Solving the Procrastination Puzzle

Triathletes are smarter than your average jock, so we are allowed to discuss some more "science-y" things on occasion.  Today, I'd like to bring to your attention some recent findings about procrastination.  Triathletes are always time crunched, so this is info you can use.

The iProcrastinate Podcast (http://iprocrastinate.libsyn.com/) produced an episode on July 18th that was particularly interesting.  At 32 minutes in, they reveal that testing shows you are more likely to procrastinate if you feel incompetent at the task.  You're not good at it, so you don't want to try.  What's funny is that this is based on how you feel, which is perceived and not necessarily true.  You could be the world's worst programmer, but if you feel like you rock at it, then you'll get started on writing that program as soon as you can.

The next problem is control.  If you don't feel like you chose your task, then you'll also put it off.  A great way to make a talented staff unproductive is to be a jerk boss and micro-manage them and tell them what to do all the time.  They'll passive aggressively revolt by doing what you asked, but only when they get around to it.

How can you put this to work for you?  If you are procrastinating on a task, ask yourself if you are feeling like it's too difficult or if it's put upon you by someone/something else.  If it's too difficult, get started on outlining what it takes to do it and working on the first part.  I recommend WorkFlowy.com for easily outlining projects.  Create a bulleted list and just do the first thing.  You'll quickly see that it's easy and didn't take long anyway.  If it's put upon you by somebody else, then either decide to not do it at all or change your perspective on why you are doing it.  Are you running 10 miles because your coach said so or because you decided to be healthy, you hired a coach, and this is how it gets done? Putting yourself back in the driver's seat is all it takes, see?

Enjoy!