Procrastination: what is it and how to deal with it

How often have we decided to change something in our lives? How often have we sworn to ourselves that at the beginning of a new week/month/year we would start a new life? How often do our dreams remain dreams? How often do the intentions to finally quit bad habits or start leading a healthy lifestyle remain plans for the future?

Procrastination is exactly what this problem is called in psychology. Modern psychology has not been able to identify any obvious reasons for procrastination. It is important not to confuse procrastination with those cases when a person is overtaken by chronic laziness or continues to be inactive due to complexes, phobias or self-doubt. Let's try to understand what procrastination is.

Procrastination is the habit of putting things off until later.
The reasons for procrastination are low self-esteem, perfectionism, fear of success, nihilism, distorted perception of time, lack of motivation, distractions.
Three steps to combat procrastination: time limit, strong motivation, elimination of distractions.

Let's look at the phenomenon of procrastination and try to understand its possible causes and possible solutions to this problem.

Procrastination - what is it and how is it different from laziness?

The English word procrastination roughly translates to “delay,” and is based on the Latin root cras , which means “tomorrow.”
In simple terms, procrastination is the tendency to put off important things “until tomorrow” and get distracted by extraneous things all the time. When we honestly sit down to write an essay, but after 5 minutes we find ourselves on TikTok, scrolling through the news feed on VKontakte and googling who is stronger, a tiger or an orangutan, this is procrastination. Many people believe that such a term is just a beautiful name for laziness. But everything is a little more complicated. A lazy person chooses rest instead of work and enjoys it. With procrastination it's different. Without dealing with important tasks, a procrastinator can waste energy on small unnecessary things, endlessly plan, search for information, but not start doing that very thing.

When time is running out, a feeling of guilt appears and an attempt to finish everything at an emergency pace. It’s good if there was only one task, but more often by this moment a whole bunch of them are collected. Of course, it is difficult to do an excellent job in such conditions; also, haste and stress further reduce motivation. This is how a person who puts everything off for later ends up in a vicious circle.

Procrastination is also different from laziness in that a lazy person will not take on a large, complex task, while a procrastinator will sincerely want to complete everything on time. Where lazy people say “I don’t want and don’t do it,” procrastinators will say “I want to, I’m going to do it, but I just can’t start.”

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Why do we put things off until later?

Research by neuroscientists from the Ruhr University in Germany helped to understand what procrastination is at the physiological level. Scientists examined 264 people with MRIs and had them fill out a questionnaire that reveals the tendency to procrastinate. As a result, it turned out that those who like “slow starts” have a disrupted connection between the amygdala of the brain (limbic system), where emotions are formed, and the dorsal zone of the anterior cingulate cortex, which is responsible for making decisions and choosing behavior in a difficult situation.

Normally, with the help of the limbic system, we must evaluate events for their danger, and the prefrontal cortex (neocortex) helps us choose the right behavior. But for a procrastinator, these structures come into conflict, in which the limbic system wins.

As a result, a person worries a lot, thinks about the consequences and endlessly puts things off until later. To relieve tension, he goes to watch his Instagram feed or another video on YouTube. Meanwhile, tasks pile up and anxiety grows, killing your already shaky motivation.

Procrastination test: test yourself and your child

There are many obligations in your life that you cannot fulfill or cancel.
You often make to-do lists for the year or week, but many items remain unchecked.
Even on weekends you cannot relax, although others sometimes suspect you of idleness.
It often happens that you are not making progress in solving a problem, but at the same time you are constantly busy and do not rest.
You are often late and miss deadlines because time flies by too quickly.
It is difficult for you to prioritize and make decisions, so you expect the situation to resolve itself over time.
You have problems concentrating on one task - there are always more interesting and important things to do.
It is difficult for you to start new things because of the fear of failure, and you are afraid to complete them because the result does not seem ideal.
You have many goals that you put off “until better times” for many months and even years.

These are all signs of procrastination. The more of them one person has, the closer he is to calling himself a procrastinator.

Pierce Steele equation

Psychologist Piers Steele argues that the syndrome does not apply to completing an urgent, interesting task. Steele insists that the problem often affects those who are unable to realistically assess the prospect at the start.

He derived the formula U = E x V/I x D with five variables, which proved the driving force of motivation pushing the process.

U (Utility) – the benefits of actions.
E (Expectancy) – chance of receiving a bonus.
V (Value) – expected reward for work.
D (Delay) – time interval before receiving the bonus.
I (Impulsiveness) – impulsiveness.

The equation proves that a person willingly solves problems that provide him with a chance of getting a quick reward, and is not in a hurry to complete goals that take a long time and require a lot of energy. The further you get to the final result, the less enthusiasm.

