You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.”
― Abraham Lincoln
Procrastination – the dearth of productivity.
Last Friday, I tackled the piling loose papers on my work desk. Procrastination is a funny thing. According to NY Times, it is not about laziness.
Then what is it about?
It’s about doing something against our better judgment.
The bad news: It’s irrational self-harm. Think about it. It doesn’t make sense to do something you know has negative consequences.
We procrastinate because of our inability to manage negative moods around a task.
― Dr. Fuschia Sirois, professor of psychology, University of Sheffield.
The good news: Procrastination isn’t a character flaw or a curse on your ability to manage time. It is a way of coping with challenging emotions and negative moods induced by certain tasks — boredom, anxiety, insecurity, frustration, resentment, self-doubt, and beyond.
“Procrastination is an emotion regulation problem, not a time management problem,”
― Dr. Tim Pychyl, professor of psychology and member of the Procrastination Research Group at Carleton University, Ottawa.
Now we know, we have to find ways to manage the negative emotion that we associate with certain tasks. I now need to find out what I fear when dealing with all notes I have on my table. There is a huge possibility that my fear is to have to admit that I procrastinate!
#procrastination #timemanagement #trainergina #ginaphan #gp
[Image by Ag Ku from Pixabay.com]
About the Author: Gina Phan is a consultant and trainer with Zinfinity Consulting. She currently conducts courses in workplace performance skills. Click here to contact her, follow her on Facebook, or connect with her on Linkedin.
