I’ve examined procrastination from every angle – in general and in my own life – and I have concluded there are 2 reasons for it.

  1. We harbor fear regarding what we’re procrastinating about.
  2. We don’t want to do the work required to achieve the task, resolve the issue or face the dilemma.

Procrastination results from either or both of these 2 reasons. And it’s all about the stakes at hand, that is, how daunting or challenging the thing is, or the extent of the consequences if we fail.

procrastination_stakesGenerally, the extent of the fear is defined by how big or ominous we perceive the task to be, and the decision to do or not do the requisite work is defined by how much we stand to lose if we fail.

For example, let’s say I’m procrastinating about whether to travel to an out-of-town football game. Well, since I likely perceive this to be an enjoyable pursuit and there are but a few planning steps for getting to the game, it’s not likely to be ominous; and if I were not to get there for some reason, I’m out the cost of the tickets and some travel expenses, both of which I would have incurred anyway.  So all I’ve missed is the game and I can certainly manage that.

On the other hand, if I’m approached by the CEO of a speaking company asking me to speak to subject matter with which I’m not particularly knowledgeable, I’ll most likely find this challenging, engendering some fear; and if I take on the project and fail to deliver the goods, I’m not likely to hear from this executive again. In this instance, there’s fear of taking on the work and doing the work because the stakes are higher when compared to merely missing a football game.

So, procrastinating or not procrastinating is really about choice – choice predicated on the size and scope of the stakes you assign to whatever is dogging you to accomplish.