Second Cup: Why we procrastinate

This week's episodes are about putting things off — including why we all do it.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.
This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. For
the next five episodes, I'll be talking about the topic
of procrastination. Today, we're talking about what procrastination is and
why we put things off. Over the next few days,

(00:25):
we'll look at strategies for making progress even if we
do feel resistance. Finally, we'll talk about when that resistance
is a good thing, because procrastination is actually our intuition's
way of teaching us something important. But first, a definition,
procrastination means putting something off, even knowing will be worse

(00:46):
off because of the delay. Sometimes delays don't matter or
are even wise. If you put off checking email because
you need to help a colleague who's really struggling with
a project, you are choosing well. If you put off
writing a self evaluation that will help your manager argue
for your promotion, that's procrastination. The first thing to note

(01:07):
is that everyone procrastinates to some degree. In the past
few weeks, I've put off a number of things that
I definitely had time to do but chose not to,
such as getting my car's oil changed and making an
update that my marketing person keeps telling me to do
with my Instagram account. People are most likely to procrastinate
things that seem complicated or unpleasant, and I know this

(01:29):
is true for me too. If something doesn't have a
definite deadline, then it's particularly easy to put off to
tomorrow what could be done today. People sometimes ask me
if procrastination means they're lazy. I guess it could. But
in a recent article for The New York Times, writer
Charlotte Lieberman explored a different angle. Sometimes, she wrote, procrastination

(01:52):
is about self doubt, low self esteem, anxiety or insecurity.
Staring at a blank document, you might be thinking, I'm
not smart enough to write this. Even if I am,
what will people think of it? Writing is so hard?
What if I do a bad job. All of this
can lead us to think that putting the document aside

(02:13):
and cleaning that spice draw instead is a pretty good idea.
I think Charlotte is onto something. There's some research finding
that procrastination is about protecting our egos from the bruising
nature of reality. One study found that when students were
told that a test was an important judge of their abilities,
they put off studying. When these students were told that

(02:35):
the test didn't matter, well, then they felt no such
procrastination urge. What's happening is that it's really scary to
think that we might try our hardest, throwing our hearts
into things, and still fail. So sometimes we try to
protect ourselves by putting things off. If you put off
studying until an hour before the test, well, of course

(02:55):
you won't do well. That kind of failure feels more
psychologically acceptable, but it's kind of a sad way to
go through life. Developing the courage to risk failure is
far more rewarding. We get better at things by doing
our best, seeing where we come up short, and trying again.
It also helps to realize that failure is generally not

(03:16):
that big a deal. I like to think of the
word failure in the context of weight training. Weightlifters will
sometimes do reps to the point of muscle failure, and
that's the word they use, failure. It's not a judgment.
You're not a bad person because you can't lift those
weights indefinitely. It's just a reality that we have limits.

(03:37):
Weightlifters view failure as part of the process. You go
to your limit, then rest a bit, then try again,
and over time that limit moves. In Charlotte Lieberman's article,
she recommended countering the procrastination cycle with self compassion. One
study found that students who could forgive themselves for procrastination

(04:00):
on a test or less likely to procrastinate on a
future one. So when you find yourself putting something off,
rather than getting into a cycle of self loathing, simply
say it's okay. Treat yourself just like you'd treat a friend.
If she put off applying for a new job, you
wouldn't tell her she's a miserable excuse for a human being.

(04:22):
You'd encourage her and point out that this application is
just a small thing standing between her and a great future.
She's totally got this and you do too. So think
about something big that you've been putting off. Would it
change anything to recognize that failure isn't that big a deal?

(04:43):
Would it change anything to tell yourself that you're still
a great person whether you do this thing or not.
But if you choose to do it, it might be awesome.
I don't know, Maybe not, but it might. Please. Tune
in for the rest of the week for more on
procrastination and ways we can get going on the things
that matter to us in the meantime. This is Laura.

(05:05):
Thanks for listening and here's to making the most of
our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you.
You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.
Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at

(05:26):
Before Breakfast Pod. That's b E the number four then
Breakfast pod. You can also shoot me an email at
Before Breakfast podcast at iHeartMedia dot com that Before Breakfast
is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much.
Should I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast

(05:51):
is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio,
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