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Procrastination

Writer's picture: Jas JesterJas Jester
May 20, 20236 min read

Updated: Nov 17, 2023



||: Introduction :||


Ever needed to perform any specific tasks for work or school, but you end up putting it aside in favor of doing literally anything else? Ever wanted to know why you feel the need to procrastinate in the first place? This blog article is written for the purpose of helping you understand why people tend to procrastinate, and my stance as to why I think people choose to procrastinate as a procrastinator myself. "Procrastination is when we avoid a task we said we would do for no good reason, despite expecting our behavior to bring negative consequences". According to this definition from Ted-Ed, we have the basic knowledge that procrastinating in the first place is not ideally recommended for people who would like to remain productive and feel less guilty in the long run. Procrastinating can come from many different reasons depending on one's living conditions, personal values, life choices, or feeling burnt out. Regardless of the reasons, this blog aims to explore possible reasons why you procrastinate.


||: Perfectionism :||


My first theory comes from one's particular mindset of a situation when a particular task is presented. This case involves a perfectionistic mindset where a person aims to meet their own professional standards, gets intimidated from realizing their own flaws implicated in the said task, then they would choose to loosen the stress by putting their mind somewhere else.

Through the ultimate teacher of easy access (YouTube), A video researchers thought that "Procrastinators often report a high fear of failure" (Ted-Ed), suggesting that people tend to procrastinate due to feeling pressure of possibly failing to meet their own personal standards. Procrastination from perfectionism prevents anyone from accomplishing their tasks effectively due to the fears created by one's inner critic and would end up wanting to not feel certain negative emotions that would be associated with reaching said expectations.

It is also suggested that perfectionists put off tasks they might not complete tasks perfectly as they are prone to being afraid of not creating a perfect product (Verywellmind), simply indicating that perfectionists have high standards of themselves based on previous work performances, expectations from authority figures (parents, teachers, or bosses). Even though one's experiences and previous work ethic puts a strain on a perfectionist's expectations and would therefore encourage procrastination because these people would prioritize reaching perfection instead of stressing over not achieving their ideal outcome.

For perfectionists, it would be ideal to lower their expectations into more manageable expected outcomes and would therefore gain less stress when it comes to completing tasks. Personally, I would not advise you to lower your expectation to a realistic degree, and would otherwise suggest you keep high expectations but ask yourself "How could this become achievable?", or "Can I cut this task down into manageable parts for me to reach this expectation of mine?" as reaching your expectations without being overwhelmed can help you reach further than anyone would imagine you to reach.


||: Comfort/Safe Zone :||


A theory that I would guess where procrastination comes from, would probably come from choosing to stay in your comfort zone as it is suggested that we perceive certain tasks as threatening, and would then not do such tasks creating the illusion of safety.

Procrastination happens when our bodies try to protect us by avoiding tasks we perceive as threatening (Ted-Ed). In a simple way to describe, procrastinating becomes a defense mechanism as people would subconsciously choose to avoid situations that would affect their stress or anxiety. By procrastinating, we tend to think that the best way to avoid situations that would induce stress, would entail us to neglect that certain tasks we personally deem as dangerous to our mental health.

Some activities do not have a "due date" like working out, changing careers, fixing relationships, or putting more effort into a business. Procrastinating on stuff like these sets us up for failure as we don't end up living our full potential (Art of Improvement). Surprisingly, activities chosen to be procrastinated on do not always involve work, school, or chores to be done, but we can have the possibility of losing track of our personal lives, thus causing more stress due to not paying attention to our own health and passions or interests. To be away from stressful situations or situations that would apply pressure to anyone, it is typically ideal for anyone to be in an environment where they would not have to worry about rushing deadlines, or not accomplishing an activity on time. While these tasks may make you happier and potentially help you enjoy your activities, people may put these off due to not having pressure as much as tasks with deadlines do.

Regardless of the reason, remaining in a comfort zone keeps people from reaching their goals as tasks present challenges, and when people choose to avoid challenges, they end up not progressing and might end up putting off activities that could end up benefitting their health.


||: Lack of Motivation :||


Completing tasks through motivation helps people with feeling happier and gain a higher sense of accomplishment during moments of productivity. In some cases though, people can lose motivation and reduce productivity when they do not receive any form of motivation.

Much more common are people who are unmotivated because they see no immediate benefit from the activities they are supposed to perform (Psychology Today) so for most people, a lack of results can highly demotivate a person so they seek a suitable distraction as there seems to be little to no point in pursuing a task. For the most part, losing motivation from a lack of results comes from impatience and high expectations. Due to believing that certain activities can be reached in X amount of time, people realize that life is not as easy as they thought it would be when it comes to pursuing anything of interest and would therefore 'give up' and then choose to focus on other tasks that matters.

Some of the more common causes of procrastination can include not wanting to do something, not caring if it gets done, not being in the mood for it, lacking initiative, or waiting for the right moment according to researchers (Verywellmind) which suggests that people procrastinate due to trusting in their own instincts to pursuing other tasks that would not help out as much as doing the tasks they should be doing. This could potentially come from people being put down/putting themselves down or a lack of support from families, friends, or colleagues.

Trying to accomplish tasks when unmotivated leads to higher chances of getting burnt out, and one could get more stressed by trying to press on to the tasks at hand. To deal with a lack of motivation would probably look like taking a break from trying to accomplish in favor of doing something else and then coming back to the task later (*cough* sounds like procrastinating *cough*). A suggestion can be to encourage you to find what motivates you personally as options vary depending on the individuals, such as partying, quality time with loved ones, spending on items that peek your interests, or playing video games with the bois.


||: Conclusion :||


As a whole, procrastination can form from many different causes such as realizing that expected outcomes and goals seem unreasonable to reach which discourages people from completing tasks and feeling overwhelmed by expected outcomes, fear of losing a comfortable environment which encourages you to not pursue a task that has potential risks, or not having a sufficient amount of motivation to help you accomplish the task based on enjoying what you do.

In a general consensus, procrastination is not smiled upon, however, it is a common occurrence typically from a sense of pressure and stress, indicating to your inner instincts that you should focus on other tasks to relieve the stress ironically making room for more stress later on. Generally, it is encouraged to get the activities you dislike first, and then do the tasks you enjoy later to have something to look forward to. I would encourage people to take occasional breaks as long as they return to the tasks at hand and to plan out their tasks into smaller bite-sized pieces for any activity to seem less intimidating.


||: References :||



||: Fin :||


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