We have all put off a task at some point, but do you ever wondered why we procrastinate? Some people view procrastination as laziness or a lack of willpower, but in fact, there could be another reason.

In psychology, it is believed that people who procrastinate have a faulty sense of time. In other words they believe they have more time to complete the task than they really do. Other research points to the fact procrastination could be a way of managing distress, tasks are viewed as boring, unpleasant, etc. So therefore they are put off until later.

Procrastination may also become a long-term debilitating and chronic mental health issue. It is very treatable so please reach out.

Procrastination has been linked to increased stress, health problems, poor performance, sleep issues, self-esteem issues, guilt, shame, depression, anxiety (GAD and SAD) and an increase in negative thinking, plus so much more. That is a long list of problems one person could find themselves facing without realising they need help.

What Is Procrastination?

Definition: the act or habit of procrastinating is a putting off or delaying something that requires attention.

To a degree procrastination can be seen as normal and can be regarded as a useful means by which we prioritise between tasks. However, for some people, they find that procrastination is a persistent and disruptive problem in their everyday life. It may be in fact, a symptom of a psychological disorder.

Chronic procrastination.

Suffers of chronic procrastination can be viewed as lazy, lacking in willpower or low ambition. But the social stigma caused may prevent them from seeking much-needed support and help from a trained therapist. 

Procrastination has been linked to a number of conditions, such as depression, anxiety, sleep problems, low self-esteem, ADHD and stress. The negative feelings that arise may promote a vicious circle for some, increasing their procrastination. It is therefore important for people to recognise if their procrastination has become debilitating to seek help, as an underlying mental health issue may be present. 

Research is indicating that chronic procrastination may have a physiological root in the prefrontal cortex. This area of the brain is responsible for executive brain functions, such as impulse control, attention and planning. This would tie into the lack of such functions in chronic procrastinators.  

The prefrontal cortex also acts as a filter, so damage or low activation in this area of the brain would result in the person not being able to filter out distracting stimuli, which results in poorer organization, a loss of attention, and increased procrastination (very common in ADHD).

4 Types of Procrastinator.

1. Anxious procrastination

Procrastination may be a coping mechanism for anxiety. People like this will normally over schedule themselves with more work than they can complete. Plus they will certainly leave no time for fun activities. The unrealistic expectations they place upon themselves will cause further stress, anxiety and procrastination.

2. Fun procrastinator

Some people would rather do anything fun and exciting than start that project. There are so many distractions to be had that work will be viewed as so boring as a result. Work can include anything outside what is perceived by the person as fun such as housework, study, homework or work we associate with a career. 

3. There’s “Plenty of time” procrastinator

We have all been there, the project that seems like the deadline is a long way off. Or that one item on our to do list we keep putting off. We know it makes more sense to get started than to keep putting it off but we can’t seem to start.

4. Perfectionist procrastinator

Perfectionism can be so debilitating that the perfectionist may feel such a sense of fear of failure that they can not start anything. The idea of producing low quality work may be extremely overwhelming for them as they set such high and unrealistic standards for themselves. Perfectionist procrastinators leave projects for so long that this gives them permission to do an adequate job. Their idea of adequate job will probably be much higher than normal.

Most people will probably not fit neatly in to only one of these categories. We may find we sometimes behave one way and then another or we combine them. That’s okay, awareness of our behaviour is what we are after, so we can use the appropriate tools to help us. 

11 Ways To Beat Procrastination

1 Awareness building.

So getting to know what kind(s) of procrastinator you are is the first step. What kind of habits and thoughts have you developed to help you, or not, over the years? Make sure you are setting realistic goals (see below) you understand your strengths, weaknesses and know what your priorities are. If a project/task is not inline with your personal goals or priorities then chances are you will work against yourself and procrastinate more. Awareness building is key for any perfectionist procrastinator out there. Reviewing your last 4/5 projects will probably give you an idea of how your good enough worked just as well as you perfect project. 

2 Seek help.

As I’ve said procrastination maybe the result of, or, symptom of another condition. So seeking help is vital.

3 Get rid of catastrophizing.

Most types of procrastinators will do this, they make out the project to be a bigger deal, tougher, more boring, or painful than it is in reality. No matter what the excuse is, it makes the task seem unbearable. Procrastination will add to your stress levels when you think like this, so please keep things in perspective. You are better off brain storming what exactly has to be done. Try and link in with a buddy or colleague when doing this for support (see below more).

4 Focus on your why.

If you don’t know your why for the task/project you are more likely to work against yourself. As procrastinators tend to focus on more short-term gains, not doing the task, rather than on the long-term results/wins. Focusing on the why and the benefits of getting the task completed instead is better. This will also boost your self-esteem and lift your positive energy.

