Is it possible to procrastinate procrastination

This includes, for example, how to set good goals for yourself, how to identify the nature of your procrastination problem, and how to pick the best techniques for dealing with procrastination in your specific situation. Nevertheless, if you want to have the best chance that you can have at beating your procrastination, you will benefit more from using the full system and reading this entire article, even if it takes you some time to do so.

Procrastination is the act of unnecessarily postponing decisions or actions. People often assume that they procrastinate simply a result of laziness or a lack of willpower, but the real answer is much more complex than that, and has to do with the cognitive mechanisms that we use in order to self-regulate our behavior, in our attempts to bring ourselves to take action that is in our best interest.

In short, when we need to perform a certain task, we usually rely on our self-control in order to get ourselves to do so. Furthermore, our motivation , which is based on the desire for some reward which we will receive as a result of completing that task, can provide a helpful boost to our self-control, which helps us act in a timely manner. However, there are various demotivating factors , such as anxiety or fear of failure , that have an opposite effect than our motivation, meaning that they can make us more likely to postpone our tasks unnecessarily, instead of getting them done in a timely manner.

In addition, there are also various hindering factors , such as mental exhaustion or distracting environments, that interfere with our self-control and motivation directly, in a way that also makes us more likely to procrastinate.

Whenever these demotivating and hindering factors outweigh our self-control and motivation, we end up procrastinating. We then have to wait until the balance between them shifts back in our favor before we can get started on our work, which can sometimes take a very long time.

This will allow you to take control of your life, and enable you to get your work done when you want to, rather than when your procrastination says you can. Note : if you want to learn more about why people procrastinate, take a look at the dedicated guide on the topic.

Research shows that you can successfully reduce or overcome your procrastination, by using the right techniques. Furthermore, research shows that self-guided, internet-based training can be effective when it comes to overcoming your procrastination. This type of training, which is used in the present guide, involves learning to understand your procrastination problem better, and then learning how to solve it by applying techniques that allow you to deal with the detrimental patterns of thoughts or behaviors that cause you to procrastinate in the first place.

Moreover, research on the topic also shows that these improvements can be maintained in the long-term , both when it comes to reducing your tendency to procrastinate, as well as when it comes to reducing the severity of secondary issues that you experience as a result of your procrastination, such as anxiety and stress. Furthermore, in many cases, you could benefit more from pursuing other types of procrastination treatments , such as in-person cognitive behavioral therapy or group therapy sessions conducted by a professional therapist, either in addition to this approach or instead of it.

However, the existing research on the topic does indicate that for many people, an online, self-guided plan can be effective when it comes to reducing their procrastination problem. In order to stop procrastinating, you first need to set your goals, and then identify how procrastination will prevent you from achieving them.

Next, you need to create a plan of action based on this information, and then implement this plan, while making sure to refine it as you go along. In the following sections, you will learn more about each of these steps, so that you will be able to use this approach as effectively as possible. In addition, when setting your goals, you also want to make sure that those goals are achievable and meaningful :.

In comparison, the goal of writing words per day is both achievable as well as meaningful, which is why it represents a good goal to set for yourself. As such, the most important thing is to find the rate of progress that works for you , in your particular situation.

Overall, the first step to overcoming your procrastination is to set your goals. These goals should be clear , achievable , and meaningful , which means that they should be well-defined, possible to accomplish, and significant enough to help you make notable progress. Once you set your goals, you can move on to the next step of this process, which is to identify the exact nature of your procrastination problem.

Specifically, there are three main factors that you should consider when assessing the nature of your procrastination:.

However, by taking the time to clearly identify the nature of your procrastination problem, you can then figure out a valid way to deal with it, instead of just hoping that things will be different in the future. Note that a tool that could help you figure out why you procrastinate is the guide on the psychology of procrastination , which contains a comprehensive list of the reasons why people procrastinate, with the most notable of these being the following:.

To create a plan of action, you need to figure out which anti-procrastination techniques you should use, and how to use them. These techniques, which are listed in the next section, fall into two main categories:. Rather, the important thing is to understand the general idea behind anti-procrastination techniques, and specifically that you can overcome your procrastination by instilling positive behaviors and thought patterns while eliminating negative ones.

