Why People Procrastinate
You may have already read our article on What is Procrastination? This article continues where the previous article left off and explains why people procrastinate.
While the term “procrastination” technically refers to the avoidance of a specific task that needs to be accomplished, this explanation doesn’t begin to capture the emotions triggered by the word. For most of us, the word “procrastination” reminds us of past experiences where we felt guilty, lazy, inadequate, anxious, or stupid - or some combination of these. It also implies a value judgment; if you procrastinate, you are bad, and as such, lack worth as a person.
Procrastination is quite complex. It involves emotions, skills, thoughts or attitudes, and subconscious reactions to various events. Furthermore, the causes and dynamics of putting off an important but unpleasant task vary from person to person and from task to task for the same person. Just some of the myriad of reasons we might procrastinate include:
- Lack of Relevance. If something is neither relevant nor meaningful to you personally, it may be difficult to get motivated to even begin. The task may be boring. If a project has been imposed or assigned to 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. Perfection is unattainable and perfectionists know this, so are often reluctant to start.
- Evaluation Anxiety. Since others’ responses to your work are not under your direct control, overvaluing these responses can create the kind of anxiety that will interfere with work getting accomplished.
- Ambiguity. If you are uncertain of what is expected of you - your priorities, goals or objectives are unclear - 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. Such an uncertain outcome may inhibit your desire to begin.
- Fear of Failure. You may think that if you don’t get an ‘A’, you are failure. Or that if you strive for something and don’t achieve it that you, as a person, are a failure.
- Inability to Handle the Task. If through lack of training, skill, or ability you feel that you lack the personal resources to do the job, you may avoid it completely.
- Feeling Overwhelmed. The task is so momentous that it seems impossible to achieve. Where to begin? Why even start?
- Fear and Anxiety. You spend so much time worrying about the task rather than completing it.
- Negative Beliefs about Yourself. Your inner critic tells you “I cannot succeed in anything” or “I lack the necessary skills to perform the task”, ensuring you never start anything.
“A wise person does at once, what a fool does at last. Both do the same thing; only at different times.” - Baltasar Gracian
In order to understand and solve your procrastination problems, you must carefully analyse those situations where your work is not being completed.
Now that you have an understanding of why we do it you may want to see if you are a professional procrastinator… We’ve got a quick online quiz that will give you an idea about whether you are a Professional Procrastinator.
Takes the Professional Procrastinator Quiz!
