Why you procrastinate at work, and how to get over it

Confession: I put off writing this blog post for the better part of today.

I had good reasons. After being on the road over the Thanksgiving holiday, I have work to catch up on. I have six, possibly seven, stories due before Christmas and interviews to schedule for all of them. The laundry’s piled up. The cleaners come tomorrow and the house is a mess. I needed to check in with my favorite writers’ message board.

So I procrastinated.

Putting off things that you know you need to do is a fairly common occurrence. But according to a new article in Scientific American, certain personality traits can increase the likelihood someone will develop the habit of doing things manana.

The Scientific American article is fascinating reading for anybody who works on deadlines – especially freelancers. Here are some highlights:

“Task aversiveness is one of the main external triggers for procrastination” – In other words, people put off doing stuff they don’t want to do. In the case of writers, that’s anything they might find stressful, like scheduling interviews, conducting interviews, organizing notes or – surprise – writing a story.

“The amount of time before a project’s due date also influences the tendency to procrastinate.” – Deadline not for another six weeks? Why get started on it now when three weeks from now, or even four, will still give you plenty of time.

“A highly conscientious person is dutiful, organized and industrious….A person who is impulsive also is a procrastinator at risk.” – Translation – if you’re easily distracted from the matter at hand, you’re more likely to procrastinate. To avoid falling off the deadline wagon, eliminate external (and internal) distractions whenever possible.

The article also notes that people avoid things that make them feel uneasy, or when they’re undecided about something. This rings true to me. I can’t count how many times I’ve heard about a magazine or Website that sounds like a perfect place for me to pitch a story only to get uncomfortable about putting myself out there for possible rejection and eventually dropping the whole idea without following through.

It also explains how in one monkey trial, not all animals reacted the same way when receiving a substance that blocked their ability to associate visual cues with a reward. Some worked hard all the time anyway to get the reward, while others didn’t put in much effort at all, even as the time to get the reward got closer, leaving researchers to conclude that procrastination can vary from one individual to another.

A lot of writers complain about having trouble getting started on projects or goofing off even when they have deadlines staring them in the face. I’m just as guilty as the next person at finding ways to occupy myself when I should be working. Maybe understanding that you’re more hardwired to procrastinate than the next person is the first step in overcoming a tendency to put things off.

Other suggestions for avoiding procrastination according to researchers:

Set specific goals. Instead of saying “I’ll do a better job scheduling interviews,” block out specific hours in your calendar three mornings a week for setting up and conducting phone interviews.

Schedule deadlines around your availability. You may have three deadlines on the same day but that doesn’t mean you have to turn them all in then. Stagger the work so it fits your schedule.

And when all else fails, just do it.