being sidetracked to that list. I don't know whether I would class the time I spend at my computer as laziness or sidetrackedness!
Have a great Anti-procrastination day, during Anti-procrastination week tomorrow! I'm looking forward to that!
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A great list of why we procrastinate. And the sidetracking thing should be on there too!
ReplyDeleteI sometimes spend too much time on-line but, since starting Flylady, I'm getting better at recognizing it - and then getting up for 15 mins and making a start (i.e. putting on a load of washing, emptying dishwasher, go through paperwork for 5 minutes). Often it's enough to get me back on track.
Babysteps! LOL