No this isn’t a misquote. Understanding and responding to your desire to procrastinate can result in your being able to spend less time on procrastinating and more time on the task you have been avoiding. Like rumination and self-reflection, it is purposeful. Understanding its purpose will enable you to  become an efficient procrastinator. The aim of this blog article is to explore from a psychological perspective some of the typical reasons for procrastination, and some ideas about how to respond to these.

So if right now you’re thinking of stopping reading, then this is definitely the article for you.

Some background….

First lets specify what it is. Procrastination is the delay that is due to the avoidance of starting  a task. It is considered to be a common behaviour, as not less than 20% of the adult population identify with procrastination. It is also associated with mental health issues and other  poor outcomes. Procrastination can have significant negative impact on many aspects of your life.

Like most things in psychology there are multiple theories and multiple aspects to procrastination. There are active and passive types based on when it is used consciously, or subconsciously. Active procrastination refers to where it is used consciously to put off completing a task in order to achieve a better outcome.There is research to suggest that some people perform better  when they do a task close to the completion deadline. Passive procrastination flies under the radar as we are often not aware of it.

Why do I procrastinate??

Within passive procrastination there is a variety of reasons for it. As this is considered to be the  most problematic type of procrastination the rest of this article will focus on it. At an overall level it is important to acknowledge that procrastination is a purposeful strategy to regulate our thoughts and feelings. Like for all of our adaptations, it is not a question of whether it is good or bad, but whether it is useful or not.

In some cases, external circumstances which can change may be the cause of procrastination, such as in task ambiguity.  In these cases we are unable to start a task  because it is not clear what needs to be done. Resolving this lack of clarity can allow for the task to proceed. Other causes which are internal to us include:

• Fear of negative evaluation, or failure in relation to the task itself.
• Lack of buy-in to the task
• A broader problem managing emotions, particularly negative ones, outside of the task itself
• Challenges in managing attention

As you will see when you read on, it is important to become aware of and understand your own procrastination, as different strategies will be used depending on which of these resonate with you.

Strategies for becoming an efficient procrastinator

With passive procrastination there are a number of proven strategies

These include:

• Task managing which is often the first strategy and probably the most well known strategy.

This strategy is customized for the individual but would include things such as breaking the task into smaller tasks so it seems more achievable. Setting intermediate goals with personal rewards such as time outs, treats etc. Scheduling work realistically in terms of available time and other conflicting demands.  This can be useful when the underlying reason for the procrastination is a fear of failure in regards to task completion. The use of smaller tasks can also help those whose procrastination is due to challenges in managing attention or emotional state.

• Revisiting the purpose of the task and aligning it with your values may increase the motivation.

When the procrastination is due to what is referred to as process aversion, or more commonly referred to as lack of commitment to the task, then looking at the reason for performing the task and aligning it to your person goals and values can increase motivation.

• Mindfulness exercises such as noticing but not engaging with less productive thoughts.

When the reason for procrastination is lack of attention then mindfulness exercises might be helpful. These can reduce the impact of these distracting thoughts can reduce the impact of the procrastination.

• Mindful breathing can be used for attention and emotion related procrastination

Mindful breathing can also be used to increase focus to combat lack of attention, and also to reduce the impact of negative emotions and reduce the impact of feelings. This involves focusing attention only on your breath as a way of drawing attention away from everything else, so you can then refocus on the task.

• It procrastination is more related to a fear of failure in general, or failure in relation to the task, then other therapeutic approaches might be helpful

Particularly If the previous two strategies don’t seem to work, than  cognitive therapy,  either with a therapist or self-help, will help to challenge  global level thoughts that support procrastination. Examples of these thoughts include:I can’t finish thing, I can’t focus my attention, I always fail etc. Cognitive therapy will also help to develop more supportive thoughts

….finally

Be kind to your procrastination. It believes it is trying to help you and just needs to be given guidance.  If you can understand what it is about, then you can use some of the strategies above to reduce its impact. This will help you become a more efficient procrastinator, and a more effective task completer.

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