You’ve probably done it before… You know you need to get out of bed, but you keep pushing the snooze button.
You need to clean out the fridge but instead, you avoid opening it.
You need to study for a test, and suddenly you want to clean the kitchen.
You need to write 5000 words for your book, but instead, you choose to scroll through your social feeds.
You need to work on you budget for the coming month but decide to update your website for the 100 th time.
I can go on and on.
In some cases, you may not even realize you’re procrastinating. While in others, you realize you’re doing it, but continue anyways.
Let’s look at a few signs to help you figure out when you’re either falling or have fallen victim to procrastinating.
1. Negative Thoughts
The task triggers negative internal dialogue often focused on making you believe that you aren’t good enough or that you’ll never succeed.
Instead of picking one thing or something small that you can get done quickly, you focus your attention on the larger goal, allowing yourself to become overwhelmed or anxious.
2. Shiny Object Syndrome
You find things to do other than what needs to get done.
When you think of the task instead of getting started, you start doing other things like the dishes, cleaning the baseboards, or other busy tasks that don’t have deadlines looming.
3. Waiting for the “Right Time”
You keep waiting for the right time or motivation to get started. This is a common problem for many people who claim to want to do something like go on a special trip, move across the country, go back to school, ask for a
promotion at work, start a business, and so forth.
4. Stuck in the Learning Loop
You find yourself constantly learning instead of implementing what you’ve learned. This happens with a lot of people who are creative and entrepreneurial. They like learning about things, but they’re not so great at
implementing.
5. Always Busy
You're always busy but never seem to accomplish much. If that’s you, you probably are always cleaning, but your house is disordered.
You’re always working, but you never finish anything you start because you don’t have time because you’re taking on another project.
Acknowledging your procrastinating tendencies is the first step to learning how to overcome this habit.
Once you’ve added something to your to-do list, you should have already determined its importance to your day and life.
If you start making excuses or trying to say that the thing isn’t important to do when you decided, maybe you need to redo your to-do list and plans. Identifying your procrastination triggers and then devising a plan to halt it will turn you into a more productive person.
