3 Things Your Mom Never Told You About Procrastination and Why You Need to Change Your Mindset Now
As pandemic days blur into one another and we progressively lose our sense of time, could we benefit from allowing ourselves more procrastination? The word itself is harsh, filled with judgements of laziness and lack of productivity, effectiveness, follow through. What if we could hack procrastination so it served us? What if permission to procrastinate were all we needed to boost our productivity?
I recall one day when I was a teenager dragging my feet to the kitchen late one morning, and a long-time friend of the family boasted about being up since five, counselling me to never put off until tomorrow what I could do today. I honestly could not identify with her early-to-rise lifestyle, nor her advice. It did impact me though, and ever since, I’ve carried guilt that rises up, like for so many of us, every time I put something off until later. The self reproach seeps through even when I marvel at how some things, those unimportant enough and lacking urgency, just disappear and never come back when you set them aside.
It’s a vicious circle. We get caught up in should dos and must dos. We get anxious when we are late or haven’t fulfilled everyone’s expectations. And as the anxiety rises, oddly, our mind wonders. We procrastinate when something is hard or thankless. The next distraction throws us off track. One more task gets added to the lengthy “to do later” list that has a quality of quick sand to it.
We all do it. There has to be more than laziness or bad time management involved.
Why Do People Procrastinate So Much?
My inner procrastinator is queen of self-deception—anything to not see the consequences of ignoring the task in front of me. Sometimes she’s self-defeating, drunk on fear of failure, protecting me from judgement and self condemnation. She gets very caught up in cleaning the desk, or organising tasks (!), and never feels unproductive.
Some consider procrastination a failure of executive function, an inability to plan ahead and prioritize. Others describe it as a stress-avoidance mechanism. Genetics and evolution also get blame—as early humans focused on short-term survival and impulse—so do lack of self-control, low self confidence, anxiety, lack of structure, low motivation.
Okay, okay, I get it. Still, I’m thinking that if we all do it so much, maybe we can stop judging and make the most of it.
Procrastinate on Purpose?
What if procrastination were a signal to listen to? What if it didn’t mean we were lazy, lacking in self esteem, unmotivated, structureless?
What if my wandering mind were just telling me it needed a break?
Or that I could do this better at another time of day?
Or that I need to chunk it into smaller bits to be effective?
Or simply that this work bores me and I need to either delegate or spice it up?
Proponents of “productive” procrastination suggest that the subsequent guilt keeps the task front of mind stimulating creativity. They encourage a shift away from blind focus on productivity. They promote delaying work so tight deadlines motivate completion. Are you one to work better under pressure?
Tim Pychyl, a psychology professor and director of the Procrastination Research Group at Carleton University, says procrastination is “usually harmful, sometimes harmless, but never helpful.”
He does, however, specify that if delaying what you have to do is deliberate and the outcomes are positive, it’s not procrastination, but “purposeful delay.”
With our brains wired to shift our attention to the slightest distraction, purposefully delaying could certainly benefit from some intentionality and awareness.
Here are a few questions that could help when the urge to procrastinate arises:
What am I afraid of or anxious about? Is it true? What is the worst case scenario?
Can I break this down into smaller tasks and get something accomplished on it at regular intervals?
Are the consequences greater than the rewards of instant gratification?
Will a tighter deadline give me a helpful kick in the bum?
Could my creative mind use some time to simmer?
Hacking Procrastination
Use mental imagery. Research has shown that using mental imagery focusing on a future self with empathy actually reduces procrastination. Concretely, this means you vividly imagine yourself getting tasks done throughout the day. At the end of the day, you can review your day like an athlete reviews a performance. See it in your mind. What went well? What didn’t? See it all again doing things as you would ideally have liked them done.
Shift your mindset. Rather than judge your procrastination, ask what it’s trying to tell you. Similarly, rather than focusing on time management, think about energy management, particularly with regards to your drive to procrastinate. A third mindset adjustment revolves around raising the significance of what you are doing—give it meaning related to your values and identity rather than your work schedule or someone else’s agenda.
Know your peak times. I’m a great proponent of deep self knowledge, and when it comes to procrastination, this comes in handy. We all have different schedules and rhythms and sometimes we procrastinate because it’s just not the right time of day. Evidence suggests that our ability to avoid distractions varies with our circadian rhythm. And that in itself changes across our life span. Research suggests that older adults tend to achieve peak performance on memory and cognitive inhibition tasks in the morning, while younger adults tend to achieve peak performance in the afternoon. Ambition and self confidence also seem to peak early in the day. That said, we all have different rhythms. Dr. Michael Breus wrote a book called The Power of When that details four different chronotypes and when they best do different tasks throughout the day. It’s a useful guideline to get started. The key is to be aware of what works for you, own it and use it to your best advantage.
“Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task.”