The Savvy Entrepreneur

In today’s Anti-Procrastination Month entry, I want to share what I’ve learned about the correlation between Procrastination and Time Management.

At first I thought they were related; It’s simple — if you’re a procrastinator, you lack organization and effective time management skills.

But then I read things which made me reevaluate my position on the subject, like:

Procrastination is only remotely related to time management, (procrastinators often know exactly what they should be doing, even if they cannot do it), which is why very detailed schedules usually are no help. — Procrastination, CalPoly

Procrastination is not a problem of time management or of planning. Procrastinators are not different in their ability to estimate time, although they are more optimistic than others. “Telling someone who procrastinates to buy a weekly planner is like telling someone with chronic depression to just cheer up.” — Procrastination: Ten Things To Know, Psychology Today © Copyright 1991-2007 Sussex Publishers, LLC

That’s good news, because I’m a Master Planner — I love creating lists, graphs, charts and spreadsheets; I get a rush from coming up with new projects and ideas. Where I get stuck is in the doing, implementing and executing phase.

What I learned through my research this month is that procrastination is mostly a fear-based reaction. That certainly is true in my case — fear of putting myself out there, fear of failure, fear of ‘how am I going to handle all the wild success I’ve been planning?‘, etc.

So there you have it… the skeleton in my closet (well, one of them!). (Speaking of fear, it’s ‘funny’ how one little self-disclosing paragraph can scare me silly.)

But you know what? I’m getting used to feelings of fear, challenging them, getting over myself and facing them head on.

This month, through sheer undaunted perseverance, I’ve experience more success than I ever imagined possible; So many door have opened up for me. This proof has helped me embrace the process of breaking out of procrastination by facing my fears and coming up with ways of DOING and taking action, instead of getting stuck in analysis paralysis that occurs when I start trying to manage my time.

So go ahead! Face your fears, challenge them and challenge yourself to go beyond and break through them. You won’t regret it, I promise.