A menu of reasons to procrastinate. The first step to getting past resistance is identifying it.

Here’s a nice happy list: all the reasons you might have for avoiding doing the task ahead of you. It probably isn’t exhaustive, but you’ll almost certainly recognise something close to your favourites – and may also see a pattern in those that you choose.

Mine always seem to centre on losing options/independence and producing mediocre results. Nightmare. None of us is free of it, but we can learn our own tendencies and work around them.

So, take look through, pick out the ones that chime (I actually hear a faint ‘ding-ding’ in my ears when I get close). Taking a sudden deeper breath is also often a sign that something is significant, even if you don’t know why yet: the brain is getting ready to think.

When you have your collection of reasons, they’ll either melt away in the light, or you can work through the exercise in How to stay on your sofa as long as you like.

Here goes:

I’m not quite sure what the task is:

• I have a dozen different tasks, don’t know which to focus on first
• I’m not sure how this task contributes to my larger goals/objectives
• I don’t know what needs to be done, I don’t know where to start
• I don’t know what ‘finished’ looks like for this task
• It’s just too big a prospect, I’m overwhelmed

I may fail in this task:

• It can’t be done, by anyone
• The results might be ordinary, mediocre, not as good as I want
• I don’t have the skills needed
• I may start it and get stuck
• Everything I’ve touched lately has failed, I can’t take another failure
• I don’t have the tools, space, mental clarity, resources needed
• It may take more time, energy or money than I have

I’m not convinced I should be doing it:

• I don’t deserve it, who do I think I am?
• There are more important, urgent things to do
• I think this task is beneath me, too menial
• This just isn’t what I want to be doing in life, it isn’t me, somehow
• I’m having trouble caring about this or anything
• It conflicts with some of my core values
• I can’t cope with what success would bring next
• This task doesn’t relate to any goal of mine – it’s external

I may face rejection, betrayal, conflict:

• I’m scared of people’s reactions, if I try, if I succeed, if I fail
• It might give enemies more things to bash me with
• People may find out I’m a fraud, mediocre
• I don’t have any support in this, no-one cares
• It will mean having to persuade people of my value
• It means working with people I mistrust, despise or fear
• I may get no reaction at all from the results, be utterly ignored
• I may lose my power or influence in some way
• I may prove to be in the wrong

I may become insecure:

• It might make things worse if I even try it
• If I mess up, it could damage me and my loved ones
• I’m in quicksand – I just daren’t move at all
• I can’t cope with the amount of change it requires

I may become trapped:

• If I say yes to this, it’s no to all other choices
• It might be the wrong choice
• I’ll be bored
• I’ll be stuck in it
• I’ll lose my independence, have to follow others’ rules

Related posts:
Procrastination: How to stay on the sofa as long as you like

Procrastination case study: The Writer

Procrastination case study: Steve’s Contract

Tagged as: procrastination, resistance, time_management