In general, each technique is likely to help you accomplish at least one of the following things:. You can use any combination of techniques that you want, and you should pick the ones that fit you best given your particular situation, since different techniques will work differently for different people, and will even work differently for the same person in different situations.

As such, make sure to identify the nature of your procrastination problem before figuring out which techniques you should use in order to solve it. Finally, keep in mind that if this all feels like too much at first, remember that imperfect action is infinitely better than no action at all. Breaking large tasks into smaller sub-tasks can prompt you to take action, by making large tasks feel less overwhelming, and by allowing you to experience a continuous stream of rewarding progress.

Furthermore, doing this also benefits you from an organizational perspective, by helping you identify what exactly you need to do in order to achieve your goals, and by enabling you to make plans that include a high level of detail. For example, if your goal is to write a paper for a class, you can break down the large task of writing the paper into an ordered list of subtasks that you need to perform.

Prioritizing your tasks can help you figure out which tasks you need to work on and when you need to work on them. Overall, there are many methods you can use in order to prioritize your tasks. Different people have different cycles of productivity , which means that different people are productive during different times of the day. For example, some people might work better in the morning, while others might be more productive at night.

Finally, when accounting for your productivity cycles, keep in mind that you might be able to handle different types of tasks better during different times of the day.

For example, you can set up a routine of doing creative work early in the morning before checking emails or social media, which is a good way to ensure that you start your day being productive, and by completing your most important tasks while you still have a clear head.

The routine that you establish should take your daily productivity cycles into account, which means that different routines will work for different people. Setting a routine is especially important in some cases, such as if you tend to have an erratic sleep schedule , which could make you sleep-deprived and therefore more prone to procrastination.

You can often accomplish more in a few hours of flow than in weeks of procrastination, which is why this mental state should be appreciated as much as possible. Setting deadlines for yourself can reduce the likelihood that you will procrastinate, since deadlines serve as a commitment device , which helps you plan ahead and motivate yourself. College can be an overwhelming experience. For many students, it is We try to make content available to you on CollegeData.

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We will not be liable for the content on CollegeData. Share: Many students at some point in high school have procrastinated in starting their homework, completing a project or studying for a test. Eliminate Distractions Getting rid of distractions is another tip to avoid procrastination. However, when all the negative factors outweigh our self-control and motivation, we end up procrastinating, by putting off our work either indefinitely, or until some future point in time when the balance shifts in our favor.

Overall, we procrastinate because our self-control and motivation, which might be hindered by factors such as exhaustion and rewards that are far in the future, are outweighed by demotivating factors, such as anxiety and fear of failure.

This causes us to fail to self-regulate our behavior , which means that we postpone things unnecessarily, even when we know we should be doing them, which is why procrastination often leads to a gap between how we intend to act and how we act in reality. Note : there are some exceptions to this, in cases where procrastination is driven by some other factor , such as rebelliousness or the desire to add excitement to otherwise boring work.

However, for the most part, the mechanism outlined above is the main one that explains why people procrastinate. This section contains a comprehensive list of the specific reasons why people procrastinate, based primarily on the psychological mechanism which was outlined in the previous section. Try to be reflective and honest with yourself while you do this, since figuring out the underlying causes of your procrastination is crucial if you want to be able to successfully overcome it.

Note that not everything here will apply to you, so feel free to skim through the list, and read primarily about reasons that you think could apply in your particular situation. People are more likely to procrastinate when their goals are vague or abstract, compared to when their goals are concrete and clearly defined.

Furthermore, note that in addition to a lack of a clear definition, there are other factors that can make a goal feel abstract. For example, according to construal-level theory , goals that are perceived as highly improbable are also perceived as relatively abstract. This means that if a person finds it unlikely that they will attain a certain goal, this can cause them to view that goal as abstract, which in turn can increase the likelihood that they will procrastinate on it.

People often procrastinate on tasks that are associated with outcomes e. This phenomenon, which is based on the timing of outcomes, is known as temporal discounting or delay discounting. Accordingly, people often display a present bias when they choose to engage in activities that reward them in the short-term, at the expense of working on tasks that would lead to better outcomes for them in the long term.

Note that the relationship between the time it takes to receive a reward and the perceived value of that reward is usually inconsistent, as the rate of discounting decreases over time.

