Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:00:14]:
You’re listening to the Keith Blakemore-Noble Radio Show. Interesting chats with interesting people about interesting things and no adverts. Here’s your host, Keith Blakemore-Noble. Hey. Hello. Hello. Welcome back. Welcome to another episode.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:00:37]:
Thank you so much for joining me. I hope you get a lot of value out of this one as well as out of all the other episodes. Do remember, give us a like a comment, a share a subscribe. Catch us on all the major podcast platforms, Apple, Amazon, Spotify, YouTube, all of where wherever you have podcasts where they give us a review on them that will help spread the word far and wide. What are we exploring in today’s 1? Today we’re taking a look at procrastination, sometimes described as the thief of time. We’re going to take a bit of a look at procrastination. It’s not easy to say, it turns out this is something that we’ve looked at in, in depth in the overachievers club, taking a good in depth look at it a little while ago. But I thought it’d be interesting for all of us just to have a little delve into a bit about what procrastination is, why we procrastinate.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:01:38]:
Common causes of procrastination might not be what you think. And we’re also going to take a look at how you can work out what actually triggers you to procrastinate. And I use the word trigger in its true sense. What triggers the behavior, what is it that causes you to procrastinate. And we’ll take a look at a little, a little look at some of the ways you can, you can meet procrastination. I mean we could spend ages talking about, talking about the different ways. But I think something that’s going to be interesting for us is just to at least take that first step of getting to grips with, with what procrastination is why we procrastinate and what basically what tells us it’s time to procrastinate. So that is what we have got in store for you today.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:02:28]:
As I say, hopefully you’ll enjoy it. Do give us a like comment, share and subscribe. It all helps to spread the word far and indeed wide. So procrastination, excuse me, what is procrastination? Basically it’s where we put things off, put things off that we need to actually be doing and we often choose less important activities instead. Now procrastination is different from simply taking a break. Taking a break is something which is planned and it serves as a means for us to recharge. Procrastination, it’s usually unplanned. We don’t plan to procrastinate.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:03:25]:
Right. And it can have many negative consequences. Missed deadlines, increased stress, sense of failure. All of these things can come from procrastination. So, for example, just to clarify the difference between procrastination and taking a break, suppose you’ve been working on a single task for the past couple of hours and you decide you’re going to take 10 minutes out just for a quick walk and a nice cuppa just to get a break for 10 minutes. That’s not procrastinating. That’s actively choosing to take a break just to give you a mental and physical break from what you’ve been doing for the past couple of hours so that you can then come back to it refreshed. Procrastination, on the other hand, could be something like, I’ve got this important task to do.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:04:18]:
I am definitely, definitely, definitely going to start this important task. Absolutely going to start it. But let me just check the dishes are done first and oh, I, I should probably organise the bookshelf. Oh, gosh, there’s spider’s web up there. I need to clear that spider’s web as well. But I am definitely going to start, absolutely going to start. Just get these other things done first. Oh, and by the way, I should probably, probably do a bit of, bit of vacuuming as well.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:04:47]:
You get, you get it right. That’s the difference between taking a break and procrastinating. So what are some common causes of procrastination? Well, there’s many things which can cause us to procrastinate. Here are four or five of the more common ones. This is of course not an exhaustive list. Many, plenty of other things which can cause us to procrastinate or tell us it’s time to procrastinate. But here’s probably the four or five most common ones right up at the top. Fear of failure.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:05:27]:
Even though we may not realize it in those terms, fear of failure is a massive source of procrastination. The fear of not succeeding can make us avoid starting a task because, hey, if I don’t start the task, I can’t fail, right? Or sometimes a little bit more subtle than that. Or I can’t start it yet until I know absolutely every possible outcome and how I’m going to act and cope with every possible outcome. And oh, by the way, what about any unplanned ones? All that sort of stuff. It can cause us to avoid starting Tasks, we could worry about the outcome. We could worry about not knowing enough about it. We could worry about what happens if it goes wrong, what happens if things change. All of these things lead us to inaction.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:06:19]:
Procrastination. Another big cause of procrastination is perfectionism. Striving to be perfect can be paralysing. You see, when we. When we unset, when we set unrealistically high standards, the fear of not meeting those standards can cause us to procrastinate. Well, there’s no point in me starting this because I’m not gonna. I’m not gonna be able to finish it to that level. So I can’t start it until I know I can do it to that level.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:06:49]:
Perfectionism, it destroys so many dreams, hopes, goals, and it’s a great way of. Great source of procrastination. Another one, lack of motivation. You know, if you just cannot be bothered to do it, it’s very easy to procrastinate. It’s very hard to overcome that procrastination and actually do the thing. This is particularly true when. Excuse me, when a task feels uninteresting or a bit pointless. What’s the point of doing this?

