Here's your detailed report.
Your Main Procrastination Type is Busywork
What is it?
If you tend to engage in busywork then you most likely feel productive all the time but don’t get much done. Busywork is a form of procrastination that feels productive in the moment because, technically, the busy-worker is doing something but that something has little or no lasting impact in the grand scheme of things. Busywork gives the illusion of productivity and the excuse to tell ourselves "I'm busy right now and working hard."
It is the act of being busy while simultaneously procrastinating on your most important tasks. Even though the busy-worker might be working 8 to 10 hours a day and feel productive, no actual productive work, work that moves the busy-worker towards their big-pictures, is taking place.
Why does it happen?
People fall into the trap of busywork because it's difficult to detect when you are engaged in it. When you engage in normal procrastination, you realize that you're doing it. But when you fall into the trap of busywork, it's difficult to realize it because you're keeping yourself busy by working on a lot of different to-do's and things that "need to get done".
What does it feel like?
When you're busy and getting a lot of tasks done, it feels very productive. You feel good about yourself. In fact, our brain rewards us for this kind of behaviour because dopamine (the pleasure hormone) is released in our brain when we're working on a lot of different tasks, thus further incentivizing us to continue working this way.
Even though we feel productive and good about all the low-impact tasks we're doing, the end result is that we're not working on our most important tasks that actually move the needle forward. That's why busywork is considered a trap and a form of procrastination.
One of the reasons behind this could be the belief that "hard work equals success". That is not necessarily true. Yes, hard work can be a component of success but only when the hard work being done is on the right tasks and activities. It doesn't matter how hard you work if you're working on the wrong things.
It is important to note the difference between being busy and being productive.
Your Possible Root Cause is Fixed Mindset
What is it?
If you are someone with a fixed mindset, you tend to hold the belief: "I either have what it takes or I don't." You are likely to believe that you are either ‘born with it’ or you’re not and there’s no way to change that.
According to Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck, a person with a fixed mindset believes that their competence, intelligence, talents and capabilities are innate, fixed qualities.
Why does it happen?
Having a fixed mindset is more a set of limiting beliefs than it is an actual physical barrier to success. Dweck believes that fixed mindsets are cultivated early on in life often through the way children were raised or through their experiences in school.
A Fixed Mindset is something that is picked up by children along the way because that’s what they were taught growing up. It is the commonly held beliefs that the children were taught along the way.
For example: Children who are taught (either directly or indirectly) that they should look smart instead of loving the learning process tend to develop a fixed mindset. These children become more concerned with how they appear to others, how they're being judged, and that they might not live up to expectations.
What does it feel like?
Children with Fixed Mindsets grow up believing that they have something to prove. That they must appear intelligent, smart, educated, competent at all times and are secretly fearful not living up to these expectations they have internalized.
It's sad because these expectations were never theirs to begin with. They were imposed on them and later internalized by them. Once grown up, these children no longer have that external critic telling them how they "should be" because now a part of them has become that critic to themselves.
Their sense of self-worth and well-being depends on how they are being judged by others. They live with a constant need for validation through every situation or circumstance.
"I've seen so many people with this one consuming goal of proving themselves in the classroom, in their careers, and in their relationships. Every situation calls for a confirmation of their intelligence, personality, or character. Every situation is evaluated: Will I succeed or fail? Will I look smart or dumb? Will I be accepted or rejected? Will I feel like a winner or a loser?" — CAROL DWECK
Living in this fear of not being perceived "the right way" or having this constant need for self validation can be a very lonely, tiresome and exhausting experience. It becomes difficult to open up to people and make genuine connections because of the looming fear in the back of your mind of not wanting to lose face or be seen as "less than what you're supposed to be."
Ready to CRUSH Procrastination for Good?
Related Readings You Might Like