Being a huge procrastinator in the past myself, I always used to push stuff for later, and that later would never come. Just like Half life 3.
I still push things for future, not willing to do it, because I’m still in my twenties and life isn’t that challenging yet, or is it and I’m just like eh?
But I evaluated why I used to procrastinate and why other people do it all the time, and I was able to break the procrastinator people (Some sort of cult) into three main categories.
- The thrill seekers: The people who’d just push everything to the last moment and chase the deadline like that girl you were chasing last week. These people would work under adrenaline of the deadline as it creates a do or die moment. The club moto is “If it ain’t urgent, it ain’t important”
- The commitment issue: This category is mainly afraid of the results, assuming that it might not work or not go properly so why bother doing it in the first place. This category lacks planning, organization and execution. They’re basically too caught up in thinking ‘what if?’ and end up not doing it at all. What if the people laugh at me if I do it, What if I don’t do a good job, What if it doesn’t work as it supposed to, What if I fail, What if it gets rejected and so on…
- The perfectionist: Nothing is good enough for these people. They’re never satisfied with the outcome and they’ll rather not do it, than do a shitty job. They’re so caught up in perfecting things that they’ll keep on polishing stuff without shipping it, and guess what, the stuff eventually never ships as they’re never satisfied with it. And because the stuff wouldn’t ship, they will feel discouraged, procrastinate even more and it creates the classic positive feedback loop of not doing shit.
I’m pretty sure you’d find yourself in one or more of these categories. We let a long of things pass by without thinking the reason for it. Maybe its a way to reality check some of that stuff to really clarify what’s wrong, if that’s the definition of wrong for you.
What has worked for me is forcing myself to do just a little of it. If I had to create a new website and I do, I’ll start with just the logo or the header text. I wouldn’t plan the website at all. I break the things down into micro tasks that takes merely 30 mins to do. Because of things I only have to work for 30 mins and not pressurize myself for long hours. The magic though is, when you initiate the work, it automatically inspires you to do more. Because you start enjoying the process or feel comfortable with it at least. This way, what was looking like a giant boulder is a mere pebble now if you break it that way.
Happy not procrastinating.
Artwork: https://dribbble.com/shots/4029684-Frustration
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