Looking at the title I am sure you are wondering, what? How is procrastination organized? If we take a look at each word and define them we will see clearly how it is so. Organization can be simply defined as arranged in a systematic way. While procrastination can be defined as an active process….You see that? Those two words system and process which is why you can organizationally procrastinate. However; if you shift that energy and practice it in a better way 10 minutes per day you will see that you are no longer falling into the organized procrastination trap.
Now that I have explained that, lets jump into why procrastination and laziness is not the same. I have heard individuals say this as if they are but they are far different. Procrastination, as eluded to above, is an ACTIVE process in which you choose to do something else instead of what you should be doing. If you have children then you know exactly what I mean. My daughter conveniently wants to draw when it’s time to do the dishes. Laziness, however; is INACTIVITY and an unwillingness to act. It’s that “all talk and no action” person. The one who has the goals, yet sleeps the day away. Big difference! Both are traps but BIG DIFFERENCE.
There are things we do that takes up hours of our time leaving no time to do what we really need to do. This busy work or distractions have sent some of us on an unproductive spiral which I call organized procrastination. We allow distractions when we do not want to do what we need to. I see people post about folding clothes all the time. They say they can wash in one day but it takes 7-10 business days to fold. This is because we have conditioned ourselves with such procrastination. We will sit on Facebook 3 hours to avoid folding laundry. We will go mop to avoid folding laundry, we will do anything because the root of it is, “I have washed and I just do not feel like folding too.” I would suggest this be a task for early morning to just get it out of the way because the more you stare at all the unfolded laundry it will only get depressing. If there are multiple people in the home delegating task may help too. What you do not like someone else may be okay doing. A quick family meeting will help with coordinating a chore chart where everyone is involved. If you live alone you should not have as much laundry to do anyway, so why are you complaining.
Research shows that 95% of people procrastinate to some degree. Understand, it said to some degree, so if you briefly delay a task genuinely for a good reason it is not necessarily procrastinating. Individuals who blatantly ignore the unpleasant task in favor of one that is more enjoyable, they make up that larger number. I was organizing the closets one afternoon and what I thought would be a joint effort became a one woman show when I was left to do so alone because suddenly the car needed to be washed. That was a classic case of procrastination. We may not see it as such but it is. We may feel because something else is getting done it works, but no. Avoiding unpleasant tasks to wash a car is procrastination. Minor episodes of procrastination can lead to reduced productivity and cause us to miss out on achieving our goals. Procrastination over long periods of time causes us to become demotivated, which can lead to depression, in extreme cases.
Tips for Overcoming
1. Recognize that you procrastinate. Acknowledgement is powerful because only then you will feel there is an issue to be helped.
2. Get to the root, understand why you are procrastinating. As stated earlier, you may not like folding clothes. That is no reason to keep putting it off but at least now you understand yourself better and you can create a system to get it done in order to have a more productive day.
3. Adopt a strategy: Commit to the task, reward yourself, minimize distractions, and have an accountability partner in place. I have found that doing those things I do not like to do early in the morning before my work day starts, helps me a lot. I feel more upbeat, productive and excited about other walls I can climb. #Motivation
#goingSOLO
#OrganizationallyHealthy
LaToya Nicole
