Why you procrastinate even when it feels bad
It’s 5 p.m. and you’ve just realized
that report you’ve been putting off
is due tomorrow.
It’s time to buckle down,
open your computer...
and check your phone.
Maybe catch up on your favorite
YouTube channel?
Actually, you should probably
make dinner first.
You usually like cooking,
though it’s hard to enjoy with this work
hanging over your head,
and oh— it’s actually pretty late!
Maybe you should just try again
in the morning?
This is the cycle of procrastination,
and I promise you, we have all been there.
But why do we keep procrastinating
even when we know it’s bad for us?
To be clear, putting something off isn’t
always procrastinating.
Responsible time management requires
deciding which tasks are important
and which ones can wait.
Procrastination is when we avoid a task
we said we would do, for no good reason,
despite expecting our behavior
to bring negative consequences.
Obviously, it’s irrational to do something
you expect to harm you.
But ironically, procrastination is the
result of our bodies trying to protect us,
specifically by avoiding a task
we see as threatening.
When you realize you need
to write that report,
your brain responds like it would
to any incoming threat.
Your amygdala, a set of neurons
involved in emotional processing
and threat identification,
releases hormones including adrenaline
that kick off a fear response.
This stress-induced panic can overpower
the impulses from your prefrontal cortex,
which typically help you think
long term and regulate your emotions.
And it’s in the midst
of this fight, flight, or freeze response
that you decide to handle the threat
by avoiding it in favor
of some less stressful task.
This response might seem extreme—
after all, it’s just a deadline,
not a bear attack.
But we’re most likely to procrastinate
tasks that evoke negative feelings,
such as dread, incompetence,
and insecurity.
Studies of procrastinating university
students have found participants
were more likely to put off tasks they
perceived as stressful or challenging.
And the perception of how difficult
the task is
increases while you’re putting it off.
In one experiment, students were given
reminders to study throughout the day.
While they were studying,
most reported that it wasn’t so bad.
But when they were procrastinating,
they consistently rated the idea
of studying as very stressful,
making it difficult to get started.
Because procrastination is motivated
by our negative feelings,
some individuals are more susceptible
to it than others.
People who have difficulty
regulating their emotions
and those who struggle
with low self-esteem
are much more likely to procrastinate,
regardless of how good
they are at time management.
However, it's a common misconception
that all procrastinators are lazy.
In the body and brain, laziness is marked
by no energy and general apathy.
When you’re feeling lazy, you’re more
likely to sit around doing nothing
than distract yourself
with unimportant tasks.
In fact, many people procrastinate
because they care too much.
Procrastinators often report
a high fear of failure,
putting things off because they’re afraid
their work
won’t live up to their high standards.
Whatever the reason for procrastination,
the results are often the same.
Frequent procrastinators are likely
to suffer from anxiety and depression,
ongoing feelings of shame,
higher stress levels and physical ailments
associated with high stress.
Worst of all, while procrastination
hurts us in the long run,
it does temporarily reduce
our stress level,
reinforcing it as a bodily response
for coping with stressful tasks.
So, how can we break the cycle
of procrastination?
Traditionally, people thought
procrastinators needed to cultivate
discipline and practice
strict time management.
But today, many researchers
feel the exact opposite.
Being too hard on yourself can layer
additional bad emotions onto a task,
making the threat even more intense.
To short-circuit this stress response,
we need to address and reduce
these negative emotions.
Some simple strategies include breaking
a task into smaller elements
or journaling about why
it's stressing you out
and addressing those underlying concerns.
Try removing nearby distractions that make
it easy to impulsively procrastinate.
And more than anything, it helps to
cultivate an attitude of self-compassion,
forgiving yourself,
and making a plan to do better next time.
Because a culture that perpetuates
this cycle of stress and procrastination
hurts all of us in the long term.
