What is procrastination and how to deal with it

We are all familiar with the situation when, instead of writing a diploma at the university or doing an annual report at work, we find a million other things to do: we start cleaning the apartment, watching a new TV series, meeting with friends or googling until five in the morning what “nuclear winter” is. . But when the deadline knocks on the door, we quickly begin to do in a day what we could easily do for a week. As a result, the person experiences stress, but manages to do the necessary work. Psychologists gave this phenomenon the name “procrastination.” A procrastination boom occurred in 2020: due to the fact that many are forced to do their usual work at home rather than in the office. There are many reasons for this: lack of control from managers and a full-fledged workplace, a relaxing atmosphere, stress due to the lockdown. Let's look at an example of what procrastination looks like and tell you how to overcome it. The best time to learn procrastination is at university. There were no parents around to supervise, so I started doing assignments at the last moment. It was then that I realized that despite procrastination, I still manage to get the work done. And even with this approach, I received good grades. Perhaps I procrastinated until the very end because I knew I could get away with anything. But I remember very well that the feeling of an approaching deadline is very nervous. If I had started preparing in advance, I might have completed the training without stress. The same thing happens in my work. I receive a task, I have a deadline, if this task is familiar to me and I am sure that I can push myself and get everything done in the last days, I am often overcome by procrastination. It’s hard to fight with it because of the thought: “I will always have time.” Sometimes my procrastination is due to the fact that I simply don’t feel like working. But I always know what awaits me: if the task is complex and requires a lot of effort, when I finally take on it, I will be “burnt.” Thus, I am setting myself up. Knowing my tendency to procrastinate, I set aside some time before the deadline to “be lazy.” For example, if I have to complete a task in 6 days, I will procrastinate half of this time and cope with my stress. And then tell myself that it’s time to get to work, that if I don’t complete the task on time, I’ll lose face in front of the client or team. I give myself three days to procrastinate, on the fourth day I just sit down at the computer and don’t give myself the opportunity to look at my phone or go out for coffee. As a result, the work task captivates me. At some point I realize that this is interesting. If you just sit and wait until you want, it can take a long time. I really want to be in a state of interest and motivation most of the time.Let's separate two concepts that are perceived in society as the same thing, but are very different: procrastination and laziness. What is the main difference in the two concepts? Laziness is about avoidance, when a person looks for any way not to do something, like not starting a project or not turning in homework. For example, instead of writing a term paper, a student buys a finished paper. Procrastination is different in that we are going to do something, but we put it off: for tomorrow, for a week, for the new year. This creates a feeling of incompleteness. Imagine how many unfinished tasks you have today and what will happen to you if you regularly put them off. Even if we don't think about them, our subconscious remains in contact with this matter. In our minds, we are already connected to this task, and the connection will not be broken until we complete the task. If we are talking about a conscious person who takes responsibility for his own life, then staying true to the principle of “here and now” is very difficult when you are constantly being pulled on different matters. Because of such twitching, a person experiences anxiety and confusion.

Why does procrastination occur?

There are quite a lot of reasons. I will list the main ones:

• Perfectionism

  Why is this so? A person puts off a task because he believes that he cannot do it perfectly. This is very typical of modern youth, who believe: if you do it, then do it 100%. If it’s worse, they don’t even allow themselves to start a business.

• Overload

  How does this happen? For example, I understand that I have so many things to do that I cannot begin to do them: in my inner reality there are a lot of processes running at the same time. If we compare this with the work of a computer, it is easy to draw the following parallel: when we give a computer 10 tasks, it works slowly and will select elementary processes, and if it is difficult, it will “freeze” and require a reboot, just like a person.

• Fear of failure

  In this case, the person puts off the task because he is afraid of defeat. If the matter is postponed, then the fear is postponed for a while. The unconscious part of the psyche says: until I started doing this, this failure did not begin in my life. However, another process begins that emotionally burdens a person.

• Fear of success

  A radically opposite fear to the previous one, which can also influence procrastination. Because doing a task well means attracting attention, but not all people are ready for this.

What kind of people are prone to procrastination?

We by no means can call procrastination a pathological condition, but recent studies suggest that about 20% of the world's population procrastinate. Psychological research suggests that procrastination is characteristic of impulsive people. This means that a person is easily seduced into activities that provide “instant gratification” for our psyche. I can, for example, sit down now to do my homework, but my impulse is to drink tea and watch a TV series. This impulsiveness prevents a person from fixating on a serious task. People who are not ready to wait for success are also prone to procrastination. For example, in order to achieve the desired result in learning, you need to do homework regularly. There are people who need success right away, and if they don’t have it, they will start to procrastinate.

What to do?

• Conduct internal dialogue

The phrase we often hear: “Just start doing it” looks like violence. To make the process more harmonious, you should ask yourself the questions: “What am I putting off? What kind of activity is this?” Try to summarize the things you are putting off. Most likely, you will find a relationship between them. For example, you are putting off things related to getting a profession or business related to communication. Most often, we can identify something common that a person does not want to be involved in. Ask yourself the question: “What does my failure to do or do this task lead to?” “If I don’t do this today or in the near future, what will this lead to?” This internal dialogue is an assistant that every person has. If you, for example, are a 3rd year student, ask yourself the question: “Why this condition was not present in the 1st or 2nd year? Why did it appear now?" If procrastination arose at work, you can ask: "Why did I work with pleasure for 5 years, what happened now? And when did this happen?" Try to find the reason and consequence: Perhaps this is a changed work schedule, personal problems.

• Break a big deal into small parts

This will help if you put off something because it seems global and important to you. For example, a person wants to change jobs. What can be done? Plan that he writes a resume in a week, I will send it out a week later, and so on. Thus, the process of procrastination stops: if I do a little, then I have already done something and can already praise myself for the fact that this process has begun.

• Organize your workplace

Over the past 6-9 months, procrastination has worsened, as during the period of quarantine and the pandemic, people got a different environment, the majority began to work remotely. Remote work means the absence of an organizational process, work issues, an office, that is, what usually helps you get ready for work. Many people do not have this option at home. When there is no normal workplace, there is no setting that a person should do work. If for 10 years he only watched films on this monitor, and now he needs to do important, intellectual work, imagine how difficult it is for the unconscious part of the psyche to now tune in to this. That's why a person will watch a movie instead of work. I definitely advise you to organize your workplace, divide the space, think about your schedule, and take breaks while working.

• Become a procrastination researcher

Also, if this topic worries you, I suggest you explore it more deeply and diagnose it using the General Procrastination Scale by S. H. Lay (adapted translation by O. S. Windecker, M. V. Ostanina). Explore books on this topic:

• Neil Fiore “The Easy Way to Stop Procrastinating”;
• Lenora Ewen, Jane Burka “Procrastination.”

Use modern methods for self-knowledge. For example, the iMAK application can be used both under the guidance of a psychologist and independently. You can also contact a psychologist for help online or in person. There are many different social projects that are ready to support you. One of the options is the social project “Razom” , where you can get advice from a psychologist online. Take care of your mental and physical health. Don't put off taking care of yourself until tomorrow.