The 4 Why's of Your Procrastination

Four of the most common reasons we put things off:

1. We think it's difficult: When the task seems hard to do, we naturally avoid it in favor of something easy. This explains why so many taxpayers wait until April 14 to get down to business.

2. We think it's time consuming: With our time always in short supply, something that seems ready to gobble large blocks of time is going to be set aside. "We'll have more time on the weekend," we say, "so we'll tackle it then."

3. We think we don't know enough: Few people like to make mistakes, so instead of taking real action we turn to study and research. We keep learning more (from the safety of home) until we feel safe to start. Then, when we feel ready...we learn some more.

4. We think people will judge us: Engineers don't get engineer's block; accountants don't get accountant's block. But writers? Oh, they get blocked.

And one possible reason is the fear of getting criticized. Because they worry so much about what people will think, they put off the writing, or, worse, work themselves into a lather that we call writer's block.