Procrastinating about learning a new skill, taking an online or in-person course, going to work, applying for a promotion, starting a new business, making a business trip, trying something new, changing jobs, monetizing your talent or gifts, can seriously affect your financial independence journey.
What is procrastination?
Procrastination is the action of pointlessly and wilfully adjourning or postponing something, undeterred by the fact that there will be negative consequences for doing so.
Humans deliberately hold up doing small or big stuff like; making up a bed, calling a loved one, sending off an email, going for a medical check, fuelling the car, paying fees, paying the mortgage, rents or even an academic assignment. Which is why, it is important to identify the causes of procrastination.
5 common Causes of procrastination.
Procrastination is often regarded as a negative character trait, because it impedes one’s ability to do what needs doing, and it also affects other people’s trust and respect for us. If you always put tasks off, arrive late at work, or don’t turn up for business dates or anything related to your livelihood, how then can you expect people around you to take you seriously?.
How do you expect them to trust you with bigger projects or business deals when you cannot even deliver on the small things like making a phone call you promised making.
1. Depression
Depression is a recurrent and serious medical condition that adversely affects how you feel the way you think and how you act. Thank goodness, it can be treated. Depressed people struggle with feelings of sadness, or may even start to dislike the things they once liked.
For example, if you previously enjoyed your job or trading stocks, when depression kicks in, you may find yourself postponing such activities, until such a time when it hits your pocket.
2. Low self-worth
People dealing with low self esteem are not necessarily having mental health issues; however, both are closely related. When your self-worth is impacted by too many things for a considerable amount of time, it might lead to mental health issues.
The moment you start thinking about yourself as being inadequate, unworthy, lazy, unprofessional, uneducated, ugly and or incompetent, it affects your output. Read further on Suffering From Low Self Esteem.
3. Guilt
Guilt is an intricate emotion. And it can be misleading. It is a feeling that no one would like to feel. You can feel guilty when you’re remorseful about something you’ve done or said, that cannot be recanted.
People with guilt issues often procrastinate because they either don’t want to openly admit their wrong or they would rather deal with the situation when they feel more in control.
For example, if accepting culpability for your mistake would amplify your existing feelings of shame, self reproach and unworthiness, you are unlikely to go down that route. Rather than apologise to a client, boss, colleague, vendor, or employee about your mistake, some people would procrastinate, and this would end up costing them some money, their reputation, a business relationship and much more.
4. Inadequacy
If you are battling with questions like, “I’m I good enough? Have I got the appropriate skills? Do I deserve to have this Job? Is my business good enough to take off? Can I broker the best business deals? Are my academic qualifications good enough to apply for that vacancy? Do I deserve to become a millionaire? You must be weary of the feeling of inadequacy. Feelings of inadequacy will birth the habit of saving things for later because you don’t think you deserve them right now.
For example, if you feel inadequate to apply for a job vacancy because you do not have a first class university degree, chances are that you will miss 100% of the shots that you don’t take. How will you become financially independent under such circumstances?
5. Poor prioritisation
Being unable to decide what must be done urgently and what can wait for later is known as poor prioritisation. The amount of time available to each human is 24hours a day. If you’re unable to schedule your day and activities efficiently, you’ll most likely end up procrastinating.
For example, if you run a restaurant business, you may have to perform a raw material inventory, clear out expired products, or restock ingredients for popular dishes. Procrastinating about any of these tasks could have the following consequences;
- a customer could suffer food poison from expired food stuff ;
- an impromptu health inspection could cost your business a huge fine;
- There may be a fall in sales in addition to poor client reviews, if customers walked in, and their favourite meal was unavailable.
Conclusion.
Sometimes, procrastination could be confused for laziness or mental health issues. Some common causes of procrastination are depression, having low self worth, feeling guilty or inadequate and failing to prioritize. All these causes of procrastination can impact your financial independence journey.
Read this article to find out how to stop procrastinating.
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