4 Reasons You’re a Major Procrastinator and How to Solve Them

“I’ll get everything done…tomorrow..." and then that tomorrow becomes another tomorrow, and another, and the next thing you know it’s been a month and you realised that whatever task or assignment you had is now due in the morning.

And you spend the next 12 hours burning the midnight oil working on the very thing you could have done a month ago.

How many of us have fallen into the trap of procrastination? It's a lot more common than you think. A study done by the American Psychological Association showed that around 20% of adults procrastinate chronically, 50% of college students procrastinate in a consistent and chronic manner, and 80%–95% of college students procrastinate.

Here are 4 reasons you are a major procrastinator and how to solve them.

1. Fear of Failure

The fear of failure can cripple us. It can tie us up in a spiral roll of despair and anxiety. A dark cloud of negative thoughts driven by the idea that we aren’t good enough. But where does it come from?

Well, it stems from various factors like past experiences, and societal and cultural influences. It could even come from childhood conditioning where a child’s worth is measured by what he/she can achieve. It can also come from the desire for success and the fear of not living up to one’s own expectations or that of others.

But little do we realize that the fear of failure is what causes us to fail in the first place.

According to Mel Robbins, an American author, motivational speaker, and internet sensation in the realm of personal development, it is the fear of failure that makes us feel like a failure. “The major problem with failure is that you feel that you’re supposed to be successful,” says Mel, “and any inkling of failure immediately dejects you completely, and then you give up."

So procrastination is You saying, “well why even try, I'm going to fail anyway.”

How many times have we sat at our computer about to write the introduction of our essay, then we find ourselves scrolling through endless videos of cute cats? Before we know it, it's been two hours and you haven't written a single word. Well, it may be because we are afraid that that essay will be terrible.

According to Dr. Itamar Shatz, PhD recipient from Cambridge and author of ‘Solving Procrastination’, procrastination is typically brought on by fear, which acts as a potent emotional deterrent — making people less eager to complete certain tasks. This causes them to delay taking action in whatever it is they are afraid of doing.

By delaying the task they are afraid of, the procrastinator can temporarily protect their mood by engaging in trivial activities to cope with that fear — enter the cat videos.

At the end of the day, no cat is cute enough to distract you from your work. You just have to push through it.

Mel Robbins came up with the 5-second rule. Here’s Mel’s story from an interview with millionaire YouTuber, Tom Bilyeu:

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The 5-Second Rule

“I set my alarm for the morning, and when it goes off, I imagined that I was in NASA. It’s stupid I know. I would count down out loud, Five…four…three…two…one. And no matter how tired I felt I would get up. It's so stupid how the simple act of counting down from five actually made a difference.

I was in my room, it was cold, and I realized for the first time that I had beaten my habit of hitting the snooze button. And I realized that in life, there are so many moments just like those mornings — where I knew if I didn't move, my brain would step in and talk me out of it.

Our brains have a 5-second window where you can make those ideas and ambitions in your head a reality. Those 5 seconds are what made me go from waking up on time to totally shaking my entire life.”

So, when you find yourself about to do a task, count out loud from five to one. And whatever anxiety you feel, tell yourself you’re okay to start at whatever state you are. Not only can you beat procrastination, but you could change your life completely.

2. The Trap of Perfectionism

Procrastination can also be deeply rooted in our need to be perfect. They think what they do is never good enough.

So the solution is pretty simple: STOP TRYING TO BE PERFECT.

And what does this have to do with procrastination?

Individuals who seek perfection tend to postpone or refuse to begin something altogether out of fear they will not be able to live up to their own high standards. This need to be perfect can lead to procrastination as they delay taking action in the hopes of acquiring more information or inspiration that will help them achieve the desired level of perfection.

Research has suggested that there is a reciprocal relationship between perfectionism and procrastination, where high levels of one can lead to increased levels of the other.

Many people in today’s society mistakenly believe that perfectionism is a healthy motivator. But in reality, it could lead to depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and even self-harm. Eventually, it could spiral us into the belief that we can’t succeed. And any attempt at trying is pointless.

Instead of trying to be perfect, tell yourself it's okay to be imperfect. Because here’s the truth, no one is. Instead of being so hard on yourself, try to be kind. Ask yourself are you treating yourself like how you would treat others? Would you tell your friends and family that they’re not good enough? No, you wouldn’t. So why tell it to yourself?

3. Procrastination Is a Form of Stress Relief

Starting a task can be daunting— straight-up scary. So as professional procrastinators we immediately need to find something to alleviate that stress. Hence, the cat videos.

Procrastination is our coping mechanism where we need instant stress relief to keep our minds away. It's rooted in our deep yearning for instant gratification.

A study showed that procrastination is often linked to people in high-stress jobs with long working hours. Engineers, accountants, programmers, and investment bankers are sometimes linked with the habit of procrastination as it requires a lot of analytical work.

But here’s the kicker, it has nothing to do with work. It has everything to do with the failure of proper task management.

Here are some steps to help with proper task management at work:

1. Prioritize tasks: Evaluate the importance and urgency of each task and prioritize them accordingly.
2. Make a to-do list: Write down all the tasks that need to be completed and check them off as you go.
3. Set deadlines: Assign a deadline to each task and work towards meeting it.
4. Use a task management tool: Consider using a tool such as Trello, Asana, or Todoist to help you organize and track your tasks.
5. Break tasks into smaller steps: Complex tasks can be overwhelming, so break them down into smaller, more manageable steps.
6. Eliminate distractions: Minimize interruptions and distractions to stay focused on the task at hand.

4. Maybe It's Just Our Personalities

Yes, maybe being a procrastinator is linked to our personalities. According to psychologist Tim Pychyl, a professor at Carleton University, some personality types are more likely to put things off.

People don't procrastinate because they lack the necessary willpower or time-management skills. "We procrastinate because of a misregulation of emotion," says Pychyl. "It's an emotion-coping response."

People who are most likely to misregulate their emotions are people who are lower in conscientiousness and high in impulsiveness.

These feelings are linked to our inability to face the bad feelings that come when trying to be competent at a skill or completing a task. And that inability leads to procrastination.

There are also studies that show that people who are more ‘artsy’ tend to procrastinate things more than others. Creativity and artistic expression often require a level of open-mindedness and non-conformity, which can be linked to sudden outbursts of spontaneity. It goes back to the old adage, “great art can’t be rushed”.

And this is not always a bad thing. Vincent Van Gogh was a massive procrastinator.

The Bottom Line

At the end of the day, we all tend to put things off until the last minute in some way or another. That doesn’t mean that there is something innately wrong with us. We all struggle with fear, self-doubt, and anxiety. But we should realize that these feelings are things to be dealt with on a daily basis. It’s not just to stop us from scrolling through mindless Instagram videos or playing video games till the light of dawn, but to take care of our mental well-being in general. Practice mindfulness and always strive to feel present in the moment.

Tell that to yourself the next time you have an essay due in the morning.

This content is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and is not meant to substitute for formal and individualized advice from a qualified professional.