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:07:27]:
All of those sorts of things make it very easy for us to put it off. Motivation plays big role in driving us to complete our tasks. Lack of motivation can play a big role in driving us to procrastinate. Another common source of procrastination, playing old overwhelm. Well, when we face a large task or a particularly complex task, that can fill us with feelings of overwhelm. And that in turn can lead us to delay starting it because it’s just too big to contemplate. So we don’t start it because breaking. Breaking those tasks, breaking that whole project up into smaller tasks, into small, manageable steps that can help us reduce the feeling of overwhelm.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:08:24]:
Because suddenly we’re not overwhelmed with, oh, I’ve got to climb this entire mountain we’re focusing on. All right, let’s take the first steps. Well, maybe take a look at some of this a little bit later on as well. So what, we’ve had fear of failure. We’ve got perfectionism. We’ve got lack of motivation. We’ve got overwhelm. One more.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:08:45]:
One more. Why not? Poor time management. That can be a great source of procrastination. Our inability to manage time effectively, that can result in us procrastinating. Because without a clear plan, it’s very easy to get sidetracked by less important Activities and all of a sudden we’re doing the dishes and stacking the bookshelf and we should be focusing on the task we want to achieve. Those are some of the causes of procrastination. The most, the most common ones. Ones.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:09:18]:
And most of our procrastination fits into one of. One or more of those. What’s the impact of procrastination? Lots. Lots of bad things. Never anything good. It decreases our productivity because the longer it takes us to get around to starting a task, the longer it’s going to be before we finish it. Often because we got deadlines, we delay and delay and delay starting that deadline is fixed. When we do eventually start, we end up rushing, taking shortcuts, doing last minute efforts, last minute sprints, cramming in just to try and complete it in time.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:10:03]:
All of which are typically less effective and, and give you a less robust and less powerful outcome. Another impact of procrastination, Increased stress. The looming pressure of those deadlines and incomplete tasks that can really cause stress to mount up. Stress, anxiety all builds up because of procrastination. It can also lower our self esteem. Repeated procrastination. I should have picked different words for this. Words that are easier to say but repeated procrastination and that can lead us to a sense of failure and even a loss of confidence in our ability.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:10:51]:
Because each time we, we procrastinate we end up making a bodge job of it. We start to doubt our ability to actually do the things that we intend to do. And all of this can hinder personal growth because if we avoid tasks that can stop us from reaching our goals and fulfilling our true potential. Meaning we end up stuck where we already are. So those are, those are the common causes of procrastination and the impacts of procrastination. So let’s take a look at. Let’s take a look at what tells us it’s time to procrastinate. Our triggers.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:11:44]:
What are our procrastination triggers and our procrastination patterns? We’ve looked at many, many times in the past how our unconscious mind runs things on autopilot. Something happens that causes us to act in a particular way. And procrastination is no different. There are things which happen which cause our unconscious mind to move us into a state of procrastinating. It doesn’t, it doesn’t deliberately think hey let’s procrastinate and put the task off. Doesn’t think of it in that way. But that is the end result. So recognising your own individual Patterns and the things which trigger procrastination.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:12:29]:
Basically the things which tell you it’s time to procrastinate by recognising and identifying these things for you. And different pattern, we all run different patterns. We have different things which trigger our procrastination. By identifying the ones which are relevant for you allows you to pinpoint exact moments and reasons behind your procrastination. And this self awareness, this awareness of what enables us to each to procrastinate, having our awareness of that is the basis for coming up with personalised solutions to overcome it. So let’s spend a little bit of time, probably the rest of this episode helping you to identify your procrastination. Going to give you some steps to help you start to get a better picture of your procrastination of what triggers it. So that you can then use that to get an idea of how to overcome it.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:13:35]:
