What Type of Procrastinator Are You?
My husband and I struggle with procrastinating on tasks that we:
Perceive will take more than a couple hours to complete, and
Neither of us is extremely motivated to do, but
We have enough of an opinion about the outcome that we suspect we'll disagree with each other about the completion method.
This means we often delay making travel plans until the last minute, rarely buy much-needed furniture for our house (our living room has been without chairs for six years), and our car is a constant source of stress (neither of us love owning the car -- we would live car-free if we weren't in the suburbs). Thankfully, none of the things we tend to put off have consequences to people other than ourselves. Our procrastination just annoys the two of us.
Research has found that people typically procrastinate for three reasons:
Avoidance -- you simply don't want to take on the task.
Arousal -- you seek the rush of doing something at the last minute -- you enjoy racing the clock to beat a deadline.
Indecision -- you have poor decision-making skills or have difficulty committing to a choice.
My husband and I are clearly avoidance procrastinators. When we put off doing something, it's because we want to avoid the time and energy associated with completing the action. Why do you procrastinate? Which type of procrastinator are you?
If you're a procrastinator, I recommend the following course of actions based on what type of procrastinator you are:
Avoidance procrastinators benefit from having small, time-specific goals in two-, five-, or 10-minute increments. Break the project into individual action items and then challenge yourself to complete a set number of them each day.
Arousal procrastinators benefit from finding a rush elsewhere. Take up a thrill-seeking hobby (sky diving, downhill skiing, riding roller coasters) that can replace your desire to get a thrill from doing things at the last minute.
Indecisive procrastinators benefit from having a coach and going through training to become a better decision maker. Also, check out the PsyBlog for 13 methods for improving your decision-making skills.
