Procrastination: Why do we do it and what to do about it?

“You may delay, but time will not.”
― Benjamin Franklin

Procrastination certainly isn't a new problem that many of us face, but it sure is becoming easier to do it with the many daily distractions literally at our fingertips.

I had my own run-in with procrastination recently (wasn't the first and I'm sure it won't be my last) and as I often do...I got curious about why humans do this.

I began to look at my own patterns with procrastination and then turned to the very definition of the word and this is where I totally geeked out...Stay with me for a second...

The word originated from the Latin verb procrastinare — which means to put off until tomorrow. Digging deeper, I found that it is also derived from the Greek word akrasia- which is acting against one's better judgment.

This is where it started to get interesting for me.

According to the research of Joseph Ferrari, a professor of psychology at DePaul University, as many as 20% of people may be chronic procrastinators.

So why are so many of us participating in an activity that we know isn't good for us? There is one reason (and laziness nor poor time management skills are it):

Procrastination is a way of coping when we don't know how or aren't fully able to deal with the negative emotions we associate with a particular task or project. These emotions can be anything from confusion, fear, boredom, anxiety, awkwardness, and/or shame.

The good news is that there is a solution. But this isn't a quick fix as this solution involves learning how to manage our emotions, not how to manage our calendars.

First, we need to dig deeper with ourselves to explore why we feel the emotions we do about a particular task. Does the task make us feel bored? Does it make us scared that we're not smart enough? Does it make us worry about what other people will think of our work? Whatever those emotions are for us...the first step to overcoming procrastination is to understand the WHY behind the emotions.

Once we have done that, then we can actually start to replace those negative emotions with positive ones. This certainly can sound easier said than done, but the trick here is to remember that the reality is that the negative emotions we attach to tasks are often purely assumptions that WE make up. They are the much-less-than-kind stories we tell ourselves and so we get to decide what story is told.

When we can replace negative emotions with positive ones, we can finally begin to move away from the coping mechanism that is procrastination and start finding better rewards for ourselves than just avoiding the task at that moment (and more accurately, the emotion attached to it). 

Notably, the most effective rewards will be the ones that YOU decide are best for you. This can be simply exercising self-compassion by treating ourselves with love and kindness in the face of difficulty or it can be thinking about how proud you will feel when the task is complete.

Additionally, it would be helpful to think of the task in several action steps that don't necessarily have to be done all at once. This is especially helpful if you have been a chronic procrastinator and are starting to work your way out of that habit. By thinking of the tasks as multiple actions that may or may not necessarily be linked together all at once, you help to ease the natural pressure that comes with completing a task. BONUS- more often than not, you'll find that by just beginning a small action, momentum builds and you'll naturally fall into a rhythm and flow.

This brings me to my final tip (likely what sparked this topic in the first place): what role do distractions play in procrastination? As we've learned, it's part of the issue but it's definitely not the root cause. Nonetheless, set yourself up for success and reduce your distractions so you're not tempted. If checking email has become more numbing that productive, turn off notifications. If homelife has a way of pulling you away from a task (I understand this one all too well!), then get out of the house for a period of time to work on the task. If checking social media has become compulsory, then commit to turning your phone off for an hour while you focus on your task (after you read this blog of course, ha!) Whatever the distractions are, get familiar with them and then make it harder for them to pull you away.

Just remember that you're not alone in this. Being vulnerable to procrastination is something many of us face. Just by reading this and (hopefully) talking about it, we can all peel back the curtain to have more open and honest conversations with not only ourselves but with others about how we can move towards living not only a more productive life but more importantly, a more fulfilled one.

Now, if you'll excuse me...I'm going to put away my laundry from the weekend :)