Five Characteristics, That Show When We Are Procrastinating

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3 years ago

Procrastination is so ingrained in us, as if it were an innate quality. We can often see this ourselves, because it is so characteristic that we know immediately that we are putting things off.

This only achieves one thing. Imagine a huge quagmire, that we have created for ourselves by procrastinating, it has grown so big that if we tried to climb out of it, our life would pass us by.

The following characteristics tell us, that we are shuffling things back and forth instead of getting started.

Planning

Planning is a good thing, so that we can allocate our time to do everything, but planning forever, without action is not worth much. There are many people, who spend their whole lives planning. For these people, their future is set, everything is perfect and everything runs smoothly. There's just one problem. This vision only exists in theory, not in practice.

A person who is full of disappointments and rejections may be a coward, but they are definitely afraid. They are afraid, that their plans will fail. In practice, it is not as simple as the power of the all-consuming thought.

In any case, planning can be reassuring, because it gives us the feeling, that we are taking care of our life and future. Even if we don't act now, we are not doing anything for a better future, but we will start one day. Unfortunately, if we just plan without acting, we are wasting our own time and we are really stuck in that particular quagmire.

Image Source: Unsplash via STIL

Dreaming

Dreaming is a good thing. As the saying goes: "dream big, start small." A dreamer is someone, who is super dreamy, has a great imagination and has creative ideas about the future. They dream everything exactly the way, they want to live their lives and believe, that they will achieve their dreams, but they don't know when that day will come.

The problem is, that the dreamer does not even get to the planning stage. They do not take any action worth mentioning. They remain eternal dreamers, to the extent that at the end of their lives they realise, that they themselves were an unfulfilled dream.

Image Source: Unsplash via 🇸🇮 Janko Ferlič

Lazyness

Laziness is acceptable in one case. I can tolerate it when, after a very tiring week, we choose to spend our leisure time with a well-deserved rest, and then we can even afford to be lazy in bed in the morning, if we have nothing else of major importance to do.

Lazy people never do anything, when it comes to work or anything important. Instead, they can be very good at watching TV or lying around all day long doing nothing. They expect everything to just fall into their lap. In the meantime, they think they have done a good job and everyone will give them credit.

They also perform at their worst at work, taking breaks whenever they can. They always arrive last and leave first. If a good opportunity does present itself, they will not take it, but they will certainly abuse it.

Image Source: Unsplash via Drew Coffman

Fiddling

A typical characteristic of a fiddler is, that they are endlessly precise. They pay attention to every details and always strive for perfection. They find a solution to every little problems, because of their outstanding creativity. As a result, they are very slow. They are so lost in details, that they can take hours to complete even a very simple task. They expect this precision from others and, if they don't get it, it will be inadequate for them.

Because of their slowness, they waste a lot of time on unimportant things, so they have no choice, but to procrastinate on the remaining things, that may actually be crucial for the day.

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Indecision

Indecisive people suffer from a lack of self-confidence. If they don't have the information to make a decision, they can research and get the information they need to make the right decision. If the indecisive person does not take this step, they will not be able to make a decision and will therefore procrastinate.

A decision will be made at the end of the day, but not by them. Others will make the decisions for them, and they will not achieve any goal for themselves. They will be out of control and it will be due to their indecisiveness.

Image Source: Unsplash via Brett Jordan

Finale Thoughts

We can disguise procrastination in almost artistic forms. Whether consciously or subconsciously, we set up obstacles for ourselves by piling things up and perhaps never getting to the end of our procrastination. By doing so, our goals will not be fulfilled and we become worthless in the eyes of ourselves and others.

Let's abandon the characteristics listed above and do all we can do today by setting priorities. Don't put off anything important until the next day.

Lead Image Source: https://tinybuddha.com/blog/how-to-stop-procrastinating-when-things-feel-hard-or-scary/

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3 years ago

Comments

Oh I need this. I'm procrastinating at times, but it's also due to my occupied schedule. But I want to be better. Thanks for sharing this with us. 😊

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3 years ago

You are welcome. Yes as long as you are procrastinating with priorities you should be good. Most important things first.

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3 years ago

I liked it! This seems like a wake up call to me somehow, I have to level up my game. Thank you so much! :)

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3 years ago

We all do this do not worry too much. Some in a low level some in a high level. As I am writing this reply a poem came to my mind. It is about don't do it now we have so much time. I have already learned about you, that you like poems so I leave a link here to this poem. It is in Hungarian, but you can translate it to your language.

https://www.arcanum.com/hu/online-kiadvanyok/Verstar-verstar-otven-kolto-osszes-verse-2/petofi-sandor-DFB2/1847-EFBB/pato-pal-ur-F4C5/

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3 years ago

That one sentence repeated into my mind and it was "Hey! We'll get to that!" It is also a nice mindset to not rush all things quickly, I also have that as one of my principles. We have different timelines and we are not forced to achieve so much in a short time. However, if we can accomplish things, we should. Sometimes, opportunities have an expiration, we should not miss it. In conclusion, I believe we should balance being relaxed and being alert to grab new chances.

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3 years ago

I will read it now! Thanks for this.

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3 years ago

Thats so awesome I need this I'm having a research to finish and the other is my defense

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3 years ago

Thank you. I am glad you liked it.

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3 years ago

Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today. I don't know if this phrase is used in your country but here it is used a lot.

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3 years ago

Yes it is used a lot as well in Hungary.

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3 years ago