Procrastination is a problem for many people.  For those of us who have suffered from its wrath, escape can seem impossible.  It is vital that you understand why you procrastinate BEFORE you try to kick the habit.  One of the most basic reasons why you procrastinate is not what you think.

You are a procrastinator because you think you are

Tony Robbins asserts that the strongest force in human psychology is the tendency of an individual to ‘act into’ who he believes he is.  Said another way, a person will act like the person that they think they are.  The most important word to focus on here is ‘think.’  When you believe something about yourself, you make it a part of your identity.

When you make something a part of your identity, you will do and say things that are consistent with that belief: both consciously and unconsciously.  An example of this is when you decide to buy a new car and suddenly you start seeing them everywhere you go.  It’s important to realize the role of belief in our lives today and to understand how, specifically, our beliefs about our identity cause us to be procrastinators.  I would also like to offer you an alternative way to see yourself and finally kick the procrastinator to the curb.

What does this mean for the self-identified procrastinator? 

If you believe that you are a procrastinator, you will behave like a procrastinator.  Your mind will tell you to delay the start of tasks, no matter how important they are to you, because that’s what a ‘procrastinator’ does.  You will act as a procrastinator simply because you believe that you are one.

Can’t be.  Too obvious.

All a person has to do is stop believing?  Ok, if that is all that there is to it, why do people still call themselves procrastinators?  If it is that simple, anyone should be able to do it, right?  Unfortunately, no.  There are a couple of important reasons why people still procrastinate.  First, most people do not understand the power and role of belief in their everyday lives.  Second, and more important, you have been rewarded for it. 

Power of belief

Come on, who really thinks that their actions are caused by their beliefs?  ‘Not many people’ is the immediate answer.  Unfortunately, habit runs most of what happens in our lives.  Our thought habits are no different so, if you were not taught to think like this, you don’t think about it that way.  Because you don’t think about procrastination as a function of what you believe, you don’t try to change your belief.

You have been rewarded

I won’t get too deep into this in this post but you have been rewarded time and time again for procrastination.  How?  There are many ways but let us examine one scenario.

Richard often waits until the last minute to write his papers. Instead of spending time researching his papers, reading, or taking notes, he is playing games or watching television because it is fun.  He has never received a bad grade so has never received any form of negative feedback from parents or teachers.  His peers often comment how lucky he is to be able to work less and get good grades. 

Where is Richard’s motivation to change?  There is none because he only receives positive feedback.  Subconsciously, he is associating only positive emotions towards procrastination.  When similar events occur many times throughout life, you become addicted to the habit.  However, it will spread beyond just ‘writing papers.’

A Better Way

What can we do then?  We can choose a better way; that’s what!  Here are 5 things you can do to kick the procrastination habit now, not later:

• CHOOSE WHAT TO BELIEVE ABOUT YOURSELF – If we act into who we believe we are, why not be intentional in our thoughts? It can be as simple as believing that you are a high performer and high producer instead of a procrastinator.  Again, it’s not pseudoscience; it’s true because you decide it’s true.  You decide your identity, not any other person. 
• BECOME AN EXPERT – If believing is the first step, then becoming an expert on the trait is the second. Learn everything you can about the type of person you would like to be.  What are some common traits of high performers?  They produce more in the same amount of time.  Read books on time management and other performance related tools.  Knowing the lingo will add to the persona, or identity, that you are creating and will tell your subconscious how you should act.
• REFER TO YOURSELF AS A HIGH PERFORMER – Tell everyone you know that you are a high performer. Be vocal about your change with friends, colleagues, and family.  Tell them that you used to be a procrastinator but you have done some research on techniques and that you have made some changes.  Now, you are a producer or high performer.  The most important conversations, however, are with yourself.  Tell yourself every day that you are this new way.  Do not focus on “not being a procrastinator,” focus instead on what you have decided to be.  *DISCLAIMER* I don’t mean to just go up to everyone and randomly say this; fit it in as part of the conversation.  This may take practice but it will work out in the end. 
• CONCIOUSLY CHOOSE TO ACT THIS WAY – This should be obvious to you. You will have to force yourself in the beginning because a part of you will fight it violently.  The trick here is to continue to tell yourself that you are a producer and high performer.  TIP:  For each new task, tell yourself that you are only going to work on it for a minute, just to get you started.  I think you will find that you will continue on longer than a minute.  For the procrastinator, the difficultly lies not in finishing tasks, but in starting to work on them.
• TRACK AND MEASURE YOUR PROGRESS – Keep a log of every little task that you finish in a day. Then, on the following day, try to beat your previous day’s score.  It doesn’t matter if, when you start, you only finish 1 task on day 1.  That just means that you need to finish 2 tasks on day 2.  3 on day 3.  You get the idea.  Try to work this in with TRACKING YOUR WEEKLY TIME.

Procrastination is a dirty habit, but a breakable one.  It’s also one that tends to proliferate only because we think we are a procrastinator.  The five steps listed above, when done consistently, can spark a whole new set of habits and belief.  Don’t dismiss the above because it seems a little too new age for you.  Belief is a powerful psychological tool that you can harness to make yourself stronger.  All it takes is a little desire to change.  The changes you make as a result will continue to build on each other until you are the highest producer that you know.