What do you believe is the root (main cause) of your procrastination?
Lack of mental focus (not being clear about intention or purpose)
11% (2 votes)
Fear (of failure)
17% (3 votes)
Pleasure seeking (avoid activities which cause pain in favor of fun or pleasure)
11% (2 votes)
Perfectionism (things must be done perfectly or not at all)
17% (3 votes)
Easily distracted (not being able to maintain attention for periods of time)
6% (1 vote)
Sheer laziness
6% (1 vote)
Lack of self discipline (or will power)
17% (3 votes)
Poor sense of time management
6% (1 vote)
Weak planning or goal setting skills
6% (1 vote)
Impatient (tendency to want immediate results)
6% (1 vote)
Total votes: 18
- By kpoet at 21 May 2008 - 5:26pm
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all of the above
While I think that I am mainly stuck in the fearful/perfectionistic side of things, I know that facets of me have me acting out in procrastination (and other addictive/avoidance behaviors) for all of the reasons you list. Lately, much of this has been lifted from me, despite the fact that I have not been able to be here recently.
need multiple options on this poll
I wish this poll let me pick multiple reasons - I don't think there's just one. It also needs an "other" category.
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Procrastination is the grave in which opportunity is buried.
multiple options?
At first I was totally in agreement! This would be a PERFECT poll if we allowed multiple options, and then gathered responses from a sample base of thousands, then averaged the stated importance per respondee to each of the options checked, and created a pie chart.
Then I noticed that by having to choose one, and only one reason I am a procrastinator, I deduced that, um... my biggest obstacle is believing that if something can't be done perfectly, it may as well not be done at all.
HUGE!
Gnothi Seauton ~ Know Thyself
multiple options
For some reason the poll feature doesn't allow that option. Also I wanted to go back and add/edit some options, but I wasn't able to do so.
I'm sure most of us would agree that there is more than just one item they would check off.
Fear
I could also check perfectionism, and easily distractible - but after reading the Hillary Rettig book, I really identify with this statement:
“Stealth Panic”
We’re all familiar with the type of highenergy panic where you feel frantic and out of control. But panic often happens much more quietly than that. What I call “stealth panic” may actually be a more common cause of procrastination.
Stealth panic is what happens when you sit down to do your work at 9:00 a.m. and then get a sudden, irresistible urge to do something else, like get a cup of coffee. You don’t feel panicked it actually feels like a calm, even trivial decision but wham: you’ve been bumped off your path. Sometimes this happens even before 9:00 a.m., so that you don’t even make it to your desk.
Stealth panic often precipitates the trancelike state we discussed earlier that makes it easier for you to keep procrastinating. First you get the cup of coffee, then you read the newspaper, then you make a personal call, and then you do some Internet shopping and then, wham!, suddenly it’s lunchtime. Perhaps you were semiaware that you should have been doing something else, but never quite aware enough, or focused enough, to actually stop what you were doing and get back to work.
The Solution
We now arrive at the true heart of fearbased procrastination. Underneath the distractibility and antiproductive behaviors such as perfectionism, negativity and hypersensitivity, and just above your fear, is the panic that amplifies that fear until you can’t manage it. Minimize or eliminate that panic and you should be able to manage episodes of fear, thereby avoiding the need to resort to antiproductive behaviors and allowing you to return quickly and easily to your work.
"The sooner you get behind, the longer you have to catch up." - Steven Wright
addictive personality
i dont know. My best answer is that "i have an addictive personality". I would count that as the cause, and pleasure seeking and the rest as symptoms.
Tho i dont know the root cause for sure, the 12 steps seem to work for me.
If i were to ask "why" i have an addictive personality, i might say that my soul is seeking a deep connection. And if that's true, then it makes sense why the 12 steps work.
That is a good point, and
That is a good point, and something I missed as an option on the poll. I do tend to think there is likely a strong correlation between an addictive personality and a tendency to procrastinate. There might be a scientific study done out there somewhere on this topic.
It's also common I think to not really know the root cause. For me, I find that many of the options apply. It may be linked and that these factors are acting interdependently rather than independently.
link between addiction and procrastination
Course I had to google this lol
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/425976/why_is_procrastination_so_common_in.html
"The sooner you get behind, the longer you have to catch up." - Steven Wright
addiction and procrastination
Hoo boy.
I've always liked to say that my procrastination habit has given me all the tools for self-destruction, but without the glamour of substances. To my credit, I am REALLY getting good at noticing what I get (the reward, buzz, adrenaline, glory) from behaving badly around time. Super hard to face, but I try. And I know I'm much, much better than I was. But one of the reasons I respond to this site, and pro's articulation of these issues, is the acceptance that I've got this tendency. I've never been an alcoholic or drug addict, but there's no question that I have an addict's dynamic in my response to challenges having to do with success, failure, deadlines, time, and their moral implications. And the attention, love, forgiveness, enabling trip too. Always have. Gotta admit.
Gnothi Seauton ~ Know Thyself
Fear of success
I've thought about and tried to understand why. I think the most important reason for me is:
Fear of success and the responsibility that might come with it.
Regards Rexroth