{"id":807,"date":"2018-07-07T07:45:12","date_gmt":"2018-07-07T07:45:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bloomsoup.com\/?p=807"},"modified":"2022-06-22T08:24:49","modified_gmt":"2022-06-22T08:24:49","slug":"causes-of-procrastination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bloomsoup.com\/causes-of-procrastination\/","title":{"rendered":"25 Causes Of Procrastination (And How To Overcome It for Good!)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Do you put things off until the last possible moment?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rather than studying for your next exam, do you jump down the Wikipedia rabbit hole…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To learn about goats or the French Revolution?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Procrastination is a disabling affliction and its effects far-reaching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And while the late-night, caffeine-fuelled writing sessions are often mocked, there’s a darker side to this disturbing psychological tendency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What at first seems like normal delaying tactics can soon snowball and contaminate other areas of your life…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leading to missed medical visits, poor financial planning, as well as stress<\/a> and depression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You’d think the sweet temptations of contemporary living would be solely to blame…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Virtual reality character collecting, binge boxset watching and miming dog YouTube videos…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But procrastination isn’t a modern phenomenon, the Greek poet Hesiod cautioning not to \u201cput your work off til tomorrow or the day after”.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you’re a chronic procrastinator, you’ll undoubtedly know the stress and deep stabbing pains of guilt that accompanies the mindset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The angry self-admonishment that next time, everything will be different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until it’s not…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is procrastination?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"how<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Procrastination is the avoidance of a task which needs to be accomplished…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Often in favour of performing more pleasurable alternatives, or completing less urgent tasks before important ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe basic notion of procrastination as self-regulation failure is pretty clear,\u201d says Timothy Pychyl of Carleton University, in Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou know what you ought to do and you\u2019re not able to bring yourself to do it. It\u2019s that gap between intention and action.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Much like the kid who shortsightedly grabs one cookie instead of waiting for two, it’s easy to slide deliciously into instant gratification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What the hell, one more episode of Breaking Bad won’t hurt…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite its prevalence, however, there are common misconceptions about the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being told helpfully by your productive friends to simply start earlier to avoid a frantic last-minute rush is about as helpful as a slap in the face…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt really has nothing to do with time management,\u201d says Ferrari, Professor of Psychology at DePaul University in Chicago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo tell the chronic procrastinator to just do it<\/em> would be like saying to a clinically depressed person, cheer up<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So with the confusion surrounding the condition, can we better understand the causes of procrastination and how to become normal functioning humans?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Causes of Procrastination<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

1. Poor Emotional Regulation<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"how<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEmotional regulation, to me, is the real story around procrastination, because to the extent that I can deal with my emotions, I can stay on task,\u201d says Pychyl.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen you say task-aversiveness, that\u2019s another word for lack of enjoyment. Those are feeling states \u2014 those aren\u2019t states of which [task] has more utility.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For procrastinators, mood repair is essential. They aim to relieve their negative emotional state in the present by putting off a task into the unknown future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Fear of Failure<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The fear of failure is one of the main causes of procrastination. And when we do inevitably underperform, procrastination becomes a handy excuse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fear is an emotional response to a perceived threat. In most cases, the evolutionary reaction is fight or flight. With regard to unenviable tasks and unpredictable outcomes, flight equals avoidance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Supporting research shows that procrastination linked to fear of failure is reduced to the extent you feel competent to complete your task<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So bigger challenges increase the likelihood of fear avoidance behaviour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Skill Deficits and Avoidance<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"chronic<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The flow state, or complete absorption in an activity, is achieved when your ability equally matches the task at hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conversely, starting an activity that your skills don’t match leads to inertia. Avoidance behaviour is adopted in a bid to evade your shortcomings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe chronic procrastinator, the person who does this as a lifestyle, would rather have other people think that they lack effort than lacking ability,\u201d says Ferrari. \u201cIt\u2019s a maladaptive lifestyle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Size, Length and Complexity of the Task<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Probably the main reason very few people feel like tackling their dream project, to write a book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Big complex tasks can make you feel you’re swimming in honey, and despite the advice of every teacher ever to break revision down into bite-sized chunks, large tasks seem impossible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Complex tasks can make you question your skill level, as previously mentioned. Long projects are amorphous and need to be broken down into smaller chunks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These small chunks must be separated into 7 day, \u201cnow” deadlines for maximum impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Unenjoyable Tasks<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"procrastination<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

You probably have certain jobs that make you feel like scratching your eyes out, they’re so tedious. Often the thought of doing these tasks is far more offputting than the reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Again, this can be linked to poor emotional regulation and projected negativity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interesting research by Matt Killingsworth studied people’s happiness levels while engaged in series of tasks and observed that even people engaged in classicly unpopular activities (toilet scrubbing) were happier if they were focusing on the task, instead of mind wandering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n