Procrastinator: a person who postpones or avoids work, organizing, cleaning, or other activities that will help them accomplish their life goals.
Most perfectionists wear it as a badge of honour. It’s perceived as a good quality, and very helpful if you are a heart or brain surgeon, or work at any other occupation that requires details and precision. On the other hand, there is a difference between doing quality work and wasting time on insignificant details.
Here’s how perfectionism will get you in trouble: Unhelpful thinking, all or nothing.
Perfectionists think there is no point in starting unless their work can be perfect. But if you wait for all the stars to align before starting, you never will. Perfectionists usually start with a grand plan and a great goal. However, they soon lose track of where they’re going because they become trapped by the meaningless details.
A solution for the particular perfectionist
The cure to procrastination due to perfectionism is to repeat the mantra: “Progress, not perfection.”
If you’re focused only on the perfect result, you lose track of the progress you’re making every day. And if you’re not making progress every day, pretty soon you’ll run out of enthusiasm and start procrastinating.
For long-term projects, start by figuring out what is truly important. What is the main purpose of the work you’re doing, and how do all of the action steps contribute to it?
Perfectionists are forever searching for more information as they have a fear of not having enough knowledge on the subject. In return, they are avoiding or postponing the project they have to finish.
The difficult thing about procrastination is that it’s caused by many different aspects. Waiting, though, never works. In fact, it makes it harder. The longer you wait, the more serious the procrastination gets.
If you self-criticize about not accomplishing what you should, you have plenty of company; 95 per cent of people procrastinate.
The only cure is to start acting. The first step is to identify which of these challenges is holding you back and face it directly. Stop using it as an excuse and use the solutions above. Think about what would happen if you don’t.
Where will you be in five years if you keep putting off your goals? What opportunities will you miss? Or you can turn your life around today and become the person you’re meant to be. The choice is yours, so is the consequence of your choice.
Part five: The thrill seeker
Part three: The productive procrastinator
Ranka Burzan owns a professional organizing company based in Powell River and has written several books on reducing clutter and becoming more organized. For information, go to solutionsorganizing.com.
