Do you wake up in the morning and go to the office facing a day full of promise and productivity? Does that feeling stay with you throughout the day or do you find that your productivity waning because you lose track of time and procrastination starts kicking in? Did you know there are five reasons for procrastination and that you can also kick those habits as long as you recognize that they’re thwarting a “good day” on the job?
Here are five ways that procrastination may be holding you back from being all that you can be and completing all that you want:
- Outside influences: Do you feel you need the “perfect” time to start a project? Do the stars all have to be in alignment? Bear in mind that there is no perfect time, you need to know that waiting for perfection is an obstacle you’re placing in your own path.
- Are there skills you’re lacking: If you are lacking in specific skills to complete a project you need to address that and perhaps look to an outside source to build up the skill set in which you’re deficient. To stop procrastination, you need to identify it, work on that skill and then jump back into it.
- Are you addicted to escapism: There are some entrepreneurs that simply look for ways to not concentrate on the problem or project at hand. They spend so much time looking for an answer to the immediate problem that they don’t act on it.
- Outside stressors: If you’re suffering from emotional stress and/or lack of confidence that can hold you back. In this case, you have all of the skills and resources you need to complete a project, you just don’t have the emotional energy necessary.
- Unaddressed inner feelings: In some cases, entrepreneurs procrastinate simply because they don’t want to – or aren’t meant to – participate in a particular project. It could be you were simply swept along on the tide of wanting to be involved even though it was outside your particular realm of expertise or true interest. Once you understand this, you can extricate yourself from the situation.
Once you understand your reasons for procrastination you can usually move past it and become your most productive self.