Four Things You Might Not Know About Chronic Procrastinators

Typical...It took me a week to actually write this post.  It's not perfect, but at least I did it.  I am a chronic procrastinator or what I call a "functioning" chronic procrastinator.  It hasn't been detrimental to my life...lately.  I maintain things.  That's about it.  Dishes get washed every day.  There is food to eat.  We usually have clean clothes to wear.  I do have a pile of dirty laundry...OK, sometimes more like a mountain. 

I have enough college credits to be half-way to my Master's Degree...but I have no degree at all.  Yes, that's right, not even an Associates Degree.  I dropped out...started somewhere else...dropped out...started somewhere else...you get the idea.  Some of my professors even went out of their way for me...believing in my good will to do it...and gave me extension after extension.  I failed them.  I failed me. 

There are other things too...Christmas cards that never got sent (half of them were addressed--I finally gave up on sending Christmas cards altogether), thank you notes never written (though I have a plethora of cards to choose from), boxes filled with projects purchased or partially started and many other things undone...dreams unfulfilled. 

Do you identify with me? Are you filled with questions as to why you can't seem to start or finish anything either? Or on the opposite end, have you already begun to formulate criticisms of me or others like me?  Hopefully this post will bring you a little understanding of the chronic procrastinator and why we do what we do...or don't do, as the case may be.

1. We don't want to procrastinate.

I don't wake up in the morning and decide to not do what needs to be done.  It doesn't happen that way.  I begin every day with good intentions and every night I hope that tomorrow I will do better.  Unfortunately, chronic procrastination is an addictive behavior.  It is related to eating disorders, drug addiction, alcoholism and hoarding.  Sometimes the chronic procrastinator has more than one addiction or has just switched to the lesser of the two evils.  Addiction is a coping mechanism.  It is way of avoiding reality.  It is often triggered by feelings of inadequacy and powerlessness. People with chronic procrastination need professional help and/or a 12-step program.  I am involved in a program called Celebrate Recovery.  It is a Christ based 12-step program for all types of addictive behaviors.  If you want to find a Celebrate Recovery Program in your area, click here.  Another great online resource is Procrastinators Anonymous. 

2. We are hardworking.

Yeah right, you say...but it's true!  Chronic procrastinators are some of the busiest people I know.  The problem isn't that they choose to do nothing.  The problem is they choose to do everything BUT what they need to do right now.  I am fortunate to have a very understanding husband who loves me very much.  It would be harder for me to improve myself if he wasn't.  I have his support and love even when I "look" lazy because I homeschooled in my PJ's all morning.  I think I am afraid that if I stop to get dressed that I will lose my momentum.  For me, it is a good thing to just get started whether I am dressed or not. 

3. We are capable.

One of the worst things you can do is to do it for us or "show us how it's done".  I know sometimes people just want to help and if it is sincere it may be accepted.  Some people though do it with a sense of "I am better than you".  Even with sincerity, however, doing it for us or "showing us how it's done" may backfire...making us feel worse about ourselves.  It can send us down an extremely unproductive cycle once again.  Chronic procrastinators are capable of doing these things themselves.  Some of them are even list makers and planners like me.  I will sit down with a schedule and to do list in hand and still not get very far.  It's all about avoiding.  We are subconscious escape artists.  Deadlines are frightening.  Lists are overwhelming.  We can do it.  We are capable.  We just can't seem to get started...or keep the momentum once we have started.  Perhaps it's a problem with our perspective.   We feel powerless.  The job looks like it's too complicated, too big, or too difficult.  Sometimes, it's an inadequacy problem...a fear of getting it wrong...a fear of the result not being good enough even after it's all said and done.

 

4. We are intelligent and creative.

Perhaps that's one of the problems. Perhaps we see life differently.  We want more than the mundane, everyday ordinary life.  Sometimes I look at my overwhelming list or schedule and freak out because I don't want to be a slave to a list! I want to enjoy my life! The problem is, I don't necessarily do enjoyable things when I procrastinate!  We daydream about what we desire in life and then look around and see how much would need to change in order to accomplish it.  We find it exhausting to comprehend!  So instead, we avoid.  We run from reality because we lose our hope that things will ever get better.

 

I don't want my chronic procrastination to rob me of the life that God wants to give me.  I want to move forward from "functional" to productive.  Some days I'm just shooting for "functional".  I want to see my reality change to more closely reflect God's desires for me.  I want an amazing, fulfilling life.  I know I'm not going to wake up tomorrow and my life will be as I have imagined.  It will take daily effort and commitment.  My struggle with my addictive tendencies will be a challenge.  I will have to change my way of thinking by recognizing my God-given value and that what He has provided for me will be enough.  I will have to change my way of doing things, too. That is all I can do.  Doing things the way I have been doing them isn't working.  I do not have the power to change circumstances, other people or even me.  I can only trust God and allow Him to do His miracle in me and believe that He will never give up on me.

 

 

"Being confident of this very thing, that he who has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:"  Philippians 1:6