Most of us have a bad habit. As hard as we may try to deny it, there’s a magnetic lure toward something we know we shouldn’t really be doing – that we do anyway.
The list is endless. Smoking cigarettes, eating an entire bag of Twix Bars in one sitting or biting ones fingernails. You know your vice, and you know you shouldn’t be doing it. Have I done, or do I partake in any of the above? That’s beside the point.
“Why do it now when you can do it tomorrow”? had once been a long-standing motto of mine.
Once presented with an assignment for school or university, I’d much prefer to flambé a duck, wash each floorboard in the house with a toothbrush or pluck each hair from my leg individually before sitting down to complete the assignment at hand.
“It enhances my creativity”, I’d say, left leg shaking independently from the rest of my body, eyes twitching, as I’d finish a fourth instant coffee at 2am. Sure, the pressure of deadline makes one work with double the usual efficiency, but often at a negative cost. The result rarely up to what it could have been, had the task been done with enough time.
Why do we put ourselves through this? We know, deep down in our souls that leaving it all to the last minute helps no one, least of all you.
I dug around the depths of the Internet for some answers on why most of us will choose to read aloud the tweets of Jeremy Clarkson to their entire family before sitting down to do a tax return.
In psychology circles, procrastination stems from an incompatibility between our cave-people brains and our modern brains. It comes down to a freedom of choice, and ultimately impulse control. Canadian psychologist Piers Steel has narrowed down four variables for our procrastination habits
1. Value of the task at hand
2. Your inherent need for immediate gratification
3. Your expected level of success of the task
4. Impulsiveness
So when you’re scrolling through Facebook or Instagram, idly watching video after video of kittens frolicking or in search for the perfect chocolate peanut butter cup recipe instead of completing that report – something much deeper is going on in the endless chasms of your brain.
Your primal brain is choosing to fulfil what you believe is your freedom of choice. Now, how to overcome this folly, this crucial design flaw in our hyper stimulated modern brains? Good question.
Tips I came across included; setting goals, breaking the ostensibly gruesome task ahead into smaller more manageable tasks but most importantly – recognising that you are doing it in the first place.
Next time you catch yourself wriggling away from an unpleasant task or project with the ease of a buttered seal, stop and ask yourself.
Why don’t I want to do this?
Because I’m scared of failing?
Because I simply don’t enjoy the task at hand?
Because I would rather wrap myself in my snuggie and eat marmalade on the sofa?
Answer yourself honestly. Recognition is the first step forward in breaking what can often be a career crippling habit. If all else fails, delegate!
Marissa
Resources:
Mindtools
Psychology Today