For example, while there is a big difference in how we value a reward that we can receive now compared to a reward we can receive in a week, there is a much smaller difference in how we value a reward we can receive in a year compared to a reward we can receive in a year plus a week. Similarly, while there is a big difference between receiving a reward in a day compared to in a year, there is less of a difference between receiving a reward in a year compared to receiving it in two years.

People sometimes procrastinate because they view their future self as being disconnected from their present-self , a phenomenon known as temporal self-discontinuity or temporal disjunction.

This disconnect between the present and future selves can cause people to procrastinate in a variety of ways. People sometimes avoid taking action in the present because they intend or hope to pursue a more attractive course of action in the future.

This mindset can lead to long-term procrastination, and persist even in cases where the person who is procrastinating never ends up following through on their intended plan. People sometimes procrastinate on tasks because they are overly optimistic about their ability to complete those tasks in the future. For example, a student might decide to postpone getting started on an assignment that is due a few weeks from now, because they feel that there will be plenty of time to get it done later.

In many cases, this form of optimism might occur as a result of underestimating the time it will take to complete the tasks in question; this phenomenon is known as the planning fallacy , and it can lead both procrastinators as well as non-procrastinators to assume that they will finish upcoming tasks earlier than they actually will.

Similarly, a person might decide, after struggling to get started on a task, to postpone it to the next day, because they believe that tomorrow they will be able to bring themself to work on it, even if they have postponed the same task in the exact same manner several times in the past. People sometimes procrastinate because they are unable to make decisions in a timely manner.

There are various factors that generally make it more likely that someone will get stuck over-thinking the situation while trying to make a decision, a phenomenon which is sometimes referred to as analysis paralysis or choice paralysis. The main factors to consider, from a practical perspective, are the following:.

Accordingly, the more decisions you have to make during a certain time period, the more you deplete your capacity for self-control, and the more likely you are to procrastinate in making future decisions, at least until you have a chance to recharge yourself mentally.

Finally, note that this form of procrastination is generally referred to as decisional procrastination , since it involves a delay in making a decision. People sometimes procrastinate because they feel overwhelmed with regard to the tasks that they need to handle. To simplify, instead of trust, autonomy, initiative and competence, unassertive people develop mistrust, shame, guilt, doubt or inferiority. Luckily, a lack of assertiveness usually happens only in a specific context.

For example, someone who is very assertive and competent on a soccer field may not be in intellectual matters. A successful professor may not be as skillful when it comes to money management.

When it comes to the former, you procrastinate. The only way to fix this is to learn how to assert yourself in a healthy way in that area of life. Procrastination can also happen because of fear. The two most common fears connected with procrastination that are potentially holding you back are the fear of failure and the fear of success. There is a big difference between being hurt by failure, going through a recovery period, reflecting on what you learned and then trying again, and being paralysed by the fear.

Nevertheless, failure is an integral part of success. Success is nothing but going from one failure to the next without giving up, until you succeed. So, if you want to succeed faster, you have to fail more. You have to learn to love failing and constantly learn from it.

It may be hard to believe, but there is another fear that may be holding you back and causing you to procrastinate — the fear of success. Success brings things like fame, financial abundance, being the center of attention, good feelings about yourself, and so on. The techniques to overcome fears are similar to those used in assertiveness training.

Expose yourself to smaller challenges, join group or individual therapy to explore the underlying reasons, and try techniques like visualization, affirmations, etc. Easy to clock-in and out. Timesheets always up-to-date. Manage and approve absences. Learn more Cancel anytime - no credit card required. Yes, we all have to dream big.

Unrealistic expectations lead to disappointments, and big life disappointments usually lead to procrastination or giving up. When you have unrealistic goals and realize after your first try that it will be much harder to achieve them than you thought, you may start to procrastinate. You may start doubting yourself and asking if you even have what it takes to achieve your goals. For a while, you struggle with procrastination, and soon you give up.

If you see yourself as a lazy person, the best solution is to change that perception within yourself. But before that, you must explore your underlying beliefs. How does your life look? Do you see any benefits? Maybe you can ask 10 people in your professional and personal life if they see you as a lazy person. Or benchmark your working outputs with 5 other people that have the same position as you do.

That may be a good start. The easiest way to track time — for freelancers and teams trusted by A lack of energy may be caused by overworking, burnout, and temporary exhaustion, but it can be also caused by an unhealthy lifestyle.