Procrastination: What It Is & How to Manage It

As I’m sitting here trying to write this blog, I’m finding my own anxiety rise and I have a desire to stop writing because, “how can I ever make this the best article on procrastination ever?” You’re probably reading this and thinking, “Well, you really can’t make this the best article ever, and how would you ever know if it was?”

I agree with you on that one. It’s not possible for me to know if this will be the best article on procrastination ever, but what I do know is that having that thought has already made it challenging for me to sit here and write this article.

Many people struggle with procrastination in school, work, or personal goals, leading to feelings of guilt, shame, dread, frustration, and increased stress.

Procrastination is the act of delaying or avoiding tasks — even when you know they’re important. It’s often misinterpreted as “laziness” and can be deeply connected to anxiety, perfectionism, overwhelm, low motivation, fear of failure, or challenges with focus and executive functioning (such as the experiences of those with ADHD).

If I could get rid of my worrying thoughts and uncomfortable feelings I may have an easier time with procrastination. At the same time, it’s really hard to get rid of thoughts and feelings, which are an important parts of what help us respond to our environment, think, and make decisions.

Here are some tips to minimize procrastinating based on this understanding that our thoughts and feelings impact it:

1. Target those thoughts that get us stuck in procrastinating. When anxious thoughts around the tasks at hand come up, challenge them (e.g. what proves that I won’t be able to write a good article? What are examples of times I’ve written articles and it went well? What would I tell a friend who has a worry of writing the best article ever?)
2. Check in with your feelings. It’s important to know how we’re feeling about the task at hand. If I check in with my feelings, I can address them and come up with an action plan. Here’s an example: if I’m scared that others might judge my article, I could write it and then have coworkers and friends I trust give me some feedback.
3. Chip away at smaller tasks to reach the bigger goal(s). See if there are smaller tasks that are required in order to achieve the bigger goal you have in mind (e.g. for this article, I started with thinking about examples of things I do to help me minimize my procrastination and then wrote a paragraph and took a break). It can be extremely overwhelming if we only focus on the final end goal which can feel far away, instead remember that every goal has smaller tasks attached to it.
4. Start something. Just like the Nike tagline, “just do it.” By taking action, regardless of how small, we are actually overriding a part of our brain (our emotional-reaction center, the amygdala) and teaching it to respond to a task’s completion as a pleasurable experience.
5. Take breaks with an action plan. Make sure you have a plan to restart the task before you take your break.

When all is said and done, make sure you reward yourself for a job well done! For those of you still finding it challenging to manage your procrastination, there could be something deeper underlying the issue. Your therapist can help you uncover the emotional and behavioral patterns behind procrastination, and support you in building healthier habits, improving time management, and reducing self-sabotage. With the right tools and insight, meaningful change is possible.