I must confess I am confused by people who procrastinate.  And if I am really honest, when these people are close to me, I am down right annoyed at times.  So to gain understanding and to hopefully be more supportive, I did a little reading about the psychology of procrastination.  It turns out that while most people procrastinate now and then, about 20% of people procrastinate in a habitual manner that has real consequences on mental health, not just on productivity.  So in this weeks post, I’ll touch on some of the research on procrastination and some tools that might help us all.

Most research on the mechanisms of procrastination have focused on the thought patterns associated with procrastination.  Ferrari, Johnson, and McCown identified what is known in Cognitive Behavioral Psychology as the major “cognitive distortions” (errors in thinking) that lead to procrastination:  overestimating how much time you have left to perform a task overestimating how motivated you will be in the future (assuming you’ll be more motivated at some future point); underestimating how long certain activities will take to complete; and mistakenly assuming that they need to be in the right frame of mind to work on a task.

But to  be honest, in my work and life experience with people who have trouble with procrastination, it doesn’t just seem like an error in thinking.  Every time it happens they would analyze the situation, come up with a conclusion, such as “I need to start earlier,” or “I need to map out the project so I won’t underestimate it,” but don’t seem able to change their pattern despite their determination.  In fact, they really suffer from the frustration with themselves and their broken promises when they fail to make what appeared to be simple habit changes. It seems like something else is going on.

Indeed, the researchers at Carleton University in Ottawa conclude that rather than being just a thought problem, procrastination is more of an emotional regulation problem.  In a recent study, Dr. Pychal and Dr. Sirios report that procrastination can be understood as “the primacy of short term mood repair…over the longer term pursuit of intended action.”  In other words, the need to avoid the emotions (anxiety, perfectionism, self doubt, etc.) that come with a task takes precedence over the need to complete the task. Mix this with a few rationalizations such as “I will have more energy later” and voila, you immediately feel better.

Studies have supported this hypothesis when comparing short and long term consequences.  For example, looking at students over a semester, procrastinators reported less illness and lower stress levels at the beginning of a semester.  However, by the end of the semester, this had changed dramatically wherein procrastinators had the highest levels of stress and illness. In addition, high procrastinators tend to experience problems in relationships.  By putting things off, the burden can be shifted to other people who depend on you, such as family, friends or co-workers. They can grow resentful and this creates a negative feedback loop to undermine your self esteem.

Imposed deadlines force the procrastinator to put aside the thoughts and feelings that paralyze them, as they reach the point of just having to get it done.  Unfortunately, research also shows the outcomes are not as good as if they had taken their time to put in their best effort. Ironically, many people who procrastinate are perfectionists.  The anxiety and pressure they feel in sitting down to write a paper, for example, is so overwhelming, they delay and distract from it. Then, with a fast approaching deadline, they are forced to just do it, as Nike would say.  And procrastinators have described that it helps their self esteem to think their performance problems might be a time management problem rather than having put in their best effort and come up short.

The hardest step in managing your procrastination tendency is to recognize when you are doing it, as procrastinators tend to avoid the pain of their procrastination by not thinking about that as well.  Experts in overcoming procrastination have certain suggestions. First, make an honest to do list, meaning making a list of all the things that need to get done and when they are due. Prioritize the most important tasks factoring in due dates and size of projects.  Then focus on the task that seems to have the most priority or that you have avoided the most. Ask yourself in a supportive, honest, and curious way about the emotions that emerge regarding the task – what are the fears, worries, self doubts that are unpleasant and make you want to avoid the tasks?  If these feelings are unmanageable, ask for help from someone you trust. Getting reassurance by talking out your emotions can be very helpful in moving you forward. Perhaps you can meet again with this person to check in on your progress?

Forgiving yourself for past procrastination is also important.  By thinking of procrastination as an emotional regulation problem, rather than a moral or personality flaw, you can work through the emotions that get in the way.  Studies show that increasing self forgiveness on a task reduced the negative emotions on a future task and reduced procrastination. And finally, give yourself a reward.  As in most learning scenarios, praise and rewards work much better than criticism and punishment. So pat yourself on the back, buy yourself a smoothie for a well deserved break, and chart out your accomplishments along the way.  Breaking tasks down into smaller pieces helps reduce overwhelm, and gives that many more opportunities for that amazing feeling of crossing something off the to do list.