Real-World Time Management, 2nd Edition

CHAPTER 13WHY DO WE PROCRASTINATE—AND WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT?

“Procrastination is something best put off until tomorrow.”

—SIR GERALD F. VAUGHAN, CONSERVATIVE MP

I put this chapter off until very late in the book (“ahem”), but let’s get to the heart of the matter: procrastination.

Why do we find it so easy to mismanage time? Why do we avoid taking the steps that would help us achieve the goals we set for ourselves?

We use the word procrastination to describe this behavior, but the term’s misleading. We don’t procrastinate because we’re some strange animal known as a procrastinator. We procrastinate for reasons. If we don’t figure out why we’re procrastinating, it’s going to be very hard for us to overcome it.

Let’s first establish what procrastination ...