Which type of procrastinator are you?

There are 4 to choose from and we all have a favourite avoidance archetype

It is an irony but rational, smart, and self-aware individuals do procrastinate. It happens to all of us and sometimes what we avoid is usually what needs our attention the most. But here’s how to break your avoidance pattern.

I have summarised them in the table below:

I am an overbooker. But I already knew this. It was good to get validation and more importantly, do something about it. It is like holding a mirror up to myself!

In my previous life, I would have been a happy Performer. Thankfully, I have somewhat evolved.

I have embarked on a couple of new ventures. I am not new to venturing anew, but this time there are a couple of firsts for me.

One of these is social media marketing (SMM) and this is something way beyond my comfort zone. Nothing wrong with that, I live on the edge of my comfort zone, but this one feels really discomforting.

And that is exactly what I am avoiding. The discomfort.

I consider myself an organised and action-oriented person. But in the last week, wherever I made an entry in my schedule to work on my SMM I have found every other thing or excuse to avoid it.

Until today when I forced myself to sit at my table and not leave before I, at least, found some clarity regarding my discomfort.

And here is what I have realised.

The discomfort is more daunting than the doing

If you are like me, and I think you could be if you are an overbooker, we put things off that seem daunting. When we get over ourselves and dive in, it does not seem so bad.

This does not just apply to the more cerebral activities like launching the next big idea you have, it can also apply to more mundane things too.

I find the thought of cleaning my home daunting but once I get it done, I am not only pleased with myself and the result, but it was not so bad in the end. I just needed to do it.

And this applies to tasks that require thinking too. The key is to break down the task into manageable sub-tasks and address them one by one.

Clarity of my discomfort

My discomfort came in the form of anxiety, of not knowing where to start my marketing plan. I resolved to turn my anxiety into a methodical plan.

I took a relatively unknown task and broke it down into manageable sub-tasks. I now have a better understanding of what I know, don’t know and what I need to do. I have a path forward.

Clarity from action

I need to now execute my plan to gain more clarity. This process is like an infinity loop oscillating between the unknown and action until I achieve my objective.

But I see it as an ongoing process as the more I get clarity the more I will have to do.

The great news is I have broken my procrastination pattern and it is up to me to hold myself accountable from relapsing. The main barrier, discomfort, has been crossed.

So, which type of procrastinator are you?

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