Procrastination, in most cases, is not so much the result of having overwhelming or distasteful tasks to do - although those things do play a part - but it's more a combination of over commitment and a failure to manage time effectively. People in general take on too much, and they don't like to give up anything. They simply want more time to do all the things they are currently doing. And unfortunately that's impossible since there is only 24 hours in a day.
Procrastination is a lot like buying on credit. You want to buy into that task because of the benefits and opportunities it would provide, so you commit yourself to doing it. Unfortunately you don't have time to do it right away so you put it off until later. After all, you reason, it's not due right now, and you feel you will have more time in the future. Most people mistakenly believe they will have more time in the future, and so they keep adding things to their "To Do" list.
By doing so, you are committing or promising future time to the task or project that you really don't have. As a result you are in time debt. And when it comes time to pay your debt, you can't. That's when the stress kicks in. The task you postponed has become urgent, and demands immediate payment of the time needed to complete it or else you default, and lose all the benefits that the task would provide. Unfortunately you have already committed the time you do have to other even more pressing necessities.
As a result, many people declare time bankruptcy, losing all benefits and opportunities of the tasks abandoned, perform poorly on the things that do get done, and lose self-esteem as well as credibility. Many lose their health as well. The stress proves too much for them. There are many "emotional" diseases, including some forms of cancer. A few people never recover.
Others are bailed out by family and friends - a forgivable loan, if you will, where they all chip in and help out with your time debt as they are able, until it has been paid off. A few may simply walk away from it all, take their losses, shrug off the stress and start from scratch. But regardless, everyone loses.
The solution, of course, is not to buy on credit. Or at least make sure that you are able to make your payments at the end of the month before you make the commitments. You do this by budgeting your time, which involves prioritizing and planning.
First you need to identify the priorities and allow time for those first. These are the things akin to food, shelter, clothes etc., and in time management terms, would be those activities and tasks necessary to insure your success, and those that would help you to achieve your personal and business goals. In effect, you are drawing up a time budget.
Your planner tells you how much time you have each day and each week, just as your bank account tells you how much money you have, and you don't want to commit yourself beyond that. So left over from the 168 hours per week that you earn, let's say you only have about 70 hours left once you have allowed for the necessities of life. That's called discretionary time. This is the time that you can use for those priority goal-related tasks and projects of your choice - or I should say any projects; they don't have to be priorities. But you cannot buy into any additional tasks once that discretionary time has been used up or budgeted.
Normally you would commit your time no more than a week or two ahead. But there are a few long-term projects or commitments that may extend through the whole year, just as there are comments such as rent, light and utilities that have to be budgeted for on a long-term basis.