5 Be realistic.

Set yourself up for success by setting realistic timelines, tasks etc., up in your schedule (more below). Make it easier on yourself by working with your natural rhythms also. So, if you are a morning person maybe it’s better to get the most difficult tasks done then rather than leaving it until you are tired later. Setting up your own earlier deadline for projects/tasks has been shown to increase productivity. It helps those with the “there’s plenty of time” procrastination type. Making a public commitment to this new deadline (use your buddy system for this) increasing the likelihood of success more. 

6 Be honest with yourself.

Are you using excuses? “I need to be in the mood.” “I work better under pressure.” etc. You have to stop these thought patterns now! Yes it would be lovely to get in the mood to start a project but we have to be realistic too. Just like tackling any other negative thought patterns it’s time to start with these ones also. You find more about this here.

7 Get a partner/buddy/colleague/coach to help.

You need to find someone you trust to hold you accountable. You need to be able to connect several times a week to review your tasks, goals for that week and hold you accountable. Get them on board to help you figure out what went wrong, if anything, and if they can help you correct it here. They may notice something about your work style you haven’t noticed. Again, awareness of a problem, keeping you on track and a support system can be established all in one.

8 Optimize your environment.

Your working environment can help or hinder you. So become aware of how it distracts or makes it easy for you to procrastinate is crucial. During scheduled time blocks for working being distracted by social media, emails etc., can be so easily overlooked. Set time aside for such things is better and put a do not disturb sign up, or place a hold on emails and lock your office door; place your mobile phone out of sight and on silent. Think of ways in which you can reduce distracting clutter in your office or the area you work the most. What else can you do to remove or reduce distractions that affect you? 

9 Reward good behaviour.

For all the hard work we need rewards and treats. Establish a reward and treat system to help you get the work done will be better than denying yourself altogether. Scheduling in unscheduled time for fun/creative things to do will help you if you’re a perfectionist. Especially if you are fun or anxiety procrastinator. You will relax more as you’ll see these things as part of your normal schedule while still getting your work done on time.

10 Forgive yourself. 

It’s important to do this right now, the past is what it is and it’s time to let yourself off the hook. Thinking that you are a loser, I should have… or I could have.. will only increase your procrastination. You are better off looking at whether fear, stress, etc., are your driving factors behind your procrastination. This is being proactive and allows you to take back your power. Understanding your obstacles will aid recovery and allow you to put in place strategies for the future.

11 Drop the perfectionism.

Perfectionism can leave us with an all or nothing mentality. So perfectionists will wait until everything is perfect before proceeding. Or if it’s not perfect it can’t be finished. Good enough is certainly not acceptable. In order to turn this around we have to learn that “being better at something” is acceptable. This allows room for us to strive for excellence and setting ourselves up for wins as the focus now shifts to getting the job done. 

With all of the above we need to put good time management in place. 

Time management is key.

There is no hard and fast rule about how to do time management systems as it does depend on what suits your personality. Time blocking, power hours or chunking might work some. But for others it might be tackling perceived harder tasks in the morning if you’re a morning person. Or having unstructured time slots that are more flexible and have necessary activities only alloted at specific times, etc.

For more ideas see my time management blog here.

Whatever you choice you will need a calendar.

Get out your calendar, whether online or paper planer. You will need somewhere you can schedule you tasks/projects, meetings, etc. A timer can also work well here as you can allot times for different tasks and move on at the end of the alloted time.

Brain dump projects down into smaller tasks.

This is a very practical way to allot your time and keep procrastination at bay. Set due dates for each small task and allot specific times in your calendar. Lists like this can also be used to keep you away from your distractions as you can use a 5/10 minute task to distract you and still be productive. Don’t over schedule tasks each day, allow for 3 top priorities a day maximum.

Balance things in your life.

Don’t forget to allot time to fun/creative tasks, time for family and friends too as well as rewards and treats. Research is now showing that finding the right life/work balance is key to being more productive.

Weekly reviews are essential.

Take time to review your week and check in with your supporter team. Make sure you add a review checklist to your weekly calendar, to include the following headers: 

List Of Tasks                                              Due Date

What tasks Were Not Completed?        Why Not?

How Can I Fix This?

Action Plan For Next Week.

Plan ahead for slips.

Remember you are trying to change your current habit so you will have slips and relapses. Allow for this, plan time in, forgive yourself and move on. Don’t get caught up in dwelling on failure. Instead look back on your why, touch base with your support team and remind yourself of how much you have achieved. You need to have patience with yourself and give yourself time. Your ability to procrastinate didn’t build up overnight the corrective measures to counter it won’t either.

Work With Me.

Remember you are allowed to ask for support. No one is an island. If you need extra support then you can also work with me. We all struggle with stress and overwhelm from time to time. If you find this has become a problem for you and you’d like some support then schedule an appointment with me.