Survey ????shows that 88% of the workforce procrastinates

Survey ????shows that 88% of the workforce procrastinatesSurvey ????shows that 88% of the workforce procrastinatesWhat part of knowledge workers procrastinates on average? Its a simple question. But until now, no one provided an answer.Research has only focused on the procrastination behavior of college students. It doesnt require much research to answer that question. Students are notorious for procrastinating.And yet,most scientific studiesdidnt do a good job in capturing how many students actually procrastinate. One study estimated that 25 to 75 percent of college students procrastinate on academic work.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreThats a useless statement. Is it 25% or 75%? Thats a huge difference. Also, scientists often surveyed only a hundred people or less. While research into the consequences of procrastination hasbeen solid, there are no strong results that show how many people actually procrastinate.Another issue I have with scientific studies is that students dont represent the workforce. Students dont have the same urgency and responsibility that professionals have. Thats why I set out to discover how many professionals procrastinate in my own study.2,219 people participated in this surveyThe survey I conducted had one goal. I wanted to know what percentage of the workforce admits to procrastinating on an average day. I didnt pose a long list of questions to establish whether someone procrastinated or not.The respondents of this survey are conscientious people who read articles on productivity and habits. My expectation is that the people who participated are more motivated than average professionals, simply because they are interested in improving themselves. In the study, I ask two questionsHow many hurs did you procrastinate yesterday?What describes your situation best?Why did I ask how much someone procrastinatedyesterday? Well, take a look at what you did today or yesterday. Its highly likely that today looked a lot like yesterday, and that yesterday looked like the day before.Were creatures of habit. Today, we do the same things we did yesterday. If we were productive today, were probably productive tomorrow. The same is true for procrastination. If you putt off work until tomorrow, you will probably repeat that behavior when tomorrow comes.Thats the background of this study. 2,219 people responded to the survey. To my knowledge, thats the biggest survey ever conducted on procrastination.You can download a presentation of the findings here.If you want check the raw data,heres the Excel file.A widespread issueWith 88% of the workforce admitting that they procrastinate at least one hour a day, its safe to say this is a widespread issue. This result is also in stark contrast with previous research that showed 25% 75% of people procrastinate. Its more common than we assume.But I only procrastinate a bit. Doesnt mat ter, my friend.A person who only procrastinates 1-2 hours a day is not better than someone who does it for 5+ hours. Procrastination is procrastination.Im speaking from experience.In college, I procrastinated forweeks.Years later, when I had a job, I procrastinated 1-2 hours a day (sometimes more). In both cases, I didnt achieve my full potential. Thats the bottom line.Unfortunately, I cant tell you why we procrastinate that was also not the purpose of this study. But I have some hypothesesToo many distractions- Too many workplaces harm our productivity. We are interrupted all the time. That makes it impossible to do focused work. On top of that, our smartphones are a big source of distraction. With so many distractions, procrastination becomes easy.Inner conflicts- Many of us are stuck at jobs that dont align with our skills and values. That causes inner conflict and lack of motivation. As a result, knowledge workers are more likely to put off work.Lack of productivity skills- Know ledge work is complex and requires a significant effort from our brains. If we dont knowhowto get work done, how can we expect to achieve results? Organizations and entrepreneurs should take their productivity training seriously. Its like physical exercise- you need to repeat the basics to keep your strength.The reasons why we procrastinate remains complex. Its up to each individual to figure out why they put off important things.The good news about the causes is that we can overcome them all. Procrastination is dangerous behavior. Most people recognize that. But no matter how intelligent people are, most of them underestimate the frequency of theirprocrastination.I firmly believe we can all procrastinate less. We can be more productive (heres what I do to overcome procrastination). We can get our work done without wasting time. And we can also make more time for things that matter to us.For years, many knowledge workers have been proposing shorter workdays. The proposition is attra ctive Simply do your work, dont waste time, get results, and when youre done, call it a day.Thats easier said than done. The reality is that were not yet capable of such a thing. We need more self-regulation and discipline to beat procrastination. But once we accomplish that, I do think we can achieve the same results in less time. In that case, we will have more freedom.A productive knowledge worker who doesnt procrastinate can decide between two optionsAchieve thesameresults in less time (and work less)Achievemorein the same timeThat will improve the quality of workandlife. But it all starts with overcoming procrastination. elend just for a day. Butevery day.This article originally appeared on Darius Foroux.