Why we procrastinate & how to overcome procrastination?
I just finished reading a blog about the benefits of procrastination and it got me thinking... are there really benefits? Or does procrastination end up costing you in the long run?
Over the years I’ve also heard people say “oh, but it’s normal to procrastinate” and “everyone does it”. Well I guess if we take normal to mean fairly common, then yes, to some extent most people have procrastinated at one time in their life. For some people though, procrastination is something that they do often, and it can have an impact on their stress and anxiety levels, their productivity, and most importantly on their self-beliefs. Studies in the US, UK, and Australia estimate that approximately 20% of people procrastinate chronically, and that in school or university settings it can be as high as 75-95%!
Why we procrastinate?
For me what I find so interesting about procrastination is that it can also be correlated with perfectionism. This can be quite surprising for people because we often assume perfectionists are always striving to make something perfect, and so therefore working on something a lot. And yes that is one way in which perfectionism can be experienced, but it can also be about not giving something your full effort because of a fear of failing, or a fear that it won’t be good enough.
In the short term, avoidance of any kind can feel really good, and ease our stress and anxiety. However, over time as deadlines loom, bills accumulate, people start to notice, and our confidence drops, our stress and anxiety levels can become overwhelming. So it may therefore not be surprising that procrastination has also been found to have links to major depression, anxiety disorders, chronic guilt, and low self-esteem, all of which can make procrastination worse, and so become one big vicious cycle.
So if procrastination is a little or a lot of a problem for you - what can you do? Well there are both CBT and ACT-based strategies that can help a lot, and here are a few beginning steps...
Be aware you are in fact procrastinating
This can help, as then we can start the process of asking ourselves what it is about this task that is making us anxious?
Thoughts & Beliefs
We might notice that we are fearful of failing, or something not being good enough, or looking/sounding silly and fearing people judging us.
If we notice having such thoughts or core beliefs, it can help to 'reality test' our thinking - for example, would we judge someone else in the same way we’re judging ourselves?
What words of encouragement would we offer our friends or loved ones?
Are we being black & white/ all or nothing in our thoughts and expectations of ourselves? - when in reality life is full of grey.
Goals & Values
It can also be helpful to question whether procrastinating helps us get closer or further away from our life goals? Whether it makes the task easier or makes it go away? Or whether if we didn’t compare ourselves to others, or judge ourselves so harshly, might we actually start the task and perhaps even do an OK job?
If we’re feeling overwhelmed by how much we have to do, it can be helpful to break the tasks down into do-able steps - with realistic expectations in mind. Sometimes once we decide we need to take action we compile really long to do lists, or suddenly expect ourselves to complete everything in one day or all at once - not surprisingly, for most of us this becomes overwhelming and we may not start at all. So instead, let’s hold in mind that something is better than nothing, and start with just one step/action towards your goal - and once we do this one step let’s acknowledge it and give ourselves a big Yay! As this is what will promote more motivation to then work towards the next little step/goal!
Identifying our life values can be helpful as sometimes we lose sight of the impact that avoiding or procrastinating can be having on how content and satisfied we feel living our lives.
If you think this might be relevant to you, then take a moment to ask yourself: 'how would I like to be remembered?’... 'what would I like my life to stand for?’ … and then see whether your current procrastination and avoidance behaviours line up with your answers?
If not, then taking some small steps towards actioning what you have been delaying may be uncomfortable, but it may also mean you feel more satisfied with living closer to what you value in life.
My final words
...and so with that all in mind, and not to be too cliche about it, I thought I would share that I have been procrastinating on writing this procrastination blog for such a long time!! But then because I am a fan of practicing what I preach, I figured - writing something is better than nothing…
maybe some of you won’t judge me as badly as I fear… and helping others by sharing some of my thoughts and ideas which I have learnt over the years lines up with my life values…
so here you have it, some ideas on procrastination.