The employee does not want to engage in activities that pose a subconscious threat to the peace of the Ego . It is precisely this that paralyzes the will and forces one to behave contrary to logic and personal interests. However, there are methods that defeat the lazy mind and sabotage (what is this?) Ego.

Psychological reasons for procrastination

We've dealt with physiology, and now let's see what psychologists say about postponing things until later. They associate this phenomenon with neurotic anxiety and call it one of the protective forms of behavior. This is because we usually put off big, important things, in which any failure is perceived as a blow to our pride. In essence, procrastination is being so afraid of failure that there is simply no strength or motivation left.

What can cause procrastination:

Fear of failure - appears if similar things have already ended in failure in the past. In this case, it is useful to remember what exactly you did to avoid repetition: you gained new knowledge, structured your business differently, gave yourself more time.
Working out of a sense of duty - any task causes rejection if a person does not see much meaning in it and does it under pressure. To find motivation, focus on the outcome rather than the process. After all, if you haven’t given up on a task, then completing it gives you something. For example, new knowledge or experience. Try replacing “I have to do this” with “I want to do this in order to get...”
Failure to plan is a common reason for fear of large, multi-step undertakings. It is not clear how to approach them, where to start, how to highlight the most important. The solution is that any large task can be broken down into many small ones, and then it will not seem so difficult.
Perfectionism - the desire for perfection can completely ruin things if you are not prepared for average results. You can endlessly edit the first part of the abstract and end up missing all the deadlines, or you can quickly finish it and leave a day for final edits. When you see the project as a whole, it's easier to see where corrections are actually needed and where you're just drowning in minutiae.

Results

As you can see, procrastination tests have been created in large numbers and variety by scientists, psychologists, and today they are used in various studies, as well as at the layman level, when a person wants to test himself for the level of procrastination.

Don't forget that if procrastination actively creeps into your life, it will bring nothing but chaos, destruction and stress in the long run. Therefore, be prepared and fight the enemy with reasonable available methods.

We wish you success!

We also recommend reading:

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Overcoming Procrastination with Thoughts
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I'm lazy. What to do?
How to Procrastinate Productively
Time management: tips from Brian Tracy
The harm and consequences of procrastination
Interesting facts about procrastination
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9 Best Time Management Apps

Key words: 1Psychoregulation, 1Time management

The mechanism of procrastination

From a psychological point of view, we ourselves trigger the procrastination mechanism. American Neil Fiore described how this happens in his book “The Now Habit”. He proposes to consider the same problem under different circumstances.

Let's say there is a 30 cm wide board on the ground that you need to walk on without tripping. Chances are you can do this easily. There's no reason to put off this simple task.

Now suppose that the board is at a great height and there is an abyss under it. Its width has not changed, and your skills remain the same, but for some reason the first step is already more difficult to take. It's all about the threat - there's too much at stake now. You have a reason to hesitate and doubt.

Let's change the situation a little: let the board still remain above the abyss, but a fire is approaching you. If he's close enough, you'll run the distance without even noticing.

We act in a similar way with work matters - we elevate them to a height, as if this is not an ordinary task, but a test of strength. It is not surprising that anxiety arises and the desire to immediately drown it out by chatting with friends or surfing the Internet.

A procrastinator gets to work only when the deadlines are really pressing. And not at all because he lacks the ability to solve the problem. It’s just that during a “fire” he stops evaluating, hesitating and doubting.

How procrastination interferes with financial well-being - a description of areas in which laziness is unacceptable

Not everyone understands, but procrastination can greatly interfere with financial well-being. Meanwhile, there are certain areas of life in which it is impossible to put things off until later. Below we will consider the most important of them.

1) Payments for various obligations

If you put off making various payments until later, you can lose considerable amounts. Delays on loans, late payment of taxes and payments for housing and communal services lead to the accrual of fines and penalties .

It seems that such charges are insignificant. However, if violations of payment deadlines are regularly committed, the sanctions add up to a fairly significant amount.

In order to avoid excuses (for example, payments were not made on time because there is no opportunity to go to the bank after work), you should carefully study all possible payment methods (in a 24-hour terminal, online, and others).

Another effective way to get rid of the habit of postponing payment is to reward yourself. You should enjoy making small purchases if you make payments on time.

2) Visits to the doctor

Many people find a huge number of excuses not to undergo preventive examinations with doctors. Meanwhile, by postponing a visit to the hospital until something hurts, you can lose a lot of money.

