Hi friend, starting or engaging in anything productive can feel a bit daunting sometimes. We tend to fall into this infinite loop of procrastination that is quite hard to get out of.
In my attempt to start this blog I often found myself coming up with reasons why I should just postpone it.
After a long time, I finally made the decision to just go for it.
That made me realize how much time and energy we spend procrastinating.
Thus, the subject of my first EVER blog post: Procrastination.
Defined simply, procrastination is the act of delaying something that must be done, often because it is unpleasant, hard or boring despite knowing that there will be negative consequences for doing so.
Procrastination is a very common form of avoidance that affects almost everyone at some point in life.
Students, professionals or parents everyone is susceptible to procrastination.
Obviously, putting off tasks impacts our productivity and efficiency but, what most of us fail to realize is that it also affects our mental health and overall well-being.
Knowing that we should be working on a task instead of scrolling our phone for example, creates this sense of anxiety that turns into stress (we’ve all been there, I have). Stress, according to studies, can cause all sort of health issues in the long run.
So, in order to avoid the negative effects associated with this habit of procrastination, we should do our best to try and overcome it. For that to happen, we should first have a clear idea of all the causes and effects associated with it. That way, we can address the issue from all the angels.
Causes of Procrastination
People procrastinate for lack of will power to perform the tasks at hand.
The lack of will power however stems from deeper issues. Namely, psychological and external factors that affect our drive and motivation.
The following are the most common reasons why people procrastinate
- Perfectionism: The idea that anything short of perfect should not be accepted, published or adopted.
- Fear of failure: Worrying about the end result or, that something may go wrong in the process.
- Favoring short term feeling: Preferring to feel better now despite knowing it will feel worse in the future.
- Social anxiety: The fear of judgement can lead a lot of people to take the route of inaction.
- Delayed outcomes: The reward for doing the task at hand is far into the future so, we end up with a sense of disassociation and lack of motivation. A cognitive bias, where people tend to opt for smaller, immediate rewards rather than bigger delayed rewards. Also known as hyperbolic discounting.
- The effort expected: When the amount of work needed is overwhelming, that tends to cause a delay in action.
- Vaguely defined goals: Measurable, specific, attainable and time bound goals are more likely to be accomplished than vaguely defined ones. Well defined goals facilitate tracking progress which motivates us to keep going.
- Priority issues: Time management difficulties
- Environmental distractions: loud noise, social media, lack of structure and lack of resources can all cause people to procrastinate.
Any of the reasons listed here can prove to be a major contributor to why people procrastinate.
Negative effects of Procrastination
The effects of procrastination on people can go unnoticed in many instances. However, that doesn’t mean that it has no consequences. In fact, procrastination has been associated with various negative effects including poor academic performance, undesirable financial status, interpersonal relationship issues, and poor mental and physical well-being. In addition to that, these issues tend to influence each other and occur together given how connected they are to one another.
Therefore, it is important to know and understand the effects of procrastination so that you can identify and navigate them properly.
1. Effects on Academic life
Academically, procrastination is associated with various issues. Examples include, poor grades, poor exam scores and increased likelihood of dropping out. In fact, the link between procrastination and graduation rate is quite obvious.
2. Effects on financial and professional life
According to a large scale study, people who procrastinate make up around 57% of the unemployed. In addition to that, the study also shows that procrastinators are usually paid less than their counterparts by an average of $15,000.
The duration of employment also shrinks the more people engage in acts of procrastination. Increasing the likelihood of unemployment or under employment (working part time as opposed to full time).
On the other hand, employers also report lower levels of productivity among employees that engage in acts of procrastination. Furthermore, given the fact that procrastinators usually leave tasks till last minute before they start working on them, the quality of work done also takes a hit.
3. Effects on Social life
Socially, procrastination can prove to be a real issue. For example, a person with tendencies to postpone tasks often engages in arguments with people over shared assignments which can change people’s perception of the individual. That can affect your relationship with coworkers, family members, and romantic partners which in turn can lead to isolation and loneliness.
Procrastination can also stand in the way of you creating new social relationships. For instance, by putting off events, outings, and family gatherings you avoid meeting potential friends, romantic partners, and business connections.
4. Effects on Well-being
Procrastination is associated with a lot of negative feelings. Which is ironic given that we usually procrastinate to avoid tasks we don’t feel comfortable with in exchange for a better activity. Logically speaking, that should make us feel better right? Well, not really.