Now you’re probably going to want to grab a pen and paper at this point, so feel free to go ahead and hit pause if you’re watching this on video. You’ll probably be able to find an incredibly amusing and embarrassing position that I’m in when you pause it. But pause, grab a pen, pencil, paper and then come back. Hello. Welcome back. So I’m going to give you some exercises for you to do which is why you’re going to have to write these down. Now yes, I am aware that you could end up procrastinating on doing these exercises but hey, that’s down to you. I can offer you suggestions on what to do.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:14:16]:
I can’t make you do them. But if you end up procrastinating on. Procrastinating on these. Yeah, maybe ask yourself why you are so keen to continue to procrastinate. So the first thing that I’m going to suggest that you do is keep a procrastination journal. So take notes through throughout this, this, this whole section. I’m going to suggest you keep a procrastination journal. Do it in a lovely little notebook, a lovely separate dedicated notebook and keep, keep, keep this journal for, for, for a period of time.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:14:59]:
A week, couple of weeks, a month, whatever, whatever feels right for you. You start maintain this journal tracking your procrastination. What are you going to put in it? Well, each time you catch yourself procrastinating, what I’d like you to do is first of all congratulate yourself on noticing that you were procrastinating. Don’t judge yourself for procrastinating. Don’t tell yourself off for it. Congratulate yourself on being able to notice, hey, I was procrastinating just now. Because the better you get at being able to spot that you’re procrastinating, the greater your chance of being able to address it in the future. So acknowledge yourself.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:15:43]:
Congratulate yourself for spotting that you were procrastinating. Grab your procrastination journal and your pen. Now. Yeah, you can type it up on a computer instead. It is better. You get better results when you write these things down. You get that kinesthetic connection. You’re kind of embodying and owning what you’re writing down.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:16:03]:
But hey, use whatever works for you, right? But record the following four things each time you find yourself procrastinating. Record the following four things. When, where, what? Why? Don’t worry, I’m going to explain. I’m going to explain them. When, where, what, why? So the first thing is when. Record the time and the date that this procrastination incident happened. Where? So note your location. Where were you? Note whatever’s relevant about that.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:16:38]:
About the. Procrastinate about their location. Were you at home? Were you at work? Were you friends? Where were you? You can get as specific as you wish to be. You might decide, well, I was at home, but I was in this particular room or I was in this particular chair or wherever. Just note down whatever feels relevant as much or as little as feels relevant. So that’s the when and the where. The next thing to write down is the what. Describe the task that you are avoiding.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:17:14]:
What specifically is it that you are avoiding in that moment? Put as much detail as you want about that task. Optionally, you could also record what you are doing instead, how you are procrastinating, what you were doing instead of the task. You could record that if you wish to get some additional insights. You don’t have to. And the final thing to record is why. This is where you’re going to need to think for a little bit as you do it. And the first times you do this, you may draw a blank. But the more you do this, the better able you will be to identify why you’re procrastinating.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:17:59]:
So reflect upon why you might be procrastinating. What is it? What is it that’s stopping you from doing the thing? Is it a lack of interest in the thing you’re supposed to be doing? Is it fear of failure? Is it feeling overwhelmed? Is it that you feel you haven’t got the resources? And then reflect upon, well, is that really true? Do you really not have the resources? Do you really not have a way to get them. Perhaps you might feel you don’t know what specifically it is you’re supposed to do. Again, is that really true? Because if you’re suitably motivated, you’d find out how to do it. But write down why you feel you might be procrastinating. So for each one, when, where, what, why, and keep this diary for as long as. As you. As long, as long as you wish.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:18:50]:
A week, a fortnight, a month, whatever. Long enough to get enough entries in it that you can do some analysis, you can reflect upon them, you can study them. So for example, you might have Monday, 10am at my desk in the office, avoiding writing the weekly report because I feel it’s too complex and I’m not sure where to start. So after you’ve done this for at least a week, a month, maybe a bit too long, unless there’s only a little bit of procrastination, once you’ve got several, several entries. But after at least a week’s worth of tracking, it’s time to review your journal entries. And when we’re reviewing it, what we’re doing is we’re looking to see if there are recurring themes. Well, there will be recurring themes. We’re looking to identify these recurring themes.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:19:50]:
