If this sounds like you, perhaps you are curious as to what causes procrastination. So many people come to therapy for counselling due to a lack of motivation, they cannot understand what's stopping them from getting on and being productive. Let me try to explain what could be going on for you over and above the usual tiredness and burn out that we can all experience from time to time.
Your brain values long-term benefits when they are in the future, but it values immediate gratification when it comes to the present moment. Perfectionists are often procrastinators, they would rather avoid doing a task where they feel they can't meet their own standards, than to do it imperfectly. Another major cause of procrastination is poor decision making. If you can't decide what to do, you may put off taking action for fear you will do the wrong thing. You may have low self esteem or struggle with assertiveness, all of these things being possible contributory factors.
So how can you try to break the habit?
Acknowledge that the anxiety, shame and guilt you can feel whilst procrastinating is usually worse than the actual effort required to begin a task.
Do the things you love (instant rewards) whilst doing the very thing you have been procrastinating over. For example, listen to your favourite music whilst exercising.
Set yourself a rule that within one minute of thinking about what you need to do, you get up without questioning or overthinking, and take action. Don't wait to feel motivated.
Each evening write down three things that you need to do the next day in order of priority. If you commit to nothing you will be distracted by everything!
Identify the consequences of not doing a particular task, how will it affect you or others?
Start your day with the first task that presents itself you; make your bed, let that one initial accomplishment tun into many more.
It can be a hard habit to break and there are many other possible contributing factors that I discuss with my clients during their counselling session. All behaviour comes from somewhere and usually when we delve deeper we can gain and greater insight into what's going on. We are able to identify patterns of behaviour and follow this back to the root cause.
Let me know how you get on, did any of these suggestions help you?
Take care,
Michelle