If procrastination punishes productivity, why do we keep putting things off?

Before we procrastinate, we sometimes recall when we were in this same situation in the past. We decided to avoid something. Then, when we were finally forced to deal with it because we had no other options, the experience wasn't that great. 

The productivity and efficiency might've been terrible as well. The results just weren't that good. Yet here we are again in the same situation and strongly considering making the same mistake. 

Why do we do things that aren't in our best interests? 

Humans sit comfortably at the top of the food chain. We have taken over the planet and have free reign to do what we like. That has taken considerable ability to grow, learn, and progress throughout human history. 

It continues every day. We continually try to make our lives better, easier, more fulfilling, safer, and happier. With such a remarkable drive to improve our quality of life, why do we harm ourselves by procrastinating? 

Avoiding doing things we know we should be doing leads to poor productivity. It can harm our personal and professional lives, relationships, and physical and mental health. Yet, we continue to choose that as our behavior. Why? 

It Might Be Because You Don't Have Enough Things on Your Automatic List 

There are certain things you do each day that are automatic. You might consciously think about them as you do or prepare to do them. They are still automatic. If you wake up one morning and are a little foggy and out of focus, you still do certain things in your morning routine without concentrating very hard. 

There are automatic processes you follow throughout the day, at work and play, in all areas of your life. These tasks and responsibilities make up what you can call your Automatic List. 

The more extensive this list, the fewer decisions you have to make. With each decision, there is a thinking process. A lot of mental energy and time is used before you choose one course of action over another. You only have so much of this conscious, decision-making energy. As you know, there is only so much time in the day. 

This is why you must add more repetitive tasks to your Automatic List. 

Instead of constantly deciding what to do throughout the day, do it. The process saves massive amounts of time and mental elbow grease when you remove decisions and instead build habits and routines. 

Look at the things you have to do every day and every week. How many of them can you automate? How frequently do you make the same decisions over and over again? If you're honest with yourself, you'll find plenty of choices that don't have to be made. 

You can turn a decision into an item on your Automatic List. It may take some time before you stop thinking about this activity and do it automatically, but that will eventually happen. This process can keep you from procrastinating, which means more productivity in every area of your life.

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