If you have a deadline that you need to meet, the thought of turning in or finishing an assignment might be anxiety-provoking for a variety of reasons. It might trigger physical symptoms of stress, such as racing heart or sweating palms. Or it can cause feelings of distress or failure. It might create a feeling that your work is not good enough—and thus an undesirable experience that decreases your motivation and therefore ability to succeed.
Using the term procrastination to refer to these types of situations is useful because it serves as an accurate label for a set of behaviors that are often perceived as being driven by fear, anxiety, or other negative emotions. And this may make it more likely for people to consider their behaviors in other ways. For example, they might blame their procrastination on laziness and claim that they had no choice in the matter. Or they may claim that putting things off is simply a bad habit. In either case, whether you blame your actions on yourself or on external factors, it's helpful to realize that procrastination is actually not just about laziness or habits.
During times of stress, people often procrastinate because they are trying to solve an internal problem through avoidance. And this can make the situation worse in the long run. So if you feel like you are procrastinating unintentionally, here are 4 ways that will help you overcome or avoid procrastinating:
- Recognize that your stress is a problem. The more you are aware of your stress, the more likely you will be to solve it.
- Learn how to help yourself think differently about procrastination. For example, if you're too anxious and stressed out, it might be helpful to learn how to relax and let go of any feelings of worry or fear in order to turn off the interference from these emotions and focus on solving your problem at hand.
- Have a plan and structure to manage your time better. This can be as simple as scheduling your work, or it might be more complex, like delegating chunks of the work to other people. Either way, a structure will allow you to work towards a goal in advance and create more realistic expectations.
- Lastly, look at procrastination in a positive light. Give yourself the time to be distracted, so you can go back to your task with some satisfaction. This way you are setting a finish line to your procrastination.
The bottom line is, don't be too hard on yourself when you are procrastinating. So, live in the moment, procrastinate away, but set a finish line to it. Use the time to acknowledge the real reasons behind your procrastination.
Photo by @felipepelaquim on Unsplash
