As author Jennifer Duffy quipped in her article in the Arizona Daily Star on 3/13/06, “I know I should have thought of a better joke, but I ran out of time.”  Jennifer posts several quotes from me in her article on conquering procrastination, such as breaking up large tasks into little pieces, do something for only five minutes to gain momentum, etc.

All those ideas are nice, but fundamentally, if you really want to conquer procrastination, you have to understand the psychology behind WHY you’re doing it.  All the tips in the world won’t help if you don’t take time to understand your behaviors around the procrastination habit.  Then you can match the HOW with the WHY.  Not all tips work for all people.

Lee Silber advocates in the book “Organizing From the Right Side of the Brain: A Creative Approach to Getting Organized” and this article that “right-brain,” creative people procrastinate because they are “afraid of judgment.”  But I believe breaking techniques into supposed “right-brain” and “left-brain” is far too simplistic and doesn’t reflect the complexity of the human psyche.  I’m extremely creative and “right-brained,” but I’m incredibly organized and don’t procrastinate because “I’m afraid of judgment.”  I really don’t care what other people think.  I’m just lazy!  Why work hard on something that can be made easier or more efficient?

For some ideas to get started on analyzing your procrastination behavior, see my article at https://theproductivitypro.com/newsletters/Number%2034%20March%202002.htm

Laura’s Web site: www.TheProductivityPro.com