What is procrastination?
By definition, procrastination is “a self-defeating behavior pattern marked by short-term benefits
and long-term costs”. Procrastination is a phenomenon that negatively affects approximately
20-25% of adults around the world, and in order to loosen its hold on us, we need to understand
where it comes from and why it has such a strong grip on our mental well-being.
Obviously, procrastination does not affect everyone. It is linked to individuals that suffer from
anxiety and issues with impulse control. Procrastination is known to affect mental well-being, but
another disastrous effect of procrastination is physical decline. Many people procrastinate things
like doctors appointments, and in doing so, allow their health to deteriorate, simply because they
do not want to know what is going on with their body.
Procrastination works in two different time periods; the long term and the short term. Many
people procrastinate doing specific things because it makes them feel better in the short term.
This is often true, and when they decide not to do something, their stress can be momentarily
alleviated. However, the more time they let pass, the more their stress doubles down on them,
and they begin to feel worse and worse. Another important reason why people are likely to
procrastinate is the simple fact that they do not believe in themselves. If they think that they are
not capable of doing something well, they are far more likely to put off trying. In addition to not
believing in themselves, many procrastinators are perfectionists. This may seem counter-intuitive,
as someone who wants to be perfect likely wants to get everything done on time. However,
perfectionists are often boxed in by their need to be perfect, and they may not complete a task
simply because they don’t think that they will do it perfectly.
Returning to procrastination’s effects on health, people may delay things like medical
tests/appointments because they are afraid of the diagnosis that they will receive. Nobody wants
to go to the doctor and have some bad condition confirmed, so it is understandable that they
would put it off and live in blissful ignorance for as long as they felt was possible. When people
leave health issues and illness undetected and untreated, their risk for bad health rises
exponentially.
Today, another pressing reason why people procrastinate is because they are distracted. With
social media’s popularity booming, people, especially younger generations, find themselves
obsessed with their phones, not knowing when to put them down and take a break. Social media
can be a huge time suck, and people often don’t realize how much time they are spending on
their phones until they think about the time that they could have spent doing things that they
needed to do.
Does procrastination have to do with age?
Interestingly, some experts say that some people are able to “outgrow” procrastination, as it is
more common in children than in adults. “A 2016 study that analyzed procrastination in several
different age groups found that procrastination was highest in 14-to-29-year-olds, the youngest
age group studied.” Studies also show that procrastination does lower initial stress levels, but that
the long term effects include stress skyrocketing down the line. A student that procrastinates their
work early in the school year will be much less stressed at the beginning, but by the end of the
year, they will likely have much higher stress levels than those who kept up with their work from
the very beginning.
What can people do about it?
The most common piece of advice given to procrastinators is simple: Just do it. Most of the time,
the things that people dread really aren’t that bad, and by ripping off the band-aid, they end up
getting their obligations done easily. However, most people do not find overcoming
procrastination that easy. For them, it is important to divide their tasks up into smaller sectors,
taking them one step at a time. By making each task seem smaller, the chance that an individual
will start a task increases rapidly, and the quicker they start a task, the more likely they are to
finish that said task. Lastly, procrastinators need to learn that they are not lazy. Sure, their mind
works in a different way which disables their ability to do things at the same rate as others, but
procrastination is not something that is unchangeable. With grit, determination, and a good
attitude, any procrastinator can move forward and get the job done.
