How to Beat Procrastination As You Grow Your Business

procrastination is an odd compulsion. Everyone has experienced it, but the underlying reasons can be tough to pin down.

After all, procrastination delaysthe very activities that bring people closer to their goals --whether that’s building a thriving business or stronger triceps. So why don’t humans just sprint toward that brighter, fitter future?

The science.

Scientific studies of procrastination have spiked over the past 20 years. Researchers once considered the issuea basic time-management problem, but they now view it as a complex and highly inpidual phenomena.

58003 "Experts define it as the voluntary delay of some important task that we intend to do, despite knowing that we'll suffer as a result. A poor concept of time may exacerbate the problem, but an inability to manage emotions seems to be its very foundation."

Greek philosophers used the word akrasia to describe the state of acting against one's better judgement. Building on this term, author James Clear believes everyone hasa "present Self" thatdesires instant gratification and a "Future Self" thatprizes long-term rewards. "When the time comes to make a decision," Clear wrote, "you are no longer making a choice for your Future Self. Now you are in the present moment, and your brain is thinking about the present Self."

The personal motivation.

Back in 2006, I often struggled with the snooze button. When the buzzing began at 5 a.m. I’d ask myself, “Should I stay in bed or should I spend a few hours on my business?”

I was working as a programmer for a New York-based media company and building my company,JotForm, on the side. I learned a lot about myself while juggling a full-time job and scaling a startup --including how to battle my own procrastination demons.

I started to consider why I was delaying certain tasks. Once I identified the root cause, I could plan to reclaim my productivity. This approach might sound simple, but most advice doesn’t probe the source of the problem. Instead, society most often teaches people tosimply push through any feelings of resistance.

The “just do it” approach works sometimes, but it’s not sustainable. If you're repeatedly avoiding specific tasks, there’s an underlying reason -- and odds are it's highly personal.

Here are four factors that might be behind your bad habit, along with some ideas to help you conquer each scenario.

1. progress doesn’t feel fast enough.

Think about the last time you started a new project or business endeavor. You probably felt excited and energized by the challenge. A couple months (or years) later, the shine dulled. Maybe you feltdiscouraged and even a little bored. You were fighting both time and biology.

Dopamine often is described as the brain’s “reward chemical,” activated by the ping of a smartphone or a heaping plate of pasta. But newresearch showsdopamine ismore closely related to reward-seeking behavior than operating as a reward itself.

When your brain encounters novelty, it releases dopamine. The natural chemicalmotivates you to search for a reward (there's that exploringand pushing forward again). But when the project's novelty wears off, your mind rebels. Your motivation drops as your brain thinks, "My hard work isn't being rewarded. This isn't fun anymore."

The "present Self" and its demand for instant gratification makes it even tougher to force yourself to open the spreadsheet yet again or to keep chipping away at a frustrating product feature.

BJ Fogg, a behavioral scientist at Stanford University, suggests you can fight the dopamine drop by setting up “small wins” and celebrating each milestone. According to Fogg, every task should be accompanied by a simple trigger. Imagine you want to create an online course.You could commit to writing a paragraph after every glass of water, then continue this triggered behavior throughout the day.

Once the task is done, it’s time for the small celebration. You could listen to a favorite song, take a brief walk, or read a great book. 58003 Small wins reward your novelty-seeking brainand nudge you toward the finish line. The feedback loop also establishes a powerful habit that can eliminate the need for motivation entirely.

2. You don’t know where to start.

58003 Seemingly endless to-do lists can make it feel as if there's no good place to start. Unfortunately, pided attention often leads people to procrastinate in a sneaky way: Theyengage first inlow-value activities such as emptying the inbox or checking social media.

Founders are especially prone to these feelings because there’s rarely a clear path forward. If you're like most entrepreneurs, you also may be wearing a lot of hats or juggling a packed schedule. In talking to fellow entrepreneurs, I’ve learned it’s normal to feel uncertain --particularlywhen starting something new. Remind yourselfit’s OK not to have the answers. Give yourself permission to start where you can.

Brainstorming solutions with friends, mentorsand advisors can help youestablish clear priorities. Seek out people who aren't lost in the weeds of your business' day-to-day demands. They often can help you realize where your time is best spent and what you should delegate.

Systems also can helpsquash procrastination. My family owns a small olive farm, and I join them every year for the annual harvest. The whole operation runs like a well-oiled machine. Everyone knows each step of the process, making procrastination almost impossible.

3. You're afraid to fail.

Founders love to repeat the mantra “fail fast, fail often.” Below the bravado, however, many live in fear of making bad decisions.

During a recent visit to Silicon Valley, writerRob Asghar spoke to one unusually candid founder. The man, who asked to remain anonymous, told Asghar, “Many people here do talk about embracing failure, but that’s usually just hype."

Some fear failure so intensely theycut corners.Others might delay launch dates, miss deadlines or obsess over small details instead of releasing a beta version. I'm not immune. I struggled with perfectionism during the early days of my business. perhaps we could have grown faster, but I was a bootstrapped founder.I didn’t have a board or investors monitoring my every move. When the fear of failure crept in, I could be gentle with myself and then carry on.

Joseph Ferrari, an associate professor of psychology at Chicago’s De paul University, calls people who experience fear-based procrastination “avoiders.” Whether they’re avoiding failure or even success, they’re deeply concerned about other people’s opinions. “They would rather have others think they lack effort than ability,”Ferrari wrote.

High standards aren’t necessarily a bad thing. Everyone knows success takes grit, perseverance and strong principles. Beyoncé and Serena Williams are two self-described perfectionists who have harnessed this tendency with amazing results.

58003 That combination can grind you to a halt.

You are not your work. And untangling the difference between who we are and what we achieve can help to stop to fear-based procrastination.

4. You don’t like the task.

Some activities aren’t fun. Few people enjoy going to the dentist, doing their taxesor visiting the DMV. Building a business also requires many less-than-thrilling activities. When there are so many moving parts to tackle, who wants to spend precious hours invoicing?

This is perhapsthe most mundane type of procrastination. people putoff dull, boring, or uninspiring tasks because they don’t feel like tackling them.

“Somewhere along the way, we’ve all bought into the idea, without consciously realizing it, that to be motivated and effective we need to feel like we want to take action,”social psychologist Heidi Grantwrote. “I really don’t know why we believe this, because it is 100% nonsense.”

58003 First, identify the steps required to complete a task. Next --and most important--determine where and when you’ll act. Tell yourself, for example, "If it’s 10 am, then I’ll close my email and research design agencies."

This process doesn’t require willpower. And that’s important, because a lack of willpower, in the traditional sense, might lead you to postpone things in the first place. Embrace your limited resolve,Grant recommends, and use if-then planning as a backup tool.

The power of self-knowledge.

Everyone has different motivations, goals and personalities, so it makes sense that everyonealso has different reasons for procrastinating. Once you understand what’s blocking you, it’s easier to choose the best solution. Ignore the other hacks and don’t worry if “expert” advice falls down.

After all, it's more important to know yourself, experimentand stick with what works for you. And take comfort in knowing every human who's lived hasfaced the same challenge, from wise ancient Greeks to Silicon Valley startup founders.