Overcoming Procrastination

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Procrastination technically refers to the avoidance of a specific task or work that needs to be accomplished. But, this technical explanation doesn’t begin to capture the emotions triggered by the word. For most of us, the word procrastination reminds us of past experiences when we felt guilty, lazy, or anxious—or some combination of these. It also implies a value judgment; if you procrastinate, you are bad, and as such, you lack worth as a person, which is not true.

Procrastination and Its Causes

To understand and solve your procrastination problems, you should examine the situations where your work is not being completed. First, determine whether the cause is poor time management; if so, you will need to learn and develop time management skills. If, however, you know how to manage your time but don’t make use of those skills, you may have another concern.

Many individuals cite the following reasons for avoiding work:

  • Lack of  Relevance. If something is neither relevant nor meaningful to you personally, it may be difficult to get motivated even to begin.
  • Acceptance of  Another’s Goals. If a project is being forced on you and it is not consistent with your own interests, you may be reluctant to spend the necessary time to see it to conclusion.
  • Perfectionism. Having unreachable standards will discourage you from pursuing a task. Remember, perfection is unattainable.
  • Evaluation Anxiety. Since others’ responses to your work are not under your direct control, overvaluing their feedback can create the kind of anxiety that will interfere with work getting done.
  • Ambiguity. If you are uncertain of what is expected of you, it may be difficult to get started.
  • Fear of  the Unknown. If you are venturing into a new realm or field, you don’t have any way of knowing how well you’ll do. An uncertain outcome may inhibit your desire to begin.
  • Inability to Handle the Task. If you don’t have the training, skill, ability or resources to do the job, you may avoid it completely.

Procrastination Takes Many Forms

  • Once you have overcome the emotional block by acknowledging why you’re procrastinating, you need to clearly specify how you procrastinate. Consider the following examples.
  • Do you act as though if you ignore a task, it will go away? The midterm exam in your chemistry class is not likely to vaporize, no matter how much you ignore it
  • Do you underestimate the work involved in the task, or overestimate your abilities and resources in relationship to the task? Do you tell yourself that you grasp concepts so easily that you need only spend one hour on the physics problems, which would normally take you six?
  • Do you deceive yourself into believing that a mediocre performance or lesser standards are acceptable? For example, if you tell yourself that a 2.3 GPA will still get you into the medical school of your choice, you may be avoiding the decision to work harder to improve your grade point average and thus, may have to alter your career plans. This form of avoidance can prevent you from consciously making choices about important goals in your life.
  • Do you deceive yourself by substituting one worthy activity for another? Suppose you clean the apartment instead of writing your term paper. Valuing a clean apartment is fine, but if that value only becomes important when there is a paper due, you are procrastinating.
  • Do you believe that repeated “minor” delays are harmless? An example is putting off writing your paper so you can watch a YouTube video for five minutes. If you don’t return to writing the paper after five minutes have elapsed, you may spend an hour or more randomly scrolling through other videos on social media with no work being done on the paper.
  • Do you dramatize a commitment to a task rather than actually doing it? An example is taking your books on vacation but never opening them, or perhaps even declining invitations for pleasurable events, but still not pursuing the work at hand nor getting needed relaxation. This way you stay in a constant state of unproductive readiness to work–without ever working.
  • Do you persevere at doing only one portion of the task? An example is writing and rewriting the introductory paragraph of the paper but not dealing with the body and conclusion sections. The introductory paragraph is important, but not at the expense of the entire project.• Do you become paralyzed in deciding between alternative choices? An example involves spending so much time deciding between two term paper topics that you don’t have sufficient time to write the paper.

What to Do about Procrastination

The following is a list of steps which may help you to deal with your avoidance problems:

  • Write down the forms of procrastination in which you find yourself engaging.
  • Make honest decisions about your work. If you wish to spend only a minimal amount of effort or time on a particular task, admit it—do not allow feelings of guilt to interfere with your realization of this fact. Weigh the consequences of various amounts of investment in a project and find the optimal return for your investment. This step exposes intentional reasons for avoiding work. If you have been unintentionally avoiding work, admit to yourself that you do want to achieve certain goals and accept the responsibilities involved in meeting those goals.
  • Work to acquire an adequate understanding of what is necessary to accomplish a task within a given time frame.
  • Distinguish between activities that dramatize your sense of commitment and those that will help you accomplish the task. Devote only that amount of time which is appropriate for each part of a task. Develop an overview of the entire project and visualize the steps that are needed to reach completion.

Effective Planning

The larger, more involved, the project, the more difficult it is to plan effectively to carry it out. The following steps may be helpful:

  • Segment the task. The entire job may seem impossible, but smaller segments may seem more manageable. Divide the task into small steps.
  • Distribute the small steps reasonably within the given time frame. “Reasonably” is the key word; you must allot sufficient time for each step. Do not fool yourself by believing you can do more than is humanly possible.
  • Realize that humans periodically need variety and relaxation. Intersperse rewards, relaxation, and gratification for work completed. This will help you feel less resentful of the task and the work that still needs to be done.
  • Monitor your progress on the small steps. Watch for the pitfalls discussed earlier. Assess problems when they arise and do something about them quickly. Keep track of the segments and how they fit together to form the whole picture. Reassess time commitments as necessary.
  • Be reasonable in your expectations of  yourself. Perfectionistic or extremely strict expectations may cause you to rebel or may sabotage your progress.

Should I Speak to a Counselor?

As outlined above, the motivations and causes of procrastination can be complex. If you feel you are having difficulty overcoming procrastination on your own, speaking to a counselor may be a good next step to try. A counselor can assist you in seeing your patterns and coming up with techniques for overcoming your procrastination hurdles. 

Want to Know More?

Berkman, E. (2015, October 8). Why wait? The psychological origins of procrastination. Psychology Today. Retrieved from psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-motivated-brain/201510/why-wait-the-psychological-origins-procrastination.

Lombardo, E. (2017, March 7). 11 ways to overcome procrastination. Psychology Today. Retrieved from psychologytoday.com/us/blog/better-perfect/201703/11-ways-overcome-procrastination.

Scott, S.L, & Boes, S.R. (2014) Acceptance and commitment training: A brief intervention to reduce procrastination among college students. Journal of College Student Psychotherapy, 28(2), 144-156. Urban, T. (2016, February).

Tim Urban: Inside the mind of a master procrastinator [Video file]. Retrieved from https://ted.com/talks/tim_urban_inside_the_mind_of_a_master_procrastina…

Zarick, L.M., & Stonebraker, R. I’ll do it tomorrow. College Teaching, 57(4), 211-215.

The Pomodoro Technique, francescocirillo.com/pages/pomodoro-technique 

Keep Me Out: keepmeout.com/en/. Type in the url of websites that usually lead to procrastination while you work and this website will prevent you from accessing them.

Coffitivity: coffitivity.com. Creates the atmosphere of a coffee shop, providing you familiar background noise while you work on your computer.

Do Nothing for Two Minutes: donothingfor2minutes.com. Sometimes our minds need a break while we work; this website provides a two-minute meditation exercise that you can use periodically while working.

Wunderlist: wunderlist.com/. To do list and planning app available on a variety of platforms