I did not procrastinate today. At least not on anything important. I spent the day working, and then with my kids, and then some more working. Now I’m tired.

We watched Merlin today, a show I happen to love watching with my kids. We also watched an old episode of Monk, a show we used to watch together a lot but then of course it went off the air. If you don’t know what Monk is, here’s a link: http://www.crimemysterytv.com/monk/. Watch a few episodes and see if you don’t fall in love with it. Don’t let the crime mystery stuff fool you. Monk is a comedy through and through.

I use TV a lot to keep from having to do other things, like, you know, clean and stuff. :) But I have cleaning down pat anyway. Do what you need to do when you need to do it, instead of feeling guilty because you didn’t do a whole bunch of stuff every day. Seriously. If something isn’t dirty, why in the world would you want to bother with it when there are so many other great things to do with your time, like, you know, watching tv or posting on a blog? <g>

In psychology, procrastination refers to the act of replacing high-priority actions with tasks of low-priority, and thus putting off important tasks to a later time. Some psychologists cite such behavior as a mechanism for coping with the anxiety associated with starting or completing any task or decision. Other psychologists indicate that anxiety is just as likely to get people to start working early as late and the focus should be impulsiveness. That is, anxiety will cause people to delay only if they are impulsive.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procrastination

The point from this article about procrastination that most strikes a chord in me is "Some psychologists cite such behavior as a mechanism for coping with the anxiety associated with starting or completing any task or decision." Pretty sure this is right on for me, although it doesn’t specify why I feel anxiety about these things, only that I do.

I would suggest that the reasons I personally feel anxiety is that I am often afraid of making the wrong choice or doing the wrong thing so that when it’s all done, I’ll have made a mistake. I seem to have a fear of action, not because of the consequences of being wrong, but because of the knowledge that I will have wasted effort. That kind of makes me feel like laziness might be the key factor here. If I make the wrong choice I’ll have to do it all again, and what if I choose wrongly that time too? It would be a never-ending cycle of doing doing doing, for nothing nothing nothing…

I am rational and practical but with a touch of emotional thrown in just to mess things up for me. :) However, I can feel that 2012 is a year for change and I see some major things on my horizon. I am determined to change my ways this year. It’s my year of doing, being, and enjoying. Forget the theory, forget the worry. Decisions have become a seesaw for me. I go back and forth, up and down, changing my mind at the slightest sign. Choices is a word that still holds connotations of finality. So, it’s a year of choices–and sticking them out.

Here’s one of my 2012 resolutions I’ve been scribbling around, in an attempt to come up with a list that will have the most staying power for me.

1) No self-help books–of any kind. Basically I’m going to read only fiction for the next 12 months. Too much self-help doesn’t really help. Analysis only takes you so far.

That’s not to say I have these issues in all parts of my life. Let’s be real. Most people have spot problems. While they have difficulties with procrastination in some areas of their lives, in other areas they deal just fine. That’s the same for me.

I’m sure there will be more to come.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the root causes of procrastination. There are a lot of reasons to procrastinate, plenty of excuses we all give when called out for not doing something in a timely manner or when we’re justifying to ourselves why we’ve put off something important for the umpteenth time.

What I’ve concluded is that a lack of self-discipline is the root cause of procrastination.

The practice of self-discipline stops procrastination simply because self-discipline means you do what you determine you’re going to do whether you feel like doing it or not. Since procrastination is putting off doing something you need to do even though you know there will probably be negative consequences, having self-discipline means not having a procrastination problem. If you choose to put something off, you’ve done so deliberately and with thought. You’re not procrastinating; you’re choosing the consequence of waiting over the benefit of getting it done now.

So, the first step in stopping a procrastination habit is to rebuild self-discipline skills.

I do believe self-discipline is a skill we learn that stays strong the more we practice it. These days, I haven’t had a lot of practice being self-disciplined, which is entirely my own fault for not holding myself accountable and for excusing my behavior without good reason at every turn. This has led to my self-discipline skills becoming atrophied. There really is no other word for it.

I’ve become a slacker without even realizing it until now.

I’m a firstborn child, and lately I’ve done some reading that brought up the issue of birth order. I see a lot of traits that have somehow veered into loser territory and I don’t like it.

I’ve always prided myself on not being lazy. But I’m looking at myself lately and realizing that my perception of myself is skewed. Just because I can work hard and long at something when I want to do it doesn’t automatically mean I’m not lazy. If I don’t want to do something, I get extremely lazy. And isn’t that really where your character gets defined–how you handle the things that you don’t enjoy or want to do but that need doing?

