Start Now! Procrastinate Later. Become More Productive
An interview with Neil Fiore Ph.D.
Question 1 What are the five main causes of procrastination?
1. FEAR. We fear and resist BEING CONTROLLED by others, BEING JUDGED, and FEAR MISSING OUT ON THE GOOD THINGS OF LIFE. But the greatest fear is FEAR OF YOURSELF: fear that you will make yourself miserable if you make a mistake and you’ll beat yourself up if you fail.
These fears cause you to procrastinate so you can:
1. Resist doing what others tell you (and you tell yourself) you have to get done;
2. Avoid having your worth and work judged by others
3. Protect some free time even though you know you can’t fully enjoy it because you
feel guilty
4. Escape your own self-hatred.
That’s why The Fiore Productivity Program™ shows you how to focus on taking corrective action and creating a solid, un-judge-able sense of worth rather than focusing on self-analysis and self-criticism.
Fear of mistakes makes you indecisive and keeps you from achieving excellence.
Fear of mistakes is caused by having your worth and mood determined by judgment of your work.
This is the first in a series: sign up with your email address for the remaining Causes of Procrastination and the solutions.
6 Response Comments
how do I sign up?
Suely, please see https://www.neilfiore.com/ or
https://www.neilfiore.com/executive-and-personal-coaching/
to answer questions about your goals and to choose 8 or 12 sessions of coaching. best wishes, Neil Fiore
I would definitely be interested in the other causes of procrastination. I am suffering terribly. I have to finish my PhD in September 2015 and My procrastination has caused me to miss deadlines and I need to catch up the work so that I can defend in September. Any advice you could give to this really struggling student would be of great help!
Thank you!
Elizabeth
Liz, let’s focus on solutions like telling yourself, “I am choosing to start for 15 at 3PM.” your brain needs a specific Start time, a limited amount of time that is realistic, and a Choice rather than “I have to finish all this work.”
best, Neil Fiore see https://www.neilfiore.com for Executive Coaching
in your book you mention some fears as the underlying reasons for procrastination (quote at the end). Considering me, I even procrastinate plugging in my phone charger until it reaches to the point i get the shutting down warning. (this goes for almost anything else in my life, i.e putting off things until the very last moment). now my question is what fear is this that keeps me from plugging in my phone to the charger or take a shower until the moment i want to leave home.
I wanted to fill in the procrastination log but I’m stuck at what to write for the fear type with this kind of tasks. obviously they’re easy task to accomplish not 100ft above ground. i mean the board is defenitely in zero height. so why can’t I easily start and finish it? which only would take like 5 seconds?
from the book: “It is the fear of failure, the fear of being imperfect, and the fear of impossible expectations that prevent us from acting. The fear of judgement is the key fear that stems from over-identifying who you are, your worth as a person, with your work”
please email me the answer too.
hello Hamed, please don’t worry about putting in the right or best fear; just get started. You may have the fear of being controlled by Time or some unseen authority so you will not accept that you are human and have a limited amount of time; fear of death, fear of being imperfect. for example: “if I plug in the charger when it/someone warns me, they are controlling me; so I rebel and resist until the last minute. If I accept that I am human [and have limited time and limited control] then I will have to face my fear of death.”
solution: Face your fears in small increments [giving yourself a fear inoculation that ultimately lessens fear].