You know you’ve got things to do. But instead… you’re cleaning out your sock drawer. Or deep into a scroll hole in the name of finding inspiration for your next holiday.
Dear procrastinator, you’re not alone. A whopping 88% of us admit to procrastinating for at least an hour every day. So, why do we put things off and how can we stop?
Why do we procrastinate?
Short answer: our brains are wired for comfort, not discomfort. That task you’ve been avoiding? It probably feels overwhelming, boring, or just hard. So we reach for the quick hit instead: Instagram, snack drawer, group chat. Things that give us mini dopamine kicks to ease the pain of doing something we don’t want to do.
Sometimes a little procrastination can be a good thing. It gives our brains time to percolate on an idea. Procrastinating for a short period of time whilst the task is in the back of your mind, can actually generate more creative thoughts. But most of the time, it just fuels stress. We feel procrastination-guilt and end up putting ourselves under more pressure to complete a task.
Here’s what’s usually going on behind the scenes:
5 reasons you’re procrastinating
There’s a few reasons you might be putting off tasks. Depending on the task and your personality type, you might be procrastinating for these reasons:
- Fear of failure You’d rather not do it, than do it badly. “If I don’t try, I can’t mess it up.”
- The task is boring The task doesn’t fulfil you or you don’t believe in its value. You’d rather watch paint dry than open that spreadsheet.
- You “work better under pressure” You think you work better with a deadline. But do you? Or do you just panic and power through?
- The task is too hard You’re not sure where to start, you have to learn how to do it first, or you’re not confident in your ability.
- Distractions everywhere Slack, news apps, notifications - all prying for your attention.
What type of procrastinator are you?
Procrastination is said to waste 55 days a year for the average worker. Yikes. There are 5 different types of procrastinator, can you spot which type you are?
1. The perfectionist
It has to be perfect, or it’s not done. You obsess over the minor details or the process being executed perfectly. The fear of doing the task to a low standard means you’d rather not do it.
2. The under-pressure pro
You work better when you have a strict deadline, so you’ll leave things to the last minute so you can focus better. You end up rushing, feeling stressed and promising “next time I’ll start this earlier”.
3. The dreamer
You love coming up with ideas… but the follow-through? Not so much. You enjoy the process of planning for a task, or love the novelty of a new one. You’re highly creative but you struggle in following through and tick it off to-do list.
4. The fun seeker
Life is for living and that dreaded task can wait because there are more fun things to be doing. You find the task boring or uncomfortable to complete so you’d rather do something more interesting.
5. The busy bee
Your calendar’s rammed, but nothing important is getting done. You’re confusing being busy with being productive. You’re postponing tasks because you don’t know which is best to tackle first.
6. The productive procrastinator
You don’t choose to procrastinate with aimless tasks or scrolling, you choose other tasks that you deem productive but they’re not the tasks you need to do. You tick off tasks from a list but they’re not of high importance.
7. The revenge procrastinator
There is a productivity culture in the western world: we must be productive all the time or we’re not successful. Revenge procrastinators are fight back and put things off to spend their time how they want to. You might put off sleep with a bedtime scroll because you simply don’t want to be productive *all the time*.
How to stop procrastinating
Whatever type of avoider you are, there’s plenty of habits to build that can help you overcome task-avoiding.
1. Work in short intervals with the Promodoro technique
Set a timer for 25 minutes of uninterrupted work. When the timer goes off, reward yourself with a 5 minute break. Repeat. This tricks your brain into starting the task and motivates you with a reward.
Try Promodor web timer instead of your phone.
2. Remove distractions
Set up your workspace without distractions. Turn off notifications, leave your phone in another room and close the 435 tabs that you don’t need. Better yet, take total tech free time on a digital detox.
3. Set yourself a deadline
If your brain prefers urgency, set a deadline for yourself and stick to it. Even better, set that deadline in a public setting. Add it to a shared calendar or tell your colleague you’ll deliver the first draft by a certain date.
4. Make it easier to start
Don’t think about finishing the task, just start it. Write one sentence. Open the doc. Lay out your gym clothes. Make it easier for you to start the task by doing all the above. Progress is better perfection.
5. Try the 3-2-1 method
If your brain gets in the way of starting a task, give yourself a countdown. The 3-2-1 technique is as it sounds. When you feel stuck, or you don’t want to do something, you mentally (or verbally) count down from three: 3… 2… 1… and go.
Reminder that done is better than perfect
Done is better than perfect. It’s also better for your stress and anxiety levels. Procrastinating makes us stressed, and stress isn’t good for our health. Usually, once you finally tackle the task you realise it wasn’t that hard. Try to work out what type of tasks you’re procrastinating on, then talk to your future self and acknowledge how much better you’ll feel about getting it done.
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