Here's your detailed report.
Your Main Procrastination Type is Pivoting
What is it?
If you’re someone that tends to procrastinate by pivoting, it means that you are actively looking for the best plan or strategy to achieve your goals in the most efficient way possible. Procrastination by pivoting is very similar to procrastination by planning except in this case, once we finally have a plan that we think is perfect, we change it.
Before putting the plan into action and seeing if it actually generates real-life results, we come across a new strategy, a new idea, or a new plan that is much simpler and easier to execute on than the one we have right now and we decide to make the switch.
This is also known as Shiny Object Syndrome and is more common in entrepreneurs.
Why does it happen?
There is a novelty element to something new. It is exciting and fun and has a temporary hit of dopamine which feels good and rewards our brain. This is comparable to the honeymoon phase of relationships.
Once the dopamine wears off, our brains want more and get us to seek out and search for that new novelty again so we can experience the same reward. That’s when we start looking for a new and exciting plan so that we feel the same “high” as we did with our original plan. Once we find a new strategy or plan, we feel that dopamine hit again and our brain is satisfied for the next little while until it wears off.
What does it feel like?
Procrastination by pivoting feels like expending a lot of energy only to get nowhere. Like running on a treadmill or being on a hamster wheel.
Once we've identified our plan and have laid out all the work that needs to get done, we can feel a bit overwhelmed by knowing just how much work there is to do. That's when new and other strategies seem most appealing and we ditch our plans thinking that 'the grass is greener on the other side' only to find out it never is.Once we create a new plan, we come to one of two realizations:
In either one of these cases, the logical conclusion is that the current plan we have is not good enough and that we need something better and easier to execute. So we begin the process of creating a new plan all over again without actually taking any action on any of the plans we've created so far. This cycle can repeat endlessly until we actually start executing on one of the plans we lay out.
Your Possible Root Cause is Perfectionism
What is it?
Perfectionism is a trait that turns life into an endless list of accomplishments. Healthy perfectionism can be self-motivating and drive you to overcome adversity and achieve success. But in its unhealthy form, it can be a root cause of unhappiness.
Why does it happen?
The primary motivation behind perfectionism is internal pressure. Pressure like the desire to avoid failure or harsh judgement. It is possible that there is a social component to perfectionism as well. Perfectionistic tendencies have increased substantially amongst younger people over the last 30 years, regardless of gender or culture.
Increased academic and professional competition is thought to play a part in this as well as the increased penetration of social media in our daily lives. Seeing other people living their best lives on social media forces us to compare our imperfect lives with theirs and increases our internal pressure to appear perfect.
What does it feel like?
Perfectionism — in its unhealthy or extreme form — is toxic because, although the perfectionist desires success, they are ultimately focused on avoiding failure. Perfectionists don't believe in unconditional love because they expect to receive love and affection only if they have given a flawless performance.
Perfectionists have unrealistically high expectations of themselves and others. They are quick to find faults and are extremely critical of mistakes. They procrastinate out of fear of failure and are unable to receive compliments and often don't celebrate their successes. Instead, they look to specific people for approval and validation.
Unhealthy perfectionism is often fuelled by fear of failure, feeling unworthy, having low self-esteem, and adverse childhood experiences. Perfection is an impossibility in reality. Striving for perfection can be very motivating and lead to excellent outcomes. But when this is taken too far, this striving can lead to negative consequences like procrastination, avoiding challenges, rigid 'all-or-nothing' thinking, toxic comparisons, and a lack of creativity.
Perfectionism, like any personality trait, exists on a spectrum and people usually lie somewhere in the middle of the two extremities. Like most traits, perfectionism has its pros and cons. On the positive side of things, perfectionism can push people to be their best and strive to give their maximum performance. On the negative side, it can lead to being overly critical, harsh, and judgemental of themselves and others.
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