Tackling procrastination
- Philip Brophy
- Mar 26
- 3 min read
Turning it on its head • 3 min read
A study in the Journal of Consumer Research supported this theory. As part of this, two incidental deadlines were set for the participants to complete a survey. Group 1 were given a deadline of 7 days. Group 2 were given 14 days. The results revealed that participants who faced the longer deadline wrote longer responses to the survey and spent more time on it. However, these same participants were far more likely to procrastinate than their seven-day counterparts.
Introduction
We’ve looked at some of the root causes of procrastination. Today, we’re going to explore a few more and see why it’s important to look into reversing these embedded patterns.
Heart over head
Neurologically speaking, there’s nothing logical about procrastination. It's when the limbic system in your brain (this is the emotional part), overrides your prefrontal cortex (this is the more rational part).
The logical part succumbs to the emotional part as soon as your attention drifts to creating your Insta stories over an imminent work deadline.
Most of us often struggle with tasks that promise future reward over tasks that will deliver instant gratification. This is because our brains can more easily process concrete rather than abstract things. So, short-term efforts beat long-term efforts hands down. Behavioural scientists call this ‘present bias’.
Procrastination is also often seen as ‘avoidance behavior’ - “giving in to feel good”. Doing something else trivial puts off the inevitable, giving us temporary relief.
We’ve already learnt that we procrastinate for more emotional reasons such as fear of failure and anxiety. However, there are other reasons which relate to the more practical aspects of work life. These include:
Faulty sense of time
Disorganisation
Disproportionate sense of workload vs. allotted time
Faulty sense of time
This is when we think we have more time to get something completed than we actually do. So, hey, I’ll do it tomorrow! I’ve got plenty of time!
Disorganisation
Procrastination can be a product of disorganisation. When we’re confronted with a mountain of papers or a head full of priorities – all sloshing about – we might find it hard to even know where to start.
Disproportionate sense of workload vs. allotted time
When given a long deadline, our instinct is to assume that an assignment is difficult. This leads to procrastination or task abandonment.
“Can you send that to me by close of play?” This is a line that many of us dread to hear. However, for many of us, having a shorter deadline might actually help us to complete a task as we perceive the work to be less difficult.
When faced with multiple deadlines, we often choose less-important projects with shorter deadlines over more important ones with longer deadlines. This is called the ‘mere urgency effect,’ meaning the more limited the time frame, the more we’re influenced in selecting which tasks to complete.
Why do I need to nip this in the bud?
When we run away from the negative feelings we associate with big tasks, we’re ironically causing ourselves more anxiety in the long run. The problems with procrastination include:
increased stress and persistent feelings of guilt from putting off tasks
health and sleep problems
poorer performance e.g., missed deadlines
In avoiding potential failure, we run the risk of experiencing remorse and regret, always looking back at lost opportunities thinking to ourselves, “if only”.
Procrastination is self-defeating and only prevents us from reaching our goals.
Key takeaways
When given a long deadline, our instinct is to assume that an assignment is difficult. This leads to procrastination or task abandonment.
Procrastination causes increased stress levels, poorer work output and persistent feelings of guilt from putting off tasks.
Doing something else trivial puts off the inevitable, giving us temporary relief but ironically causing ourselves more anxiety in the long run.
Think big. act small
Most procrastinators find that simply getting started is the most challenging part of the task. Next week, we’ll look at the steps required to buck the trend and get things done in the now, upping productivity and shaking off those horrible feelings of ever-lurking guilt!
Content sources
Forbes, 2021, Amy Blaschka, ‘You're Not Lazy; You're Scared: How to Finally Stop Procrastinating’
Forbes, 2021, Caroline Castrillon ‘How to Stop Procrastinating and Start Accomplishing’
Forbes, 2020, Stephanie Burns, ‘4 Ways to Stop Procrastinating And Start Doing’
Harvard Business Review, 2018, Meng Zhu ‘Why We Procrastinate When We Have Long Deadlines’
Harvard Business Review, 2016, Caroline Webb, ‘How to Beat Procrastination’
Psychology Today, 2021, Matt Huston, ‘10 Tips for Turning Procrastination into Precrastination - How to get started with getting started’
Psychology Today, 2017, ‘11 Ways to Overcome Procrastination Easy tips to stop putting things off’
Psychology Today, 2021 ‘Why We Procrastinate’
Scientific American Mind, 2009, Trisha Gura, ‘I’ll Do it Tomorrow’
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