Procrastination

Procrastination is when we voluntarily delay something despite knowing that there are negative consequences for putting it off. Whether you are an occasional procrastinator or a chronic procrastinator, this behavior can lead to increased stress, anxiety, and feelings of guilt or shame, which can negatively impact mental health.

Why do we procrastinate in the first place? Well, there are a few reasons why we might do so, with one of the biggest reasons being the fact that we are trying to avoid an unpleasant feeling. You might feel nervous when you need to call and schedule a doctor’s appointment for yourself. You might feel bored when doing homework. Or maybe you feel overwhelmed when trying to tackle all the household chores that need to be done.

Regardless of the reason, there are a lot of consequences that follow procrastination, like experiencing a ton of guilt and dread while putting off a task and performing worse on those last-minute things because you have to rush to complete them.  Consequences for procrastination often involve trading short-term discomfort for long-term discomfort. For example, you keep putting off creating a presentation you must deliver because it’s anxiety-provoking. However, throwing something together last minute will likely cause you to experience long-term regret as it may not have been your best work- which causes you not to perform as well as you could have.

The end results can look different depending on whether a person is an occasional or chronic procrastinator. Individuals who occasionally procrastinate think differently than those who are chronic procrastinators. A person who does it occasionally might think, “I should have started working on that presentation sooner. Next time I will ensure I have it done the week before.” A chronic procrastinator, however, might think, “Well, at least I got it done!” In that moment, looking on the bright side will actually increase the chances for the person to procrastinate in the future.

Whether you’re a chronic procrastinator or an occasional one, Licensed Clinical Social Worker Amy Morin, shares five effective tips to help you start tackling something right away in an episode from The Verywell Mind Podcast (Friday Fix: How to Stop Procrastinating, 2023):

1.     Think about the uncomfortable feeling you’re trying to avoid. Spend a few minutes identifying the emotion you’re trying to avoid and ask yourself some questions (e.g., Will responding to these emails feel overwhelming? Will making this phone call cause me to feel anxious?). Simply naming the emotion can help reduce its intensity and help you recognize that facing the feeling isn’t as bad as you think!

2.     Think about the uncomfortable feeling procrastinating will cause. We all know that delaying your task will still cause uncomfortable feelings. Spend a few minutes to think about what the emotional cost will be if you keep procrastinating, as this will likely help you see that the tradeoff isn’t worth it and motivate you to push through the discomfort now.

3.     Talk yourself into doing it now. Our brains do a great job at creating a long list of reasons why we shouldn’t do something right now. Make yourself a list with five reasons as to why you shouldn’t procrastinate. Keep your list handy and read it over whenever you need to combat those excuses from your brain.

4.     Shift the way you think about deadlines. Our brains tend to categorize tasks into things that need to be taken care of now, and things that need to be taken care of later. Let’s say it’s April 3rd, and you find out that you are set to present something on May 15th. Chances are that your brain will tell you to not worry about it right now since you don’t have to present until May.  However, if the date was April 3rdand your presentation is on April 24th, your brain would be more likely to label it as something that should be tackled now since it is in the same month. This is where you can break a larger project down into smaller, more immediate goals. Using the same example, you could plan to get 3 PowerPoint slides finished week, even though you don’t have to actually present until later. Without these smaller and more immediate goals, you might end up pushing it off each week.

5.     Use the 10-minute rule. Worst case scenario, try using the 10-minute rule to get yourself going. Pick a task and work on it for just 10 minutes (set yourself a timer so you don’t have to worry about checking the time). Once the 10 minutes are up, you can allow yourself to quit if you truly want to. Typically, the hardest part is just getting started so it’s very likely to find that you’re willing to keep going.

References:

Friday Fix: How to Stop Procrastinating (episode 227). (2023, January 6).

 By: Erika Katzenmayer, MSW, LSW