What even is procrastination?
In simple terms, procrastination is putting off an important task. This might involve sending an email, tidying your home, completing your assignment, or texting your friends or family.
Usually, we procrastinate when we don’t want to do something. We know the task is important, but we struggle to get started. As a result, most people either do nothing at all or engage in another non-related task. Both strategies might relieve some temporary pressure, but in the long term, they can make tasks much bigger and timely.
Procrastinators often say, “I will do that later,” but they never get around to doing it, and things build up.
If you can notice yourself when you are procrastinating and say it out loud in the moment this is the first step in being able to do something differently. For example, you could say:
“Oh look I am doing that thing where I put off the task and make it harder for myself later on”
“Oh here I go again with the do it later story”
“Am I doing what I am meant to be doing right now”
Sometimes, people might look at someone procrastinating and see them doing “nothing”, but inside their brains, they might be thinking about the million and one things they need to do, which can feel overwhelming. Procrastination for some people can feel paralysing! Remember, procrastination is an emotional response and often gets in the way of us making logical decisions and actions. So people telling you to “just get it done” will likely not work, and it does not mean you are lazy or that you don’t care about the task.
So why do we procrastinate?
Procrastination is all part of being human, but it can be more frequent and intense for people who have mental health difficulties or neurodivergent conditions such as ADHD or autism. ADHDers, for example, may experience ADHD paralysis, which is a state of being chronically overwhelmed and feeling stuck about how to move forward. Decision-making whilst in ADHD paralysis can be difficult, too.
Procrastinators will often look for distractions or chronically avoid their responsibilities. Despite what others might tell you, most procrastinators are usually aware of their actions and the consequences, but changing their behaviour is hard because procrastination has become a habit. Perfectionism can also influence procrastination, as some people feel its better to avoid the task completing rather than potentially not doing it well. It can feel psychologically safer to procrastinate, as it protects against fear of failure, judgement from others, or self-criticism.
Procrastination most often occurs when a task is:
Blunt & Pychyl (2000)
How can we overcome it?
Overcoming procrastination doesn’t mean never doing it again; it means having different ways of managing it so you can achieve your goals. Everyone is different; try a strategy and see if one works for you!
Chelsea Cade
Specialist ADHD & Mental Health Mentor, The Learning Support Centre.
BSc. Criminology & Psychology
MSc. Psychological Approaches to Health
Level 3 Diploma in Therapeutic Childcare and Reflective Practice
DClinPsy. Clinical Psychologist in Training (Current)
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References:
Blunt, A. K., & Pychyl, T. A. (2000). Task aversiveness and procrastination: a multi-dimensional approach to task aversiveness across stages of personal projects. Personality and Individual Differences, 28(1), 153–167. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0191-8869(99)00091-4