The Procrastination Cure

The Destructive Nature of Delay

The word “procrastination” derives from the Latin verb procrastinare, which means “to put off until tomorrow.” Procrastinators sabotage themselves by delaying important activities that could move them ahead in their careers and their personal lives.

Many people misunderstand the nature of procrastination and blame it for their problems. However, procrastination is not causal; it is the effect of an attempt to eliminate or avoid possibly painful activities. Instead of engaging in challenging tasks that threaten difficulty or failure, procrastinators often find something trivial (and therefore not painful) to do. Their basic orientation is to do easy, fun activities or jobs, and to dodge hard, potentially upsetting tasks. People also stall to eliminate the discomfort of uncertainty or hesitation.

The only way to fix a procrastination problem is to understand the roots of why you – or the procrastinator on your staff or in your life – put off your obligations. If you focus only on the effect – procrastination – and not the emotional or attitudinal cause, you won’t make much headway. For a parallel, think of dieters who focus...