10 Subtle Reasons You are Procrastinating Always, According to Psychology

“I will not wait until the last minute to complete the task; I will do better in the future”  

We all have said this about a million times in our life. But in reality, we all know, the next time that we talk about never really comes and the pattern continues. Ever wondered what could be the psychology behind procrastinating Stuff all the way?

We all delay tasks some time or other for several different reasons. Procrastination is constantly avoiding difficult tasks for no particular reason. For example – you decide to exercise daily, but every day you come up with new excuses like not having the right shoes or having other things to do and avoid exercising. You know that exercise is essential but still, you keep pushing it forward for some other day.

This habit of postponing tasks slowly starts affecting the quality of your performance, increasing stress and anxiety levels and impacting your overall well–being in life. Identifying the reasons for procrastination will help in finding better strategies to avoid it. Here are 10 reasons why people might procrastinate about a particular task. 

10 reasons people procrastinate  

1. Giving priority to the mood at the moment  

Sometimes, for the sake of momentary pleasure, we keep pushing the task for later. 

For example, Vikram has an important presentation that he has to prepare for early the next morning. But on the same night, his friends invite him to go party at night. Even though Vikram knows that the presentation is more important and he should complete the task first, he chooses to have fun instead of working. He decides to go with his friends and complete the presentation when he comes back later that night. Things don’t turn out according to the plan; he gets back very late and decides to complete the presentation early next morning before going to the office. The next morning, he wakes up late and fails to complete the presentation.  

This happens all the time. We keep delaying the task and give priority to our mood. We think, ”I will do it after watching the movie” or ”I will complete the work after coming back from shopping”. The ‘after’ is what leads to procrastination. Choosing the current mood instead of giving priority to the essential tasks is one of the reasons for procrastination among people.  

2. Unpleasant task 

Another big reason for procrastination is that we don’t like doing certain tasks. Sometimes we keep postponing the task simply because we want to avoid the unpleasant feelings it brings us. Like completing an assignment on a subject that we are not very fond of. We know that the task is essential but we just want to avoid the feelings of frustration that work causes us. 

For example – Saee dislikes Maths, all the formulas that she has to remember to stress her out. so she keeps putting off studying for Maths. Even if she knows she can’t avoid it forever she just doesn’t want to deal with the stress and frustration that studying Maths causes her.  

We all have done it some time and kept pushing the work ahead because we didn’t like doing it. The unpleasantness of the task is also one of the reasons that contribute to procrastination.  

3. Fear of failure  

How many times have we avoided doing a certain task because we were afraid that we would fail? Fear of failure makes us want to delay the task for as long as we can. Delaying the task gives us momentary comfort that we have avoided failure. But in reality, we are just trying to protect our self–esteem and avoid the criticism the failure might bring.  

For example – Mansi has to dance in her college event. She wants to make a good impression in front of her professors and her classmates. She fears that she is not good enough and would make a fool in front of everyone. The fear takes up so much of her time that she keeps putting off the practice. She keeps finding other tasks like cleaning up her room and reading a book to avoid practising. In the end, she gets very little time to practice and she is not very good at the event. This further increases her fear of failure.  

This example illustrates how the fear of failure leads to procrastination which ultimately increases the chances of potential failure.  

4. Feeling overwhelmed with the task  

Sometimes the complexity of the task makes us want to avoid it. We always want to do the simple tasks and leave the complex, difficult tasks for ‘later’.  For example – Jay has to plan a birthday party for his friend. He has a lot of things to do – buy gifts, decide the food, book a place, and invite friends and a lot of other things. He gets very overwhelmed whenever he thinks about it. He doesn’t know where he should start working from. So, he keeps delaying it for later.

As the birthday comes near he gets more and more stressed. In the end, he gets very little time to plan and has to rush through all the tasks. This results in the party not turning out the way he wanted it to. There can be many reasons to feel overwhelmed by a task including – the complexity of the task, indecisiveness due to a lot of choices, etc.

5. Lack of Motivation  

Motivation plays a crucial role in the completion of any task. Have you ever wondered why you remember the dance steps that you have to do in the dance competition faster than the dates in history? The reason might lie in the level of motivation you have to do both of the tasks. You remember the dance routine so well because you are highly motivated to do it, whereas in the case of history, you might not be that driven.  There can be several reasons for low motivation like – the results of the task not being that important, not having any hopes for positive results; the task being a compulsion rather than something that the person wants to do, etc.  

6. Issues in managing time  

Not being able to manage time properly causes procrastination. Not prioritizing the tasks properly based on their urgency leads to issues in the completion of the task on time.  

