The 2 most common reasons you procrastinate
And one is actually pretty cool! (in moderate amounts)
Researchers and bloggers have been talking for years about procrastination. What else can one add to this? I’m procrastinating now (it’s Sunday folks), so I decided to write and comment on a few recent realizations I’ve become increasingly aware of by watching myself and others working with me.
Sometimes I suffer the consequences of procrastination. I don’t think anyone is entirely immune to this behaviour. While I’m sure I’m not lazy, given all that I’ve done throughout the years with many all-nighters and 12+ hour work days, here’s what I realized watching and trying to understand myself.
Creativity and Problem Solving
I sometimes face a complex problem that “needs focus” to get the solution right. However, instead of focusing on the issue, my brain decides it’s a good idea to procrastinate. If you’ve ever been in this position, you know what I mean when I tell you that it’s just hard to focus. Then you procrastinate just to realize that the solution to that problem pops up in your head after a while. What happened here?
It seems to me that my brain is helping me by saying: “Go, let me take care of this in the background; I’ve got enough data to work with. I’ll keep you posted!”. That’s quite cool.
I’m not saying we should all just procrastinate now. What I mean is, don’t beat yourself up too much. Yes, try to focus, but if it becomes too hard, shift your focus to something else, your brain might be working hard on that issue, and you’ll get updates soon enough. Or are you telling me you never had a great idea in the shower?
Motivation and Purpose
We’ve all been in a moment where we have to focus, it’s hard, and on the other side of what I said above, our brain simply doesn’t care about the problem. In my almost three decades of working building and delivering software, this is primarily a lack of motivation and/or purpose.
Maybe we’re working on something that “doesn’t make sense” (at least in our point of view), perhaps there’s been some conflict, the work conditions have deteriorated, we don’t feel valued, and many other possible reasons.
I believe most of us are purpose-driven. We need a purpose to do what we do; otherwise, our brain will keep asking us: “why are we even doing this?” and it will go on strike, aka procrastinating.
On the other hand, when there’s purpose and motivation, then yes, you’ll be ironically saying: “procrastination, what do you mean?”.
I see myself as motivated, curious and purpose-driven, but internal or external factors sometimes take that away from us. It’s up to us to look inwardly and realize our purpose, what moves us, and where we should go next. Sometimes, we just need to move on or shift a couple of things to find that spark again.
Managers should be aware of this and be in touch with their reports. If there’s a motivation or purpose problem, talk about it. Sometimes just being heard and knowing one has a voice is enough to break this ‘hard-to-focus’ wall or bring back purpose.
On a final note…
We’ll have to face moments without motivation when we’ll have to go through them one way or another because it’s important, we’re committed, and we’re part of a team counting on us. It requires good judgement.
I’m sure researchers will have many more insights into the mechanism of procrastination, and some cases might be more problematic than just a lack of motivation or the background work of your brain. Still, these are my two cents based on my “empirical” observations.
Now, “brain”, enough with the procrastination, and let’s get back to work! (or enjoying the beautiful Sunday)
Let me know what you think. Does anything I said make sense, or is it just my brain trying to shift my focus?
