The 6 self-deceptions that lead us to procrastination

Procrastination is the pattern of behavior by which some people tend to delay the start of any activity, obligation or daily task that they must attend to, both at work and professional, as well as social or family.

Under the guise of rational thinking, we often have a tendency to cover irrational decisions with words and false logic that lead us to delay the start of any work.

In the case of procrastination, these types of thoughts are ideas with which we delude ourselves to postpone the moment of starting work and at the same time try not to feel bad about it . They are mental traps that lead us to fall into the temptation of continuing to rest, having fun or doing anything other than the obligation that we must attend to and that keeps us distracted without thinking about the worries related to the accumulated work.

The main forms of self-deception that lead us to procrastination

Here is a list of self-deceptions and "mental traps" that lead us to fall into the "I'll do it later."

1. “I can take advantage of a few hours of sleep”

Believing that we can spend hours of sleep to work is a mistake and an unhealthy habit, because if we do not get enough rest during the night, we will have trouble concentrating the next day.

Health professionals recommend sleeping between 7 and 9 hours each night, since this is the time our body needs to rest properly and charge energy to perform better the next morning.

It is evident that a poorly rested brain of a sleepy person who does not sleep the hours that correspond to him will perform worse and will be less fresh both to concentrate and to face any type of work obligation .

2. Believing that we have not yet rested enough

Often breaks in periods of work and procrastination before starting a workday are done to recover energy before getting down to work with our work obligations.

In some cases, we may excessively delay the time to start working because we consider that we have not yet satiated our desire to have fun, that is, that when we are thinking about distractions or having fun, we would feel too frustrated to stop doing that and start working. work .

Thinking that we need to rest a little more because that way we will perform better is counterproductive, since precisely when we finally start to get down to work it is because we have managed to end that time of rest, taking into account that the most difficult thing is to start.

3. Believing that a lot of accumulated work will motivate us

Another of the self-deceptions that our brain conceives and that leads us directly to procrastination is to consider that having a lot of work or many accumulated tasks will motivate us more in the future when we start working.

This happens because we have a distorted view of our performance in times of crisis or under pressure and because we consider that we perform better in critical situations, when the truth is that the opposite actually happens.

People tend to perform better when we organize ourselves better and when we have a lot of work to do, we usually get stressed, perform better and feel intense discomfort due to having a large number of pending tasks.

4. Thinking that we will work better under pressure

Thinking that it will be satisfying to put ourselves to the test and submit to the pressure of getting everything done at the last moment is another of the self-deceptions or thought models that prevent us from starting our work as soon as possible.

On the contrary, what really boosts one's self-esteem is moving from ideas to actions and having the discipline to manage time well to achieve good results, instead of doing things quickly and badly, desperately.

An organized work carried out with enough time so that things are done well will ensure us a true success in the final product, and a positive recognition from our superiors.

5. “I am not prepared”: fear of failure

The fear of failure is another of the classic reasons why people tend to procrastinate in their daily jobs, and one of the great obstacles that arise daily in the minds of millions of people and that prevent them from performing at their best in their job. worked.

Considering that we will not do it well or being certain that we are not good enough to successfully carry out the tasks entrusted to us is a way of thinking that prevents us from getting the most out of ourselves.

Instead of being anchored in fear, it is important to change our way of thinking and begin to entertain not more positive thoughts, but more constructive ones about the future and about our daily performance. The fact of believing that we are not yet ready to carry out our work obligations is closely related to the fear of doing it wrong.

This type of thinking consists of considering that we need more preparation or that by resting a little more we will be able to start our task with greater diligence and greater possibilities of success.

Again, it is a thought pattern that acts as an excuse to avoid getting started with our work, which is related to both the fear of failure, as well as internal indecision and a general lack of organization.

6. I need to overcome indecision first

Indecision on the part of a worker is also usually enough reason to procrastinate and delay to the extreme the moment of getting to work. In this case, self-deception is assuming that these kinds of problems are solved in a previous phase when we start working on solving the problem, when in reality the best way to make complex decisions is to get involved in our tasks.

We understand by indecision a series of difficulties to develop any work in a diligent, organized, motivated manner and with the conviction that we are doing it well at all times.

Some people feel that they have to wait a while to start working on any task because they believe that they will not be able to do it successfully or that they are not good enough to be successful.

Instead, it is important to start working as soon as possible, believing in oneself, in one's own possibilities and that effort and hard work will pay off sooner or later.