It is important to understand that you can undergo regular tests and visit doctors under your compulsory health insurance policy absolutely free of charge. At the same time, you will have to pay for the treatment of already manifested diseases, at least by purchasing medications at the pharmacy.

In order not to put off visiting doctors until later, experts recommend teaming up with friends and family in this activity. Together it is much easier to queue and wait for an appointment.

3) Work

When you're at work, it's easy to succumb to a bout of procrastination. As a result, often at the end of the working day the required amount of work remains unfulfilled.

Distractions such as:

regular tea parties;
calls to relatives;
elementary computer games;
social media.

Procrastination in such a situation can lead not only to the accumulation of important tasks, but also to deprivation of bonuses and a reprimand. If you do not start solving the problem in time, you may lose your job altogether.

To minimize the consequences of procrastination, experts recommend giving up smoking breaks at work and limiting communication with colleagues. The work process should bring career growth and financial well-being. You can communicate even after the end of the working day.

4) Free time ⏱

Many people consider the best way to spend their time after the workday is watching TV, as well as studying social networks. Meanwhile, such activities significantly tire the brain, distract you from household chores, and do not allow you to communicate with your family.

In addition, such matters often cause unpleasant consequences emotionally, leading to irritability, envy and disappointment. As a result, this interferes with personal development and increasing income levels.

In order not to waste time, experts recommend stopping watching TV, mobile and computer games, and the Internet.

Instead, in your free time it is better to do useful things:

sign up for developmental courses;
start reading quality literature;
spend time with children;
get creative.

Hobbies like these help to recharge with positivity and unload emotionally. Ultimately, this has a positive impact on your workflow and financial well-being.

5) Shopping

Procrastination can be a serious obstacle to budget planning. Creating a shopping list, calculating costs, and comparing prices takes time and some effort.

It is much easier to replace periodic purchases of necessary items with spontaneous purchases of products at the nearest store. It’s even easier to order ready-made food delivered to your home.
However, it should be borne in mind that such actions can lead to an increase in costs several times.

To overcome procrastination when shopping, it is important to make an accurate list of necessary products . By shopping at the supermarket just once a week, you can save a lot of time and money. We wrote about how to save money correctly in one of our articles.

Thus, there are several areas of life in which manifestations of procrastination can lead to serious financial problems.

Types of procrastination

Now let's talk about how to defeat procrastination without causing a fire, but first we will list its main types. This is a classification by psychologist Noah Milgram, in which he identified 5 types of procrastination.

Milgram et al identify the following types:

everyday procrastination is the habit of procrastinating on everyday tasks that can easily be put off until tomorrow. For example, cleaning a room or sorting out seasonal items in a closet;
neurotic procrastination - manifests itself in increased anxiety, which acts as a background to life, in a constant fear of change;
academic procrastination - concerns exclusively educational and work tasks, or more precisely, the habit of putting them off until the last moment;
procrastination in decision making - the inability to make a choice and settle on one option, even when everything has been thought through to the smallest detail;
Compulsive procrastination is a combination of indecisiveness and the habit of procrastinating that manifests itself in all areas of life.

Psychologist Noah Milgram combined all these types into two large groups: one of them is associated with a “slow start” when solving problems, and the second is associated with delaying the moment when you need to make a choice. In the first case, it makes sense to train willpower and learn to properly allocate time for tasks. But if the problem is making decisions, then you need to work with self-confidence.

Can procrastination be beneficial?

A procrastinator is a person who feels stressed by an important task and tries to avoid failure by delaying the moment when they need to get involved in the work. Like everything in our body, this behavior exists because it has a certain meaning and even benefit. Putting things aside when you're stressed to calm down and reset isn't a bad decision. This is how we protect ourselves from mistakes that we might make and take a recovery break.

At the same time, psychological defenses have one property: when they become excessive, they no longer help, but lead to failures in life, which also applies to procrastination. Therefore, you should not scold yourself for any attempt to escape from your work - a short break is only beneficial and helps to unload the brain. It's all a matter of measure.

Interesting!

In the UK there is a little-known original holiday - Procrastination Week, which begins on March 1st. Adherents of this holiday claim that a period of doing nothing helps them relieve stress from the race for success and once again feel the joy of life.

Methods to combat procrastination

If breaks take longer than the work itself, and resolving any issues at the last moment has become a habit, it’s time to look for effective ways to combat procrastination. Alas, there is no universal recipe - for serious changes you will have to introduce several techniques into your life at once. Move gradually, without super-expectations from yourself - and everything will work out.

Deal with life priorities

Determine what you really want and why you do your daily activities. You can write out a list of priorities and goals, sorting them in descending order of importance (the first on the list is the most important).

