When people think of procrastination, what might come to mind is cramming assignments the night before, going down Tik Tok holes, creating stacks of loose-end files on your desk or even the classic procrasta-cleaning. Especially in NSW as we enter another lockdown period, and many of us are stuck at home and feeling overwhelmed, the urge to procrastinate is stronger than ever. But why do people procrastinate? Why is it so much more appealing to scroll or daydream than it is to crack down on an assignment or file our tax return? Today, The Female Brief has you covered with a complete guide to understanding and overcoming procrastination.
What is Procrastination and Why Do People Procrastinate?
Procrastination comes from the Latin word procrastinat with ‘pro’ meaning forward and ‘crastinus’ meaning belonging to tomorrow. According to basic human psychology, people favour a state of inertia (not doing anything) with status quo bias (no change at all) and choice deferral (delay) (read here). In everyday speak, we prefer sitting on the couch, watching a repeat of our favourite TV show and avoiding any crucial decisions.
It seems that our bodies and brains are literally wired to make effortful, challenging or unfamiliar tasks very unappealing. We tend to avoid things that make us feel anxious, like difficult math problems or confronting our finances at tax time. But we then beat ourselves up for putting-off these important tasks, leading to a cycle of distress, self-loathing and not feeling good enough (read here). Why do people procrastinate? Turns out that we are torn between a strong desire to ‘put off till tomorrow’ and an urgency that things need to be attended to today!
Procrastination is a Coping Strategy
In the short term, procrastination is an effective coping strategy for anxiety. Feeling too overwhelmed to begin that presentation? Just do it later. Feeling scared of your performance review with your boss? Just reschedule the meeting. In summary, the question “why do people procrastinate?” can be answered by the equation below:
Challenging Task x Anxiety = Procrastination
While in the short-term procrastination might offer some temporary relief as a coping strategy for anxious individuals, in the long-term it only serves to increase feelings of distress and pain. It can also strengthen negative core beliefs around failure or inadequacy (read more here).
Take the classic situation of cramming for an exam. In the lead up to the exam, avoiding studying can reduce anxiety. It feels so much nicer to catch up with that friend for coffee or do some online shopping. But when it comes to crunch time, i.e. the night before the exam, our anxiety levels soar as we try to cram in all the content. This leads to feelings of hopelessness, usually a terrible night’s sleep (if any sleep at all!) and general brain fogginess. The result is either bombing the exam or at least not performing to the best of our abilities. Once again, procrastination promises relief, and delivers devastating consequences!
If we can think about procrastination as a coping strategy for anxiety, we can also consider whether there are other, more helpful coping strategies. Fortunately, as a psychologist, I am in the business of helping people find better ways to manage their anxiety! Here are my tips for overcoming procrastination.
1. Break Down a Bigger Task into Smaller Steps
When something is big, challenging and time pressurised, it’s no surprise that it leads to the feeling of being overwhelmed and then avoidance through procrastination. As human beings, we are much more likely to begin a task if it is smaller, easier and less time-pressured. This is why it’s much healthier for anxious procrastinators to take a step-by-step approach when it comes to challenging tasks.
Instead of relying on procrastination as a coping strategy, you can use the ‘Swiss Cheese Method’ of taking small, bite-sized holes out of a bigger task. Personally, I like to write out a step-by-step plan of everything I need to do to achieve a task.
Rather than ‘WRITE ESSAY’ which sounds challenging and unappealing, a plan might look like:
1. Research key literature
2. Read a few articles
3. Write introduction
4. Write body paragraph 1
…and so forth!
Working my way through these individual steps is a lot less anxiety provoking then trying to tackle the whole essay at once. So, i’m far more likely to do it!
2. Give Yourself Rewards to Motivate Against Procrastination
Procrastination is an appealing coping strategy, because the ways in which we procrastinate are usually rewarding. It is enjoyable (and addictive) to check our social media and browse our feeds. It is even satisfying to procrasta-clean! Hence, an alternative coping strategy to compete with procrastination also has to be rewarding.
Research has found that people are more motivated by rewards (the carrot at the end of the stick) than they are by punishment (the metaphorical whip) (read here). So, consider what you find personally rewarding that will help you to achieve your to-do list goals. Personally, I find filing my patient notes after a therapy session really tedious. I try to reward myself by sitting down to do my admin work with a hot drink, and then going for a short walk after I have finished my notes. By ‘book-ending’ the unpleasant but necessary work chore with rewards before and afterwards, I find myself much less likely to use procrastination as a coping strategy.
3. Treat Yourself with Kindness and Compassion
Finally, it is important to treat yourself with kindness and compassion. When it comes to understanding why do people procrastinate, the answer seems to come down to the relationship between procrastination and our anxious, self-critical thoughts. Our anxiety may tell us some lies like, “this is going to be so hard,” and “you are going to fail.” To escape those anxious thoughts, we might turn to procrastination for temporary relief. But instead, if we are able to talk back to our anxious thoughts with kindness and compassion, we will feel more confident to tackle the task at hand.
Self-compassion means being warm and understanding towards ourselves when we suffer, fail or feel inadequate, rather than ignoring our pain or flagellating ourselves with self-criticism.
Dr Kristin Neff, psychologist and pioneer of compassion therapy
Some ways you can talk back to your anxiety are by saying; “it’s not that bad, I just have to break this down into smaller steps,” and “I know that I am capable of doing this.” By providing encouragement and validation to ourselves, this helps us to persevere with the challenge, and resist the urge to fall into procrastination.
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I hope these coping strategies help you to avoid procrastination and stay focused on achieving your daily and life goals! Remember that it is totally normal (and very human) to fall into procrastination. But just like you can fall into procrastination, you can also come out of it!
