Delaying the task until it reaches the last day is becoming common practice these days. We are all addicted to procrastination, despite knowing that it has the potential to ruin our efforts within minutes.
Procrastination is a mental illness where one deliberately delays the task until the end, despite having an idea of the negative consequences of it. Procrastination is destroying our young generation, especially students who find it interesting to submit their assignments at the last moment. No, it is not a good habit because a habit developed in academic life will continue into professional life. Professional life with procrastination means you start your career with a loss.
The Psychology of Procrastination:
Here we will discuss some common things that govern our mind to follow procrastination:
- Temporal Discounting:
According to Dr. Piers Steel, a leading researcher in the field of procrastination, “temporal discounting is a natural tendency of the human mind. The brain favors short-term rewards, making it challenging for individuals to resist the temptation of procrastination.”
As explained above, it is inbuilt in human nature that we are impatient and lack mindfulness. The notion of the present distracts us from the worry of the future, but insightful minds are those that revert it and create a balance between the present and the future.
Are you thinking about how it leads to procrastination? Let me explain:
Well, you have 10 days to submit your assignment or project. What will be your first introduction?
If you think that there is plenty of time to do it, then you are also a procrastinator. Because you feel relieved, in spite of thinking that I should start easily and finish it before time.
Temporal discounting makes you insensitive about future consequences and shifts your focus toward the present only. All in all, a completely ignorant scenario is created.
- Fear of Failure and Perfectionism:
Do you know that perfectionism will also lead to procrastination?
A growth mindset accepts failure and learns from it. But a perfectionist will delay his task due to anxiety associated with meeting their exceptionally high standards. Thus, fear of failure is a significant contributor to procrastination.
Dr. Gordon Flett, a psychologist specializing in perfectionism, notes, “Perfectionists often procrastinate as a way to avoid the possibility of making mistakes, which can be paralyzing.”
Well, this type of procrastination mentally exhausts you as you keep on working on the same thing and revising it over and over again instead of checking its credibility by submitting the result or completing the task. Thus, it requires mental therapy, where you prepare your mind for failure. Accepting failure with grace is also a legacy of successful people.
Read more: What Can Failure Teach Us?
- Impaired Time Management and Decision-Making:
Manage your time before time manages you. A well-written quote that explains procrastination in a nutshell.
Sometimes we overestimate our abilities and plan according to them. But in the end, we realize that time is not enough. Thus, wrong calculations will leave us in a dreadful situation. In some cases, we have the plan in our minds but fail to execute it, which indicates our imperfect decision-making.
Thus, perfect planning and execution at the right time can save us from procrastination.
Dr. Joseph Ferrari, a psychologist renowned for his work on time perspective, emphasizes that “individuals who struggle with procrastination often lack effective time-management strategies. They may underestimate the time required for a task or overestimate their ability to complete it quickly.”
- Emotional Factors
We perform tasks based on our interests, a special emotional connection that motivates us to complete the work diligently. But what happens when we do not like our work?
This scenario is common in professional practice, where we have to perform irrespective of our choices. In these situations, we procrastinate because the emotional factor is missing in our task. We try to avoid it as much as possible because our minds are not ready to work on it.
Also, many negative emotions occur in our minds, like I cannot do this task; it’s not my forte; or how will I do it?
Is it not funny that we assume everything without trying it?
Yes, these intrusive thoughts compel us to procrastinate our task and suffer more in the end. So protect yourself from these mind tricks and find any emotional relevance in your work. If do not find any, then perform it without concerning about output. In the end, you will feel proud of yourself that at least you tried, rather than sitting back and procrastinating.
Conclusion
Procrastination is a game of mind; control your thoughts to control procrastination. By knowing the psychology behind it, you can better strategize a plan on how to overcome it. Whether you require self-discipline or a better timetable, you will realize all the things after reading the article. Procrastination is curable, but consistency is its medicine.