Fighting procrastination is much easier if you understand why you need to do it. Often we put things off just because we feel a sense of duty and don’t see the benefits that a task can bring.

Set simple goals

Give up global tasks. For example, such as learning a new language in a year or pumping up muscles to the point of being a fitness model. Instead, set smaller goals for the month, or for the week, or for the day. Be sure to specify each goal: instead of “I will study English closely on Monday,” let it be “On Monday I will repeat the Present Perfect, on Tuesday I will study irregular verbs,” and so on.

Use the 15 minute rule

If, when you start something, you immediately want to be distracted by more interesting things, agree with yourself to do what you need to do for at least 15 minutes. Then, if you wish, you can switch to something else or continue working if it captivates you.

This rule is based on a psychological effect - it is important to overcome the first resistance, which triggers procrastination. After 15 minutes you will get involved in work, and if not, at least you will do something to solve the problem. A timer or set alarm will help you control those 15 minutes.

Interesting!

Artificial intelligence has reached procrastinators too. Canadian developers from the startup company Auctify recently released Specs smart glasses that track the wearer's focus. The technology tracks how often you get distracted and what you spend your time on, and collects everything in a report in the application.

Remove everything unnecessary

The other side of procrastination is a constant workload of tasks: numerous and varied. Think about whether all of them are important and whether you can refuse unnecessary obligations. A whole bunch of different activities can reduce the stress of failing at one of them. But this is still a bad decision - you will scatter energy instead of concentrating it on the main thing.

Distribute time and energy

Learn to plan your work and distribute your efforts correctly. Create a clear schedule for completing tasks and stick to it day after day - this is the main thing you should know about how to deal with procrastination. If you need to prepare for an exam, write down what day and at what time you will take certain questions.

Any major project consists of solving small tasks - make time for each of them in your schedule. When determining this time, sort things into those that are truly urgent and those that can wait.

Alternate activities

Monotonous and boring things often make you want to switch, but that doesn’t matter. Switch from mental work to physical work to get less tired. For example, you spend half an hour solving math equations, and the next half hour you sweep the floor in the room and wipe off the dust. As a result, two things will be done at once without irritation and boredom.

Motivate and encourage yourself

It's hard to figure out how to get rid of procrastination without a reward system. Note how close you are to your goal by completing the next task, be sure to praise yourself and introduce a reward system. For example, plan where you will go after the next stage of work or what movie you will watch in the evening. Strive to work without distractions and relax without thinking about business or feeling guilty.

Learning to relax

Procrastinators have problems with more than just concentrating on a task. Often they also do not know how to rest, or rather, they mix work and rest. They are literally burdened with unresolved problems, which makes it difficult to relax even on weekends.

Don't blame yourself for failures

The most harmful advice for those who are looking for a way to overcome procrastination is to introduce punishments for missing a schedule or deviating from a goal. Firstly, this will only increase the level of stress, and secondly, it may cause temptation to stop efforts altogether under the pretext that “nothing worked out.”

Remember: no one is perfect and no one always follows through on plans 100%. The question is not to not make mistakes at all, but to learn from them and continue to move forward.

Evgeny Buyanov, teacher at Moscow State University, on how to deal with procrastination

To work with procrastination, you can and should use not only willpower, but also modern technologies. For example, applications for time planning, scheduling and to-do sheets:

Any.do;
Focus To-Do: Pomodoro Timer & To-Do List.

For even more options, see the article “Best Apps for Studying.” Perhaps these helpers will give you some new ideas on how to deal with procrastination. Most importantly, don't be afraid to experiment!

What kind of people tend to procrastinate?

Most people are prone to procrastination, but some professions are more susceptible to this danger than others. Let's figure out which ones.

Freelancers. These are the most procrastinating people of all. They do not have a clear schedule: work from home and many distractions. Talk to any freelancer and you will learn that working from home is not so much a holiday as it is hard work on yourself. It's hard to do anything serious when you're sitting at home in a chair with coffee in your hands.
Creative people. The most fickle people who work in most cases from bursts of inspiration. But despite the fact that good work can only come out if the artist has a good attitude, ordinary things are not ready to wait for several months. Working from inspiration is one of the causes of procrastination.
Students and schoolchildren. Everything is clear here without words. Putting off doing homework until late at night is the best way to spend your time. Much more often, everything is postponed until the time when it is no longer possible to prepare properly.
People with unstable work schedules. Unstable work schedules are most often characteristic of small entrepreneurs who are engaged in trade or passenger transportation (taxi). The main argument of such people, “If I want, I go out, if I want, I stay at home,” often turns into “I stay at home.” And money is rarely a real motivator for them.