Why Do I Procrastinate on Tasks I'm Actually Good At?

You put off tasks you're good at because your skill sets an expectation: this work has to go smoothly for you. Even a familiar task starts slowly, and that friction clashes with your self-image. A first move so small that it doesn't test your skill takes the edge off.

Why does your skill, of all things, hold you back?

Your skill creates an expectation: this work has to run smoothly for you. When a task is new, you allow yourself to stumble. When it's familiar, you don't.

Take the quote you've been writing for years. You know every building block, and it has still been on your list for three days. The reason is the first paragraph. Even for you, it doesn't come right away. The ten minutes of searching don't fit the picture you have of yourself. So you wait for the moment when it will feel effortless.

That's not a shortcoming. There's a gap between your self-image and the way a start actually goes, nothing more. Remember this: even your skill starts slowly.

How do you tell whether it's procrastination or tiredness?

Tiredness hits everything, while procrastination picks one thing out. When you're tired, you put off your core work just as much as the callback and the filing. If you only put off the familiar core work and get through emails and small tasks quickly in between, you're not exhausted.

I check this with a tally. For one week, every time you put off a task, write down what you do instead. If "answered emails" shows up five times next to a task you've clearly mastered, you've found your pattern.

It's rarely a deeper problem. It's a pattern that protects your self-image. I describe how a self-image like that keeps procrastination going in I'm Just a Procrastinator.

How do you start when you're afraid you won't meet your own standard?

You start with a move so small that it doesn't test your skill at all. It still has to be visible, so you have proof that the task has started.

For the quote, that means you open the file, enter the client's name and write the three line items as keywords, one below the other. It takes ten minutes, and you don't have to word anything. Your standard has nothing to judge, because nothing is finished yet.

You're thinking: that's too small for someone who knows how to do this. That's exactly why it works. You don't carry the start on your reputation. You carry it on the first move. After that, the skill you already have takes over.

Maybe you want to defuse this pattern where it begins, not just on a single task. Then the challenge is your next step. Over four days you work on becoming someone who doesn't take a slow start as a verdict on their skill.

Try the free four-day challenge