In his book, Solving the procrastination puzzle, Dr. Timothy A. Pychyl states:
“The fact that procrastination is associated with more negative emotions (or moods) is puzzling. If we are procrastinating, you would think we would actually feel better because we are not doing the tasks we do not want to do in favor of things we enjoy. At least that is what you would think we are doing … When we are actually off task and researchers ask us questions then about our feelings, we do not report feeling happier necessarily. There is a mixture of feelings experienced, including guilt. So, on the whole, procrastination does not make us feel that great, and this is particularly true in the long run”
Dr. Timothy A. Pychyl
Reported often, is also the feeling of stress which is proven to compromise our health in many different ways. For example, stress can affect our immune system, digestive system, heart health, and appetite resulting in poor physical and mental health conditions.
Interesting statistics about procrastination
Here are some interesting facts about procrastination and procrastinators to put things in perspective.
- Around 20% of adults are chronic procrastinators
- In dollar figures, procrastination costs the average employee a sum of around $8,800 yearly.
- According to a survey of 2200+ people performed by Darius Foroux, 88% of workers postpone at least an hour a day
- 8% of people procrastinate due to lack of confidence.
- Men make up about 54% of procrastinators
- Around 50% of college students procrastinate in a regular and chronic manner, 75% consider themselves to be procrastinators, and 80% plus of college students procrastinate.
- Studies show that 46% of students reported procrastination when writing a term paper, 30% when reading weekly assignments, 28% when studying for exams, 23% on attendance tasks, and 11% on administrative tasks.
- No significant effects of differences in socioeconomic status (i.e., poor or rich), multiculturalism (i.e., Han nation or minorities), nationality (i.e., China or other countries), family size (i.e., one child or more than one), and educational background (i.e., science or arts/literature) were found to affect procrastination tendencies.
How to overcome procrastination
The first step in overcoming procrastination is to identify the most notable factor that causes you to procrastinate.
For example, if you find yourself always distracted by a social media app, you could address it by trying to set the apps timer on your phone. That way, the apps become inaccessible after the time is up. You can also try using a web blocker like the freedom app that works across all platforms/devices.
Here are some other practical tips that help solve the problem of procrastination.
1. Decide and set your priorities
Sometimes the only thing that prevents us from taking action is the indecision and our inability to set priorities. Being indecisive can substantially prolong the time-span needed for action.
Thus, by deciding which tasks you should take on first – for what reason, and for how long – you can avoid the indecision paralysis.
2. Speaking of decisions
Trying to plan your day ahead of time can prove to be a real procrastination preventing tip. Having to make decisions on the spot can act as a barrier to productivity.
So, instead of deciding on the spot which can lead to wasted time, you could make a to-do list the night before so that all you have to do for the day is check the items off.
3. Divide tasks into small doable steps
When faced with a challenging task, try splitting it into smaller steps. For example, if you’re writing an article (kind of talking to myself here to be honest ha-ha), try starting by coming up with an outline, finding pictures to use, or crafting a good first paragraph. That way, the task starts to look a bit more doable. Then you can …
4. Start with a small step
In his book, Getting things done, David Allen goes into details about how focusing on the next doable step, no matter how small, can help left our energy and improve our sense of direction.
“There is [a] solution: intelligently dumbing down your brain by figuring out the next action. You’ll invariably feel a relieving of pressure about anything you have a commitment to change or do, when you decide on the very next physical action required to move it forward. Nothing, essentially, will change in the world. But shifting your focus to something that your mind perceives as a doable, complete-able task will create a real increase in positive energy, direction, and motivation”
David Allen
Small and doable steps can also serve as a great “appetizers” to get us to take that first step which is the most important thing in overcoming procrastination – To start.
5. Making mistakes is part of the process
Remember that progress doesn’t have to be linear in the beginning. Making mistakes and experiencing setbacks is normal in the process of overcoming an undesirable habit.
Staying the course and ignoring little imperfections is key during this stage. In fact, this is especially important if your procrastination is driven by perfectionism.
6. Try to set the tone for work
I remember back in college I used to struggle with focus during my study sessions. I’d always get distracted by the tiniest thing.
