How to turn procrastination into productivity

What is procrastination?

Procrastination refers to intentionally putting off tasks until the last minute, whether that’s ignoring a work deadline or school assignment, neglecting household chores or avoiding an uncomfortable conversation that needs to be had. Instead of focusing on the task at hand, a procrastinator will occupy themselves with trivial pursuits, like watching Netflix, playing Wordle or online shopping. These activities initially start off as an innocent pastime but they can quickly become a time trap as you spend hours scrolling on social media or gaming and ignore your promise of “just one more…”. While procrastination on its own is not a serious problem, if left unchecked it can become a productivity-killer and negatively impact different aspects of your life. This is why some researchers define procrastination as a “form of self-regulation failure characterized by the irrational delay of tasks despite potentially negative consequences” (1).

What do people procrastinate about?

As you can see from the diagram below, people can procrastinate about pretty much any task. However, there might be certain areas in life, such as work, health or home life, where a person has a greater tendency to procrastinate. 

What causes procrastination?

While there is no single reason why people procrastinate, below is a list of some of the factors that can contribute to it:

1) Perfectionism & fear of failure

According to some researchers, procrastination is linked to perfectionism and a fear of failure (2,3). Perfectionism is the “tendency to demand of others or of oneself an extremely high or even flawless level of performance, in excess of what is required by the situation” (American Psychological Association). The problem is that when people demand such unrealistic things of themselves, they often predict that they will fail or others will judge them negatively when they fall short (“If I try, I will fail” or “If I don’t do it perfectly, others will think badly of me”). Consequently, they might experience anxiety and they may use procrastination as a way of avoiding their fear of failure and protecting their self-image. However, the researcher Dr Piers Steel argues that procrastinators are in fact less likely, rather than more likely, to be perfectionists (4).

2) Low self-esteem

Instead, Steel believes that it is low self-esteem and low self-efficacy that underlie procrastination (4). Low self-esteem is when one believes that failure is a reflection of their inadequacy as a person (“If I try, people will see how inadequate I am”) while low self-efficacy is when one doubts their ability to do well (“I can’t do this task because I’m incapable”). Both of these types of people have a strong fear of failure and they use procrastination as a way of keeping their supposed inadequacies and incapabilities in the dark. As a result, they never put themselves in situations in which they can challenge themselves and see what they are truly made of.

3) Fear of uncertainty & the unknown

Another fear that can lead to procrastination is that of the unknown. As humans, most people crave knowing what lies ahead so that they can prepare accordingly and increase their chances of success. When that’s not possible, these people may catastrophise as a way of preparing for the worst-case scenarios (“I must be 100% certain before deciding” or “I should be prepared for the worst possible outcome''). So when faced with tasks or decisions that have a degree of uncertainty, these people procrastinate to avoid their fears that something unknown or catastrophic will happen. Their inaction provides them with temporary relief and certainty as nothing changes. Some researchers have suggested that these individuals might have experienced insecure attachment to their caregivers at an early age and this increased their likelihood of procrastinating later in life (5).

4) Pleasure seeking

However, not all procrastination is fear-based. For some individuals, procrastination results from impulsivity and pleasure-seeking. These people generally prioritise instant gratification over long-term responsibilities and fulfilment (“life is too short to be spent on boring chores'' or “I can’t let this fun activity pass me by''). As a result, when they perceive a task as boring or difficult, such as homework, projects or household chores, they will quickly push it to the side so that they can seek out a more pleasurable activity instead. Pleasure seekers might also believe that they need to feel inspired or motivated to work on a task, however, this means that they are rarely in the “right” frame of mind to tackle unenjoyable activities.

5) Dodging discomfort

Dodging discomfort is like the mirror image of pleasure-seeking. Instead of procrastination being driven by a desire for immediate gratification, discomfort dodgers procrastinate to avoid uncomfortable feelings. These individuals often struggle to tolerate the feelings, such as boredom, frustration or anxiety, that are triggered by the task at hand so they use procrastination as an escape.

6) Mental health challenges

Lastly, procrastination can arise when someone is experiencing mental health difficulties, such as depression or anxiety. For example, the symptoms of depression, including hopelessness, helplessness and lethargy can make it very difficult to start even the simplest of tasks. Depression and anxiety are often associated with low self-esteem which can make someone doubt their abilities and make them worry about others’ judgment. As described in point 2, low self-worth and low self-efficacy can drive procrastination as a way of avoiding uncomfortable outcomes. Lastly, difficulties concentrating and making decisions are also very common across mental health disorders and neurodevelopmental conditions which can get in the way of starting and completing tasks. 

I’m a procrastinator. So what?

Although procrastination can offer people short-term relief, the long-term consequences are generally negative. This is particularly the case when procrastination becomes chronic and occurs routinely in one or more areas of a person’s life. Below are some of the consequences of chronic procrastination:

• Higher stress (9)

• Reduced sleep quality (10, 11)

• Poorer physical health and fewer positive health behaviours (9,10)

• Lower psychological wellbeing and life satisfaction (4, 10)

• Worse performance (12)

• Decreased financial wellbeing, resulting from lower salaries, greater unemployment and poorer financial habits (13, 14)

Fortunately, there are things you can do to overcome procrastination and its negative consequences.

Tips for turning procrastination into productivity

There are many strategies you can use to stop procrastinating and become more productive. However, to prevent this blog post from turning into a book, I’ve selected 5 strategies that address different aspects of the procrastination process from starting tasks to maintaining the motivation to see them through.

