“Why do we procrastinate?” asked one of the readers of last week’s newsletter—the one about defining your target market. (http://susanjamescoach.com/what-if-youd-know-shirley/)
Indeed, I wondered, why do we procrastinate? Then I immediately procrastinated. I waited to answer his question. You see, we all do it—but why?
Procrastination has plagued mankind for a long time. Philosophers thought about it and wrote about it. Writers, speakers, thinkers, humorists, public figures, Presidents—all have thought and talked about procrastination. One of the key figures in Gone with the Wind, Scarlett O’Hara said it well: “I’ll think of it tomorrow, at Tara. I can stand it then. Tomorrow, I’ll think of some way to get him back. After all, tomorrow is another day.”
So what is procrastination actually? Merriam-Webster Dictionary has a very strong opinion about procrastinators and says this in the definition: to be slow or late about doing something that should be done: to delay doing something until a later time because you do not want to do it, because you are lazy, etc. Well there, they said it…you procrastinate because you are lazy, etc.
My observation about business owners is not that they are lazy, etc. It is something deeper, and it is worth examining a little more closely.
Having worked with hundreds of business owners, I have found that people usually procrastinate for the following five reasons:
- They are afraid that their action will not turn out.
- They don’t know how to perform the action and they don’t want to take the trouble to find out.
- The human condition called “dominate avoid domination” kicks in. In other words, “No one is telling me when to do something.”
- They have no real vision of their company’s future. They don’t see the point of doing it.
- They are defeated and have given up entirely.
Generally speaking, when procrastination shows its head in coaching I want to examine the why of the procrastination with the client. In most deeper discussions, we end up with one of the above five reasons. Once the reason is clear, then you have an opportunity to solve the challenge and move forward. Suddenly, something that had stopped them is now moving them forward to a business goal that they did want to achieve.
I don’t think the five reasons listed above are the only ones. I am very interested in knowing why you think you procrastinate. Please give me your answers below. I look forward to hearing from you.
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