I’m stuck again.

Using a bad habit I shouldn’t.

Scrubbing toilets instead of writing blog posts…

Paying bills instead of returning that phone call…

It’s particularly hard to change because from the outside it looks fine.

I even get stuff done that needs to get done.

So what’s the problem?

Productive procrastination

We’ve all done it.

Skipped doing one task we really want to avoid for another, lesser evil.

We reassure ourselves about our avoidance.

We say it isn’t really that problematic because look at everything we got done!

The whole tactic comes with a built-in excuse for why it’s okay.  And that’s dangerous.

Admittedly, as far as “bad habits” go, this isn’t the worst one you could choose.  But it still makes things harder than they have to be.

Why?

Each day that that unfinished item gets bumped from the to-do list, it gets bigger.

And bigger.

And bigger.

When we avoid things, they balloon.

They seem much, much worse than they actually are.

And because we don’t get around to facing the task down, we never get the reality check that we desperately need—hey, this isn’t so bad.

Or hey, this was terrible, but it only lasted an hour.

Or hey, at least I got it done.  Finally.

It reminds me of the glass of water story.  No, not the half full one.  The other one.

The glass of water

I’m paraphrasing this story, but you can find the full version online if you look for it.

A psychologist holds out a glass of water in front of an audience.

She’s teaching a class on stress management.

The audience prepares itself for the standard, “Is it half empty or half full” scenario.

Instead, she surprises everyone by asking how heavy the glass is.

A few people hazard some guesses.

She points out that the weight doesn’t much matter, in the end.

What matters a great deal more is how long she holds the glass for.

A minute—no problem.

An hour—her arm hurts.

A day—her arm is exhausted and she is depleted.

She goes on to say that stress works the same way.

The longer you hold it, the heavier it becomes.

Unfinished tasks.

Errands and to do lists.

Painful unfinished business.

Whatever form it takes, the tasks we avoid gets heavier over time.

And we feel hassled and annoyed with ourselves for our avoidance.  In extreme cases, we may even feel guilt or shame.

So how do we get out from under it?

First things first:  we need to establish priorities.

A problem of priorities

This is something that people-pleasers struggle with quite a bit.

They’re trying to be all things to all people.

They aren’t in touch with their own limits.

They have a poor sense of priorities, as they often put other people’s needs before their own.

We need to have a realistic picture of what we can fit into a day.

And then we really need to take an honest look at all the tasks that need doing and prioritize them.

What needs to be done first?

Oftentimes, we set ourselves up to fail with a monstrously long to do list.

Bite sized tasks, listed in order of importance, is the way to go.

Tackling the to-do list

There are a couple of different tactics I’ve discovered that can help us quit doing this productive procrastination thing.

There’s the swallowing frogs method (i.e., start your day with the thing you like least)

There’s the do it for two minutes then stop if you want method.

There’s even the 1-3-5 to-do list, which forces you to reckon with the limited number of hours you have in a day.

Productive procrastination isn’t the worst bad habit you could have.

But, those items that linger on your to-do list get heavier each time you avoid them.

So, try one of the tactics listed above to see if you can break through those dreaded tasks and get on with your day.

Good luck!

PS:  I totally just used the 1-3-5 to-do list and two minute tactic to write this blog post.  It took me an hour.  Give it a try!

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Last year:  Love yourself first

Two years ago:  Don’t be the runner up!