1) Adjusting unhelpful beliefs

As we saw above, procrastination is often the result of unhelpful beliefs, such as “I must not fail” or “I should be prepared for the worst”. Therefore, the first step in becoming more productive is to identify and challenge these beliefs so that they don’t continue to trip you. Here is a short self-reflection exercise to guide you through the process:

1. What is the belief that you would like to adjust?

2. What are the negative consequences of having this belief?

3. In what way might this belief be unrealistic or unhelpful?

4. What is a more helpful alternative belief?

5. What actions can you take to put this new belief into practice?

Below is a worked example and remember that this might take a couple of tries before you get the hang of it. After all, it takes time and practice to shift beliefs, especially if they’re deeply ingrained.

2) Prioritised to-do lists

Making a to-do list of all the tasks you need to work on can help you stay on track. This is particularly the case when you have a big workload or lots of responsibilities which leave you feeling overwhelmed and not knowing where to start. By creating a daily or weekly list, you get an overview of all the things that you need to do and you can then start to prioritise your tasks. A great tool for doing this is the Eisenhower Matrix which helps rank tasks based on their level of urgency and importance. Once you have your list organised in order of priority it makes it a lot easier to know where to start and keeps you focused on working on one task at a time.

3) Task chunking

Once you’ve identified which task you want to work on it can help to chunk it into smaller, more manageable pieces. This is especially helpful if the task at hand is complex or substantial because by breaking it down into smaller chunks it becomes less daunting and makes it easier for you to start. Another benefit of chunking is that you can tick off each of the smaller steps once you have completed them which can help you stay motivated and visualise your progress. Lastly, when it comes to the size of the chunks that is really up to you but they can be as small as 5 minutes. Even the greatest discomfort dodgers are generally able to tolerate 5 minutes and at the end of this chunk, you can decide whether you are able to do another 5 minutes. You might even surprise yourself with how far you’re able to get into the task by breaking it down and getting started.

4) Reduce distractions & reconfigure your environment

For the pleasure seeks and discomfort dodgers out there distractions, are one of the biggest killers of productivity. If you find yourself often tempted away from your to-do list, start by identifying your greatest sources of distraction, whether that’s social media, phone or laptop notifications or things in your environment. Then find ways of eliminating or reducing these sources of distraction, for example by turning off your electronic devices, wearing noise-cancelling headphones or creating a clutter-free workspace. This definitely takes some discipline but seeing what you can accomplish when you’re focused might just be worth it!

5) Reward yourself

Last but not least, reward yourself for your progress! This is crucial if you want to maintain motivation and build sustainable work habits. While these rewards can be anything that you find enjoyable, the key is to make them guilt-free by enjoying them in your breaks and making them contingent on you completing tasks. For example, instead of procrastinating by DMing your friends on Instagram, give your friend a call once you have ticked off a task. Another thing to try is rewarding yourself along the way, for example after every chunk you tick off, rather than only once a big task has been completed. Regular rewards can make the benefits of long-term decisions, such as filing your taxes or working on your thesis, more immediate. Another advantage of regular rewards is that they stop you from feeling deprived which makes it easier to avoid procrastinating, especially if you’re a pleasure seeker that tends to prioritise immediate gratification.

Resources

James Clear has written an in-depth article about procrastination and strategies for overcoming it Procrastination: A Scientific Guide on How to Stop Procrastinating

The Centre for Clinical Interventions has an entire self-help workbook called ‘Putt Off Procrastinating’

References

1. Prem, R., Scheel, T. E., Weigelt, O., Hoffmann, K., & Korunka, C. (2018). Procrastination in daily working life: A diary study on within-person processes that link work characteristics to workplace procrastination. Frontiers in psychology, 9, 1087.

2. P. Sederlund, A., R. Burns, L., & Rogers, W. (2020). Multidimensional models of perfectionism and procrastination: seeking determinants of both. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(14), 5099.

3. Jadidi, F., Mohammadkhani, S., & Tajrishi, K. Z. (2011). Perfectionism and academic procrastination. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 30, 534-537.

4. Steel, P. (2007). The nature of procrastination: a meta-analytic and theoretical review of quintessential self-regulatory failure. Psychological bulletin, 133(1), 65.

5. Woo, V. M. W., & Yeo, K. J. (2019). Parenting Styles and Procrastination Behaviors. International Journal of Engineering and Advanced Technology, 8, 1007-1013.

6. Chen, B.B., 2017. Parent-adolescent attachment and procrastination: The mediating role of self-worth. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 178(4), pp.238-245.

7. Wypych, M., Matuszewski, J., & Dragan, W. Ł. (2018). Roles of impulsivity, motivation, and emotion regulation in procrastination–path analysis and comparison between students and non-students. Frontiers in psychology, 9, 891.

8. Harrington, N., 2005. It’s too difficult! Frustration intolerance beliefs and procrastination. Personality and Individual Differences, 39(5), pp.873-883.

9. Sirois, F. M., Melia-Gordon, M. L., & Pychyl, T. A. (2003). “I'll look after my health, later”: An investigation of procrastination and health. Personality and individual differences, 35(5), 1167-1184.

10. Sirois, F. M., & Pychyl, T. A. (Eds.). (2016). Procrastination, health, and well-being. Academic Press.

11. Sirois, F. M., van Eerde, W., & Argiropoulou, M. I. (2015). Is procrastination related to sleep quality? Testing an application of the procrastination–health model. Cogent Psychology, 2(1), 1074776.

12. Kim, K. R., & Seo, E. H. (2015). The relationship between procrastination and academic performance: A meta-analysis. Personality and Individual Differences, 82, 26-33.

13. Nguyen, B., Steel, P., & Ferrari, J. R. (2013). Procrastination's impact in the workplace and the workplace's impact on procrastination. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 21(4), 388-399.

14. Gamst-Klaussen, T., Steel, P., & Svartdal, F. (2019). Procrastination and personal finances: Exploring the roles of planning and financial self-efficacy. Frontiers in psychology, 10, 775.