A lot of procrastinators do not recognize that they are perfectionists because the common belief is that perfectionism means doing something perfectly. Ironically, this is not usually the case.
The paralysis that ensues from having impossibly high standards causes the perfectionist to wait until the last minute and then either rush to complete it or avoid it altogether, which leads to procrastination.
Perfectionism
Perfectionism is the belief that anything less than perfect is unacceptable. Often the motivator behind this thinking is the fear of failure. The perfectionist cannot delegate tasks, finds it difficult to start something if she believes she can’t do it perfectly, and wastes a lot of time on minute details.
In moderation and with a healthy attitude, striving to do something perfectly can inspire one’s best work, but more often than not, if the finished project is less than perfect, it inspires only disappointment and self-flagellation in the perfectionist.
Procrastination
The traits associated with procrastination are:
- Disorganization – procrastinators are inclined to take care of the more comfortable or convenient tasks first and so priority is sacrificed for ease. And as these simpler tasks are being attended to, the other ones pile up until it is too late to complete them without a mad rush.
- Overwhelmed – if you have many things or one big project to do, thinking about the whole list can be overwhelming, as opposed to taking them step by step.
- Distraction – when feeling overwhelmed about a task or to-do list, it is easy to allow yourself to give in to distraction as a method of relief.
- Fear – for the perfectionist, the fear of not doing something perfectly, i.e. the fear of failure, can lead to procrastination, which becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy and may turn into a vicious cycle.
Napoleon Hill once said :
“Procrastination is the bad habit of putting of until the day after tomorrow what should have been done the day before yesterday.”
What you loose by putting things off is the ability to live your dream. World moves forward with or without us…
“You may delay, but time will not. ” ~Benjamin Franklin
Starting now, Learn To Stop Procrastinating. Just click the link.
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