What causes procrastination?

Lenora M. Yuen, PhD., psychologist and coauthor of Procrastination: Wh You Do It What to Do About It, believes that there are really two causes of procrastination: fear and low self-esteem. Dr. Yuen contends that when people have a low sense of self-esteem, they look at the work they produce as a constant gauge of their own worth. They don’t worry about making mistakes because it might get them in trouble with the boss. They worry because any mistake they make means that they have failed as a person. Consequently, they don’t take that risk. They put things off. They procrastinate.

Say, for instance, that you delegated a project to someone who worries a lot about his or her self-esteem. This person tried their best, but unfortunately when the project concluded, it didn’t get the rave reviews they had hopped for. For this person, the result was, “Well, I obviously tried my best and my best wasn’t good enough. So, I must not be good enough either.” And he or she files that memory away.

Now, fast-forward to a new day when you must delegate another project to this person. He or she remembers what happened the last time and instinctively falls back on their defense mechanism – procrastination. The person puts the project off until the last minute and then makes a “last ditch” effort to get the project done in whatever time is left. Now, regardless of the outcome, the person can say, “This was not a true test of my ability. If I had more time, the outcome would have been different."
According to Dr. Yuen, “Procrastination is a built-in safeguard that never allows the person’s full potential to be put to any kind of critical test. It allows a person to preserve an illusion of brilliance without ever having the illusion destroyed by reality.”

While procrastination can stem from many factors outside the supervisor’s control, it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try to prevent it from occurring. Often, there are some simple steps that can be taken.

1. Establish clear-cut goals and priorities immediately. Begin by establishing an ultimate deadline. Next, determine priorities. However, instead of determining what all the priorities in the project are, determine what the most important priority is first. Then, move to the next important and so on. Doing this helps to create a linear progression of priorities that is easy to follow. Then, set mini-deadlines for each priority. Work out the whole schedule in such a way that by meeting various deadlines, everyone involved will have enough time to give the most important parts of the project the attention they need without missing the final deadline.
2. Remember that it doesn’t have to be perfect. It just needs to be done. Most likely, no one expects to receive the Nobel Prize at the conclusion of any project. Supervisors should let their employees know that everyone has their abilities – and their limitations. While some things do need to be perfect (account balances, medication dosages, design schematics and the like), if most projects are 80 percent great and 20 percent good, it’s probably just fine. Remember that something is called average because that is about as well as the majority of people can do it.

Source: (above article is partial, complete article below)
http://www.training.oa.mo.gov/solutionsarchive/Solutionsspg1 1-12.pdf

Some quotes for Self talk:

"I'd rather watch tv but it won't help me graduate so I will study first."
"I may not want to do it, but I will for 1 hour."
"I'll feel better when it's done "
'I'll do this for 1 hour and then go out."
"I'm a good student and good students do this, so I will do it now."
"I may hate this but I will finish it before I watch tv."
"I haven't liked this in the past but maybe i can learn to like it."
"I haven't done well on this in the past, but I will learn to do it well."

Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly atleast first.