Jun

25

Procrastination, Perfectionism, and Action Orientation

June 25, 2007 | posted by Ryan |

Through our consulting, Scott and I have found an interesting relationship between procrastination, perfectionism, and action orientation. This sacred triangle has helped us help others - through figuring out where on the “triangle” one is at to learning how to balance all sides of the triangle. Quite often one or two of the three will be overemphasized, and quite often those who come to us have the procrastination-perfectionism combination. Admittedly there are many elements that affect procrastination, as indicated in many popular books on the subject.

However, when dealing with individuals in graduate schools, those conducting research, or those in the business field, it has been quite helpful to start with this simple triangle and then work into deeper issues of, for example, “am I *good enough* (whichever level you want to take that on) to succeed.” At other times we have found that intentional distractions, and even unintentional distractions, are really alternative ways of engaging the topic at hand.

Let me give an example. At one point a client was intent on completing a specific part of her project. The project was quite large, so she we had helped her to break down the project into manageable chunks in order to work toward her various goals. At one point she found that she felt absolutely stuck. And even with our accountability efforts in place, she wasn’t moving forward. On her next consulting visit we asked what she had been doing instead. As it turned out, she had watched 4 movies rather than complete the project. On the surface this would seem mere distraction - but I wanted to take it a bit further this time. After inquiring as to the *topic* of the movies and the *moral of the story* in each, the client was led to an epiphany. Every movie had the same basic topic, plot, and moral - and all of these had to do with her feelings of being stuck at this particular part of her project. After recognizing this consciously, and engaging in her own *plot* as compared to the characters in the movies, she was able to come to her own resolution and complete that part of her project.

Without going a bit deeper, she would not have likely recognized her connection with those protagonists in the movies nor would she have likely moved forward anytime soon.

[Posted in General Interest & Resources]



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