That went on for a while until I came across this idea to put on lo-fi music in the background. That may not look as much of a change but, for me, that’s all I needed to help me tune in on those articles (thanks Lo-fi girl ha-ha).
The idea is to improve your surroundings as much as you can to help you focus and go for that first step. Because really, most of the time, that’s all it takes.
7. Monitor progress
A study by the American Psychology Association suggests that gamifying the approach by tracking the progress – like streaks of days where you succeeded in achieving your goals or, the number of items you crossed off a list – can help you stay motivated and encourage you to keep on track for more achievements.
8. Reward yourself
Rewarding yourself by taking a quick break for example, can reinforce your engagement, increase your productivity/creativity, prevent decision fatigue and restores your focus which can have a good impact on your overall productivity
9. Write things down
Writing things down helps organize your thought process and clears you mind which can aid in assembling a good action plan that makes it easier for you to execute.
In fact, multiple studies have shown that writing down your goals significantly increases the likelihood of you achieving them.
10. Avoid draining your willpower
In his book, Timothy A. Pychyl cites an experiment by Roy Baumeister and colleagues from Florida state university where they concluded that people have a tendency to perform at a lower level right after exerting effort on a previous task.
Following a perceivably challenging task people were more likely to do something passive like watching television or scrolling social media.
Thus, preserving your will power by avoiding the unnecessary chores can prove to be of value in the process of overcoming procrastination.
Final thoughts on procrastination
Personally, I think that the best cure for procrastination is, you guessed it, action.
It doesn’t have to be anything significant either. In fact, I’d argue that the simpler the action the better it will serve the purpose of getting started. That’s because, generally speaking, we have an easier time engaging with tasks that are clear and simple as opposed to tasks that are hard or complicated. Once we engage it becomes much easier to keep going than say if we didn’t start at all. There lies the importance of the first step towards action.
Speaking of the importance of action, please allow me to share one of my favorite quotes that I heard on one of Chris Williamson’s podcast episodes.
“Preparing to do the thing isn’t doing the thing.
Scheduling time to do the thing isn’t doing the thing.
Making a to-do list for the thing isn’t doing the thing.
Telling people you’re going to do the thing isn’t doing the thing.
Messaging friends who may or may not be doing the thing isn’t doing the thing.
Writing a banger tweet about how you’re going to do the thing isn’t doing the thing.
Hating on yourself for not doing the thing isn’t doing the thing.
Hating on other people who have done the thing isn’t doing the thing.
Hating on the obstacles in the way of doing the thing isn’t doing the thing.
Fantasizing about all of the adoration you’ll receive once you do the thing isn’t doing the thing.
Reading about how to do the thing isn’t doing the thing.
Reading about how other people did the thing isn’t doing the thing.
Reading this essay isn’t doing the thing.
The only thing that is doing the thing is doing the thing.” — Strangest Loop
Procrastination seems to be one of those habits that leak into almost all aspects of life. It causes stress which compromises our health. It affects our interpersonal relationships and social life, our finances, and our academic achievements.
Actually, it is easy to see how procrastination can cause, an otherwise, normal person to lead a sub-optimal lifestyle. That goes to show the importance of addressing this habit and preventing it from leaking into other aspects of our lives.
Overcoming the habit of procrastination can be a bit challenging at first.However, implementing the tips mentioned in this article with intent and tendency to action can give you the momentum you need to get over procrastinating and get closer to your goals.
Resources
Books
- Solving the procrastination puzzle by Timothy A Pychyl
- Getting things done by David Allen
- Eat that frog by Brian Tracy
- Atomic Habits by James Clear
Apps
- The freedom app (not affiliated you can use any app that serves the same purpose)
Articles & studies
- Exploring reasons and consequences of academic procrastination
- The link between procrastination and graduation rates
- Social comparisons by procrastinators
- Associations Between Procrastination and Subsequent Health Outcomes Among University Students in Sweden
- Delaying Things and Feeling Bad About It?
- Procrastination and Stress: A Conceptual Review of Why Context Matters
- Gender, Socioeconomic Status, Cultural Differences, Education, Family Size and Procrastination: A Sociodemographic Meta-Analysis
- Procrastination in Daily Working Life
- Strangest Loop article about “the thing”
Thank you so much for reading this far!
Please feel free to comment your thoughts. would like to hear from you. I mean it.
