What is Procrastination Costing You?

Is there something you are putting off in your life right now? Are you overwhelmed by more work than you have time for? Not getting as much accomplished as you would like?

If so, you may like to keep reading as today I would to share a little about how I work with people around procrastination in coaching. And yes, I say little as I already know procrastination is a big subject…

Before you identify what procrastination could be costing you, let’s have a closer look at procrastination.

If you have been a procrastinator for a while, you may already be familiar with the following definitions of procrastination –

• “the action of delaying or postponing something” ~ Google
• “the act of habit of procrastinating, or putting off or delaying, especially something requiring immediate attention” ~ Dictionary.com
• “the act of procrastinating; putting off or delaying or deferring an action to a later time” ~ The Free Dictionary
• “to put off intentionally the doing of something that should be done” ~ Merriam-Webster
•  “the action of delaying or postponing something” ~ Oxford Dictionaries

In the above definitions of procrastination, you probably noticed the words –

• act or action, and
• putting off, deferring or delaying.

Is there anything you would add to these definitions of procrastination?

Why Do People Procrastinate?

There are many reasons why people procrastinate and some of them include –

• protection mechanism (a way of coping),
• fear (of failure, success, losing control etc.),
• perfectionism,
• self-judgment,
• low self-esteem,
• lack of motivation,
• learned helplessness,
• poor study and work habits,
• uncertainty of what is expected,
• an unwillingness to do hard tasks,
• not knowing how to do something, and
• forgetting to do something.

Is Procrastination Costing You?

Once we have identified why we might be procrastinating, then it is up to us to take responsibility, own our life and be accountable by making conscious changes. If we don’t we can end up experiencing a number of short-term and long-term costs or consequences. These costs and consequences could be internal or external. For example – procrastination could be costing you –

• External costs or consequences – success, time, relationships, productivity, financial income, job / career, incomplete training courses, programs, lost opportunities, decreased job responsibilities, accidents or physical injury, excess use of substances (food, coffee, alcohol etc.), government penalties or love.
• Internal costs or consequences – self-criticism, peace of mind, regret, shame, physical pain, panic, frustration, perspective on life, sleep problems, denial, energy, fulfilment, love, overall health and wellbeing.

Over to You…

I hope this article has given you some insight in to what procrastination could be costing you. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to share them below.

When you are ready to reclaim your courage and take the next step towards freedom and living whole-heartedly, you are welcome to join our Toolkit!