I have been thinking about writing a blog about waiting until the last minute but I keep dropping it to the bottom of my list. Ah, procrastination! Why do people do it? I even do it! I eventually get to what needs to be done – albeit late, and sometimes kicking, but I get there.

Here are the top reasons why people procrastinate and how to address the issues:

Fear of Failure or Success:

You’re thinking, why would someone be fearful of success? It seems pretty clear – success is a good thing. Yes, but within that there are big things at stake. With success comes failure. It takes time, perseverance, and in a lot of cases practice to be successful. When you get there, then what? How do you maintain the momentum to keep going? Once you succeed the expectation will be that success is the norm. Take things in steps. You cannot get everything accomplished at once; and it can certainly be overwhelming to think about all of the things that need to be done to be successful. Breaking things into elements makes it easier to manage and not as daunting.

Unpleasant Projects:

How many times have you moved a project to the end of the list because it was something you really didn’t want to do? I am sure too many times to count. I am guilty as charged. Ultimately it has to be done though. Not everything you do is going to be a task that you are looking forward to. Moving it around to different spots will not make it go away. Consider doing something nice for yourself when you complete a project that you are simply dreading. Write down something you would like to do for yourself and put it in a prominent spot. It will serve as a reminder to encourage you to move ahead.

Overwhelming Tasks:

Sometimes don’t you just feel that there is so much to do; and you simply cannot begin to wrap your mind around it all? You make lists – but they never end. Tasks are crossed off and others take their place. It is easy to become overwhelmed, and then simply do nothing at all. This, of course, makes things worse; then you have more things to do and seemingly no end in sight. Consider breaking your list into pieces. You can then manage the different parts. If you simplify things into smaller components, they become easier to understand and handle.

Disorganization:

A long time ago – in my former life when I worked for a big corporation I had a co-worker who made the disorganized look like they were the pictures of Franklin Covey. She had piles – I mean piles of papers, folders, and I don’t know what else around and on her desk. If she lived in a castle, the stuff could have very well formed a moat – no doubt to ensure organization did not creep in. It did not allow her to complete things on time, that much I could tell you. Disorganization breeds poor planning, which leads to an inability to deliver on time. Keep things organized; if this means you need to keep a notebook or containers to manage ‘stuff’ – then do that. Identify a way to allow yourself to maintain order.

Ducking the Easy Win:

This one may sound counterintuitive. Why would you delay completing a task that will be easy for you? The thought process runs like this – I need to do X but I also need to do Y and Z; X is so easy I can wrap it up in five minutes, whereas Y and Z are much harder – so let me focus on Y and Z and then I can do X right at the end of the day and accomplish a whole bunch today. This is great logic except for the fact that you never get to Y or Z and by default X still remains on the list. If you have something easy to do, and it is important, then do it – it will give you a sense of accomplishment and give you much needed momentum.

I have another 5-10 examples, but I will get to them at another time …