For example – Anvi has guests coming on Sunday evening and she needs to clean her house before that. She works a full-time job and has a very busy schedule; she decides to clean her house every day in the evening. But throughout the week in the evening, she finds herself getting distracted by different activities like watching a movie or catching up with friends. Instead of following the plan she keeps delaying the cleaning thinking she will do it later. As Sunday comes closer she realizes that she has not done the cleaning and she has to do a lot of work in little time. In the end, it leaves her stressed and exhausted. Failing to properly manage the time causes procrastination and leads to unnecessary stress.  

7. Getting easily distracted 

The urge to watch one more episode of the series instead of working on the presentation or scrolling through social media instead of completing homework. There are distractions all around us. We have a set plan in our mind but we often find ourselves deviating from our task due to distractions. Even though breaks are important while doing any job frequent deviations from the task delay its completion and muddle with the focus. Some people use these distractions as a way to avoid doing the task.  

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8. Thinking that you work Better Under Pressure  

Many people think that they work better under pressure so they keep pushing the tasks till the last minute to increase their work quality. Even though pressure does work in our favour sometimes and boosts our performance it does not work the same every time. Placing large bets on pressure might not be a good decision. Postponing tasks last minute will not always lead to great results and over time this habit will lead to burnout.

 Read More: Understanding Commitment: The Psychology Behind Promises and Hard Work

9. Trying to be perfect  

Trying to be perfect is a great asset but when it turns extreme it causes procrastination. For example – Nupur is an artist. She is very skilled and makes sure that all her work is perfect. Because of this habit, sometimes she is very hard on herself.

Whenever she starts to do her work, she constantly thinks that none of her ideas are good enough and she needs to think of that one perfect idea. This thought makes her delay the actual process of painting and as work deadlines start to catch up she is overly stressed and sometimes due to rushed work her work quality suffers. Even though Nupur is a great artist and has set high standards for herself, her perfectionism causes her uncalled-for stress and anxieties, making her procrastinate and postpone the task.  

10. Low Self–confidence  

A lot of things are dependent on the confidence we have in ourselves and our abilities. Many times we avoid doing certain tasks because we are not sure if we will be able to do justice with it. Thoughts like “Am I the right fit for this task?”, “what if I fail?”, or  “What will everyone think if I make a mistake” hold us back and delay the tasks. Low self-esteem leads to low motivation which causes the patterns of procrastination among people.  

Ways you can avoid Procrastination  

Here are some strategies that will help you avoid procrastinating.  

1. Taking One step at a time 

Whenever you feel that a particular task is very complicated and you start feeling overwhelmed divide the task into smaller parts. Set small goals like I will complete this part of the work today, this will make the task feel less daunting. For example – if you have to study for an exam, divide the syllabus into small units and assign a time limit for the completion of each unit. This will also give you a sense of control and help in the completion of tasks within the time.

2. Reward Yourself  

Remember to reward yourself. Small rewards for the achievements will help you stay motivated throughout the work. For example – if you are working on a presentation, reward yourself with a 10-minute break after the completion of 3 slides. This will also make sure that you are not over-exhausted and you will not feel burnout at the end of the task.  

3. Avoid Getting Distracted  

One of the major reasons our work gets delayed is because we get distracted by something or the other. Once you get distracted it is difficult to bring back the focus. Set some rules, like I will not check my phone till I complete this part of the task or I will watch TV only after I am done with this work. Try and follow these rules that you have set. These rules will help you stay focused and reduce distractions during work time.

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4. Prioritize Tasks  

Sort the tasks that you have to complete according to your priority, this will reduce the burden at the last minute. For example – you have an English essay that is due tomorrow, a college event that you have to plan and an upcoming exam that you have to study for. If not prioritized properly this many tasks can get overwhelming.  

Prioritize the tasks based on their importance like completing the English essay is most urgent, and then you decide that you have to complete one chapter for the exam and then work for the planning of the upcoming event in the college. This will help in the proper sorting of the tasks and avoid waste of time.  

5. Plan beforehand  

Plan the day the night before. Make a list of things that you need to complete the next day. This will help you stay on track, avoid wastage of time and not make you feel overwhelmed with the number of tasks. It will also make sure that you do not get distracted by anything while doing your work.  

6. Identify the signs of procrastination  

Try understanding the signs that you might be procrastinating. For example – find out tasks that you find yourself delaying unnecessarily. After finding out the patterns of procrastination try finding out the reasons why you might be postponing the task. Are you afraid of failing or you are getting distracted or fixating too much on perfection? This information will help in finding solutions for the problems and implementing different strategies to work effectively.  

Conclusion  

Procrastination is like a web, once you get stuck in it, it’s difficult to get out of it. It is something we all indulge in at some time or other. Procrastination not only delays our work but also increases stress, anxiety and frustration. Over time our work quality might also take a hit. It is essential to identify the signs of procrastination and avoid going down that road. Try being more disciplined. You can implement strategies like making a to-do list or dividing a large task into small units to reduce procrastination. Remember – don’t wait until tomorrow for something that you can do today.