Why We Procrastinate

I have tackled a big project: cleaning the garage. It’s so easy to find almost anything I’d rather do, because I *really* don’t want to do it. I’d even rather do exercises, and that’s saying something for me. I’m trying to focus on the vision of a beautifully organized space, and break down the job into smaller parts. Even so, this is a tough one.

The Require/Desire Grid from “The Organizing Sourcebook” by Kathy Waddill:

	Want to	Don’t want to
Have to
Don’t have to

My riff on needs vs. wants, love vs. hate:

Things that you:	NEED to do	WANT to do
LOVE doing	Family activities	Read, watch a movie
ENJOY doing	Gardening, cooking	Write a book
DISLIKE doing	Exercise, doing dishes	Learn computer program
HATE doing	Clean garage, sort clothes	Have a garage sale

These will vary for each person, and may overlap a bit. But one thing you can count on: the things you really hate to do but which need to be done are going to require healthy doses of self-discipline and hefty rewards to accomplish! They will drain your energy batteries. The ones you enjoy doing can be rewarding in themselves and will recharge your batteries. It may be a good idea to alternate between these two extremes.

Task selection factors

from the book “Manage Your Time, Your Work, Yourself” by Merrill E. and Donna N. Douglass:

· Demands of others
· Closeness of deadlines
· Amount of time available
· Degree of enjoyment
· Order of arrival
· Degree of familiarity

The authors say we tend to do first the smallest, easiest, most interesting tasks first, although they may not be the high priority tasks that contribute toward meeting goals.

Related: Choose Tasks based on deadlines, steps to results, estimated resources, and return on investment.