Why you put off important things - the real reasons
We all know it: we put off things that "really" should be important and do less important stuff instead. The author also knows this phenomenon and names three fundamental causes.
You prefer to go to a meeting instead of advancing strategic thinking. You'd rather check emails than talk to an important person. You'd rather perfect the design of the presentation instead of testing the effectiveness of the message. And so on. There are hundreds of instances when we do the unimportant things first and put off important things.
Why is that? Why do we sabotage ourselves? Why do we leave things undone even though we know full well that they have to be done anyway? Well, the answers to these questions fill entire bookshelves and video platforms. So it seems relevant. The problem: most advice focuses on techniques to stop procrastination. That's all well and good, but there are root causes underlying the phenomenon that hardly anyone addresses.
Here are three fundamental causes of procrastination that I strongly recommend considering (with lasting positive effects on your productivity and motivation):
- No energy.
You know how it is: you are most likely to get distracted and stop important activities when you have little energy left. Low energy is one of the most common reasons for procrastination. Even great methods won't help: when you're mentally tired, your subconscious will do everything it can to steer you toward relaxing activities. The good news: energy can be increased in a targeted way. There are various good methods for this. Contact me if you need ideas on how to do this. - No clarity.
It's like a law: Lack of clarity leads to uncertainty and delays You know this from your own experience, too: If you don't know exactly what you have to do next to get to the goal, there's a high probability that you'd rather not get started. By the way, this is also one of the big levers for higher productivity in your team: Create more clarity, namely about goals, steps to the goal, dealing with obstacles and so on. - Poor environment.
The environment has an incredibly strong influence on us - and also on our productivity. As a rule of thumb, the more reasons you have around you to be distracted, the more you will put off important things. That includes objects, events and people, by the way. My tip: Reduce everything that could distract you.
Here's another idea: share these tips to help others procrastinate less. Your productivity will increase noticeably.
To the author:
Volkmar Völzke is a success maximizer. Book author. Consultant. Coach. Speaker. www.volkmarvoelzke.ch