So here starts my journey to become more self-disciplined.

Self-discipline is easier when you don’t have to expend a lot of thought making a lot of little decisions that can eventually wear you down. Studies have shown that making too many decisions can wear out your self-control. Maybe I’m making a leap to say that if that’s so, then creating habits that require little thought can help one be self-disciplined with less chance of failure. So that’s where I’m going to start. :)

Step one: Practice building habits of self-discipline. Coming soon.

There’s a particular task I’ve been procrastinating on. Considering it’s a very important task and I know I’ll have to do it eventually or suffer serious consequences that could have an impact I will feel for many years to come, I’m kind of disappointed in myself for not finding the time to get it done.

I’m not sure why the thought of suffering quite so much hasn’t motivated me to get moving on this task. I estimate it will take me about two to three hours to complete the task and then another hour to do a certain thing that is dependent on my finishing the first task. At that point, I would have a whole lot less to worry about and would probably end up with a lot less stress.

So, why aren’t I trying to get anything done on this thing?

Why Put Off the Inevitable?

I figure there might be a couple of reasons, although none are rational.

1. I want to do it all at once but I don’t have a block of time big enough or enough energy to handle the whole task at once. (I hate working on something in small chunks.)
2. I secretly hope something will change and I won’t need to do this task. (Messed up, but possible, considering this is a very personal task that needs doing, related to a very personal pending legal matter…)
3. I want someone else to make the decisions I will have to make during the course of completing the task. (Not possible.)

My next step is going to be figuring out how to trick myself into doing the task as soon as possible regardless of the silliness going on in my head.

There are times when procrastination isn’t a bad thing. I’ve let many opportunities pass me by that I never regretted having missed. There are also times when procrastinating has cost me big time. The unfortunate part is that you can’t really tell which kind of opportunity you’re letting slip through your fingers by procrastinating until the opportunity has already gone. Or can you?

When Procrastination Makes Sense

I procrastinate doing the laundry sometimes. Not as much as I used to do, but I still let it get away from me sometimes. However, since I usually end up doing fewer loads, use less detergent and hot water, and make fewer trips up the stairs putting things away, I consider it a job perfect for procrastination.

I have a boss who likes to assign tasks but then come back later and say things like "I don’t really need that thing I asked for because I’ve decided I don’t really think it’s a good idea to share that much information…." I admit, I took to procrastinating on the tasks he assigns unless I know it’s something he would never change his mind about. I haven’t had a problem yet and it’s been about 6 years.

Anything that you can see yourself doing quicker, better, or just more easily later is often a good candidate for some strategic procrastination, or at the very least, an opportunity to let yourself indulge in a bit of putting-off, if that’s the kind of person you are. Sure, this kind of behavior is likely to drive a certain kind of person crazy, but as long as it’s not your boss or your husband, you’ll probably find it makes your life a lot less stressful.

On the other hand, there definitely times when it doesn’t make sense to procrastinate, when procrastination will clearly damage your career, your self-worth, your relationships, and just generally make your life harder and more stressful than it has to be. Those are the times when we really notice our procrastination habits and wish we could stop procrastinating.

When Procrastination Doesn’t Make Sense

There are certain things that you do that you know you’re going to have to do at some  point anyway, no matter how long you put it off. If I don’t pay my electric bill when I get the bill (or the money to pay it), I’m still going to have to spend the same amount of time paying it later. The same goes for picking up my dry cleaning, or stopping at the post office to check my box.

Here are two important questions to ask yourself when you feel tempted to put something off.

1. Am I just shifting my time?
2. Are there significant negative consequences if I procrastinate?

If you don’t gain anything from procrastinating other than the shifting of time that comes with choosing to spend ten minutes or an hour doing it now or ten minutes or an hour doing it later, then most of the time, you’re better off just doing it. Otherwise, you have to deal with the added stress of trying to remember that you haven’t done it and still need to do it, and even though that might not add up to a lot of stress individually, it can sure add up to a lot of stress collectively.

The thing is, many of these kinds of tasks have penalties associated with them. You have to pay a late fee when you don’t remember to pay your electric bill on time. Your clothes are donated because you didn’t pick them up in a timely matter. You missed an important time-sensitive letter because you waited to check your box.

Next time you notice yourself choosing to put something off, remind yourself that there are often times when it’s perfectly okay and when it can even benefit you to procrastinate. But if this isn’t one of those times, make yourself do the task anyway. In the end, you’ll be a happier, less stressed person for having done it.