Oh come on – let the (design) work be work. And take a look at what’s new on a topic that you may suppress and that you put off tackling day after day. So, don’t get distracted by the design and read on!
Procrastinating… what?
Well, I have to confess: Until recently, I didn’t even know what it was. Yes, I knew the phenomenon, but not its name. It didn’t help or hurt either. Be that as it may, procrastination (Latin procrastinatio ‘postponement, a combination of pro ‘for’ and cras ‘tomorrow’) is the tendency to postpone important things, often called “procrastination” or “procrastination”. This certainly affects at least about 20% of the population, but it can also be more (I didn’t have the time for detailed research…). Procrastination starts with small things in everyday life.
Tomorrow, tomorrow, just not today
For example, you constantly postpone activities such as changing the bed linen (“Oh, the one week more or less doesn’t matter. Besides, it still smells somehow… interesting”). Necessary calls to relatives also fall victim to a change of bed linen every evening (which is not done after all), a good movie or general listlessness. As a pupil or student, you are grateful – even in your own experience – for any distraction that prevents you from learning vocabulary or following up on seminars or lectures.
True to the motto “Tomorrow is another day”. Of course, other important deadlines also suffer from procrastination, such as preparing professional presentations, working on a new design or filing a tax return, which in the worst case has serious consequences.
In general, it can be said that people with a tendency to procrastination have a list of priorities, but constantly change it.
Eyes open and through: What are the causes?
The question of the causes of procrastination does not tolerate any delay. It is assumed that there are several possibilities that are responsible for the development of acute “procrastination” individually or in combination:
- One cause can be, for example, deterrent “role models” such as the well-organized father, who fails in family life – or, on the contrary, the mother, who is a lot of bumbling at work, but is a real role model at home.
2. For many procrastinators, an oversized curiosity and open-mindedness towards topics and things of almost any kind leads to the well-known high willingness to distract.
3. The lack of acceptance of foreign requirements imposed from outside means that they are not addressed. Often, the requirements are simply unclear, such as imprecisely worded homework.
4. Another possible cause can be the fear of the new. For example, I always go to the same pizzeria because I don’t know what the new one is like (but I’ll never know).
5. For many procrastinators, the environment is (really) to blame for the fact that they don’t get their tasks done on time: Because they can’t say “no” or just leave the company phone unanswered or only answer their work emails three times a day.
The way out: Keep postponing!
Postpone? Yes, exactly, but in the right direction. To escape from the vicious cycle today (or tomorrow), it’s important to get your priorities right (and keep them that way).
1. Write a list of the things you absolutely have to do. The written form of prioritization helps you to leave this order as it is. It is also effective to tell others about your project.
2. If the tasks individually require too much effort or time, simply divide them into subtasks. After all, small appetizers are more digestible than a thick chunk.
3. Launches SOFORT, NOW, SUBITO. Don’t wait until another opportunity presents itself to postpone the project.
4. Treat yourself to a reward after reaching the set goal.
Well then: Good night!
But let’s not kid ourselves (today and tomorrow): The tendency to procrastination cannot be completely eliminated in severely affected people. Also because there is the possibility that it has a biological cause for many (i.e. is in the genes), even the best tips only help to a limited extent. As uncool as it sounds: If you suffer from acute procrastination, you can only try to accept it on the one hand and do very important (or small) things on the other. Just see the “Pro” in procrastination as a positive signal and change the bed linen today!