What do these have in common? Now, they won’t, they won’t necessarily all have exactly the same thing in common, but you will start to spot patterns. You will start to spot triggers. Excuse me. And remember, as you’re going through this, don’t judge, don’t go. I shouldn’t have been procrastinating there. We know that. Don’t judge. What we’re doing at this point is merely figuring out what’s enabling us to procrastinate.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:20:18]:
So look for patterns. It could be the time of day, for example, do you procrastinate more in the morning, more in the afternoon, more in the evening? On particular days, you tend to procrastinate. What type of task? Are there particular or certain types of tasks which you find crop up again and again and again in the procrastination, for example, could be creative tasks, or it could be analytical tasks, it could be administrative tasks. It could be physically exerting tasks, could be tasks involving working with a particular person. Whatever it is, look for, identify the common patterns in the types of tasks that you, that you avoid. The other thing to look for are emotional triggers. Look for the patterns of specific emotions which coincide with your frustration. It could be anxiety, boredom, could be frustration, whatever it is.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:21:31]:
That’s the bit that you Usually get from the why look through them. Maybe circle things that crop up again and again and again. Identify these different patterns. For example, you might notice a pattern of avoiding complex tasks in the morning, preferring instead to engage in easier, less important activities in the morning. That could be a really good sign in that instance. That’s kind of quite a giveaway. It’s like, okay, maybe we move the complex task to the afternoon. Analyze it, see what patterns are coming up.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:22:13]:
See what themes and threads are in there. Something to reflect upon. Have a think about the emotions and the thoughts that go along with your procrastination because understanding these can help you address underlying issues. For example, emotions are you feeling particular emotions each time you procrastinate? Or thoughts, other specific thoughts that are going through your mind when you procrastinate. Things like I’ll never get this right or ah, it’s all right, I’ve got plenty of time. What’s. What are specific thoughts? Emotions that are going through you as, as you procrastinate? The more you can identify these, the more you can build up a picture of what basically what enables you to procrastinate? What tells your unconscious, hey, it’s time to procrastinate rather than do the thing. Once you’ve got that information, that awareness about yourself can then give you insights into how to start overcoming the procrastination.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:23:22]:
So I think that’s a good point for us to stop this one actually, because I don’t want it to get too in depth and basically put you off starting your procrastination journal. So we’ve had a look at what procrastination is. We’ve had a look at the common themes, common causes, common triggers for procrastination. We’ve looked at why, the problems procrastination causes, and hopefully giving you some insights into starting and running your own procrastination journal. As I say, run it for at least a week, then analyze it, see what comes up. And just doing this will give you some good insights into why you procrastinate. Clients I’ve worked with, we’ve done just this exercise that’s given so much insight and really helped us to figure out, okay, we can see why you’re procrastinating. Here are things we can do to overcome these.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:24:24]:
Here are things we can do to prevent those emotions or to work with the way your mind’s working with your preferred times of day, preferred places, preferred things to be doing. That’s the key for you. The key to it all is first of all, understand what enables you to procrastinate? That’ll do for this one. I’d love to know what you think of it. Do Let me know. Let me know what comes up for you. What did you find with your procrastination? Let me know. Get in touch Email me Add your thoughts, comments, questions Wherever you see this this episode, remember to give us a Like a comment a Share Subscribe Give us a review on your favorite platform, Apple Podcasts, Amazon music, Audible, Spotify, YouTube all over the place or on this, the podcast’s own website.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:25:21]:
Got a short link for now KeithBN.link/KBNRS Now when you post about it, use a hashtag. #KBNRS. That’s it for now. Don’t put it off any longer. Start your procrastination journal and just for you, see what are the things that are letting you procrastinate, enabling you to procrastinate and get curious about how you can juggle things around to become much more productive. That’s it for now. Catch you in another episode very soon. Bye for now.

Keith Blakemore-Noble [00:26:15]:
You’ve been listening to the Keith Blakemore-Noble Radio Show. To find out more, visit KeithBlakemoreNoble.com