What most want is to be perfect, and will then procrastinate since being a perfectionist doesn’t offer the capacity of either starting or finishing a certain task, this since they think the outcome won’t ever live up to their expectations.
For those who are impulsive, they procrastinate since they can’t nail down or focus on any one issue or project at a time. It’s the “shiny new object” syndrome of procrastination. They have too many things on the go at once, or will suddenly create new ones on the fly, abandoning the other ones.
Being a perfectionist and being impulsive are thought to be interrelated. They both cause procrastination to varying degrees. They’ll affect some more than it will others.
But the issue becomes not everyone is a perfectionist and not everyone is impulsive, so there must be other triggers which explains procrastination. For instance, procrastination which can last for months or years.
What Drives Procrastination
The deeper you dig, the more clear it appears that procrastination is similar to an illness, that there are many types, roots, and experiences of procrastination. But what happens is that it gets grouped under one umbrella term.
The source of procrastination isn’t sourced from any single trait such as being a perfectionist or being impulsive. Although it would be convenient to pinpoint it to one specific cause, but it’s not that easy.
Procrastination is thought more as an inherent trait of humanity. That the core of procrastination lies in the evolution of us as a species, and thus why it affects everyone.
Reasons Why Most Procrastinate
What we as humans aren’t wired for is long-term planning. The environment where our nomadic ancestors lived and survived in didn’t provide that many reasons to stick around for long.
Their plans didn’t go beyond a couple weeks or a month at a time. Their plans were extremely short lived, as it was based on survival for another day, to escape from some type of threat, or for the immediate gratification of some type of payoff.
What this does is it lends credence to the impulse theory when it comes to procrastination, which lays the foundation why people are incapable of planning and executing a long-term strategy.
What may never be known are the true causes of procrastination, as there are various open ended reasons and explanations. It’s best is to just identify what your specific reasons are.
To Stop Procrastinating
Begin With The Present
We’re in a constant state of partial attention which is rarely completely focused. Today, digital distraction is rampant to disease like levels. Our day is constantly interrupted by random searches on the web, conversations halt as people check their smartphones.
Since we don’t have the ability to completely focus our attention on the present, we’re constantly in a state of partial procrastination, this instead of giving it complete attention or taking action.
To Do Things By Taking Action
What ideas do is they change the world, and these ideas, inventions, are hatched because of focused awareness. So the key is to create, and then have the ability to follow through.
Developing the initial concept or idea is what sets high achievers who are able to get things done. Others who may have hundreds of brilliant ideas, but never acts on a single one, are the guiltiest of procrastinators.
The Revolution Of Taking Mindful Action
There’s a movement which is running rampant throughout our culture. People are wanting to be more focused and mindful, to have more clarity. So forms such as meditation or yoga are being rediscovered, this since living a less distracted life is becoming critical in the workplace and society.
Being at the present moment. Sitting face to face with another human being and then listening to them, adsorbing every word they say, is the new shift in culture activity. To involve active participation.
Groups of individuals are sitting around while talking about their biggest dreams and ideals. Talking in coffee shops is becoming cool and a common occurrence, but it doesn’t need to stop there.
Listening, connecting, sharing insights, and then doing something about it is the new mode of communication. Looking directly in someone’s eyes while conversing and listening produces emotional insight.
Once you slow down and observe, witness that there’s a revolution going on, that people are now stepping away from their digital gadgets and speaking with emotional exuberance, this about their thoughts, feelings, their ideas.
Moving From Procrastination To Taking Action
People are called out to accomplish their tasks whether in their workplace or as entrepreneurs. On a daily basis, we have a list of things to do, to accomplish, everything from the mundane such as doing the laundry to building rocket ships.
What we live in are times of overwhelming distractions, we are also living in an age where there are extraordinary scientific breakthroughs which completely boggles the mind. Nothing happens without pushing aside the distractions, while finding the clarity to do what we set out to do on a daily basis.
The Start Of An Idea
Everything that we have today, every convenience began with a single idea, procrastination wasn’t an option, they took action. The idea was scribbled on a napkin, conveyed as a brief conversation, minds melded.
The ideas happen at the present moment in someone’s mind, someone who has the presence and the focus of mind. So if you don’t follow through on your own ideas, procrastinate, what they tend to do is disappear, that opportunity is lost forever.
Erasing the future before inventing it isn’t the way to go. Once you focus on the right now, take action, then what you’re doing is creating tomorrow.