It has taken me a while, but I have finally come back to the topic of procrastination.  In the surveys for my latest Efficient Librarian workshop, several participants cite procrastination as a big productivity barrier.   After presenting the workshop, a few thoughts on the topic came to mind.

In Chapter One of Getting Things Done, David Allen wrote about “Why Things are on Your Mind.”   In that section, he lists three reasons.  Any of these three in my opinion can become sources of procrastination.  Let’s look at them.

Lack of Clarity on the Intended Outcome – If we don’t have a clear outcome in mind, there will be little energy to do the work and thus procrastination will set in.

Haven’t Decided on the Next Physical Action Step – Often we don’t have the time to think clearly about our next actions.  Without pre-planned simple physical actions, it is easy to put off progress and procrastinate.

Don’t Have a Trusted System to Store Reminders – It is easy to procrastinate when you have forgotten the goals and actions previously decided.  With life moving quickly, the lack of a trusted system leads us to procrastinate on important items as we chase the latest and loudest.

One final thought on procrastination.  Even if we have clarity on the outcome, the next physical action decided and placed in our trusted system, we still may not do anything if one more detail is lacking: passion.  Quite simply, if we are no longer fired up by the purpose of the project then procrastination becomes the easy default.  Sometimes a project that inspired us in the past is only hanging on because of an internal sense of obligation to it.  Feel free to let those projects go.

Ultimately, the good news is that once we have resolved the three reasons listed above, procrastination quickly dissolves to be replaced by purposeful action and energy.  So, what are you procrastinating about today?  Best not to put it off until tomorrow.

How much self-control do you have?  On a scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high) where do you rank yourself?  Many people believe that self-control is determined by our willpower.  It is also believed that willpower is a fixed trait and something that determines destiny.  But does willpower control how successful that diet will be, or how focused you are on that project, or whether you can complete that personal productivity upgrade?

In a recent article on Vox, the primacy of willpower was challenged by author Brian Resnick.

“But this idea, that people have self-control because they’re good at willpower, is looking more and more like a myth. It turns out that self-control, and all the benefits from it, may not be related to inhibiting impulses at all. And once we cast aside the idea of willpower, we can better understand what actually works to accomplish goals, and hit those New Year’s resolutions.”

Read the rest of the article on Vox.