3 Procrastination Myths you need to know

Statistics show that 95% of people admit to procrastination with 20% being classified as chronic procrastinators.

We all want to be more productive. Achieve our goals, tick off our bucket list & live our best life. But we get held back by things like procrastination.

Since it’s such a common behavior, many myths surround it. If you’ve been beating yourself up thinking that you are lazy, it’s time to change that narrative.  

 

 1.      Procrastination is just laziness

It’s not always as simple as lacking motivation or willpower to do the things you need to do.

According to Itamar Shatz, PhD, procrastination and laziness are not the same. Procrastination means delaying unnecessarily, whereas laziness means unwillingness to make necessary effort

There is always a root cause when we procrastinate and identifying it is the first step to dealing with it.

Root causes can be fear of failure, perfectionism, anxiety, burn out and even rebellion. Understanding these will help you more instead of band-aiding it by just “powering through” whatever task you are putting off. 

2.    Procrastination leads to higher productivity

We all have that one friend (or maybe it’s us) who says “I work well under pressure,” and waits until it’s the last day to study for an exam or a project. This is simply our ego protecting itself and coming up with excuses.

While it may be true that others work best under pressure, it isn’t sustainable (trust me I tried).

It increases your stress level, you do lower-quality work and let’s face it, you miss deadlines. Even worse, making this a habit will lead to chronic procrastination.

 

3.    Procrastination is a time management issue

Before you max your calendar & prioritize every task on your to-do list, hear me out. It is not always about time management.

We think better time management will solve our procrastination problems. The reality is that planning and organizing is a form of procrastination.

We get that high from thinking that we are productive because we color-coded our calendar and our entire week is planned out. Honestly though, how many of those tasks did you actually do?

I’m not saying don’t plan ahead, I’m saying that recognize when you are hiding behind planning.

Stop and question yourself, do an honest evaluation, identify the root cause and address it.

 

Procrastination is often a deeper problem that we realize and recognizing what it truly is will help you handle it better. I hope debunking these myths will help you do that.

 

Until next time

xo xo