MENTAL HEALTH: Recognising the signs of procrastination

Procrastination is something that you are likely to have experienced at one point or another. If you’ve found yourself putting a certain task on the long finger and focusing your attention on another perhaps less important one, you’re not alone. Put simply, procrastination is an act of postponing or delaying a task until the last minute or even past a deadline. Whilst you are aware that there could be potentially negative consequences to this you find yourself going ahead against your better judgement. It is not an extremely serious problem however it can have a significant impact on various aspects of your life. If you have a curiosity about what causes procrastination for you or how you can leave it all behind, continue on.

The present bias is one phenomenon that may lead to procrastination. It relates to the fact that we can be more motivated and focused on a goal when there is immediate gratification. The present self’s desires can take precedence over what would be beneficial in the long term due to the temptation of instant reward. When procrastination takes hold, it can make a task seem insurmountable. This build up can put you in a place where you genuinely don’t know where to start in tackling the project or extreme doubt with regards to your abilities. In turn this makes it easier for you to put the task off because you convince yourself that you don’t know how to do it or are waiting for the right moment for it to fall into place. Maybe then you will begin thinking what is the point in starting now when there is little chance you will complete the task before the deadline?

Fortunately there are a number of ways in which you can help yourself to limit procrastination. A first step is to recognise the signs of procrastination. If you spot yourself going down this route, acknowledge it and try to understand where it is coming from. In addition to the causes mentioned above, do you have a belief that you work better under pressure or do you tell yourself that it doesn’t matter whether it gets done or not? Making a distinction between the belief that is driving your procrastination makes it possible to challenge it. It would be useful also to turn off any sources of distraction such as app notifications so that you can remain focused. If lists are your thing, then implement them and break your task into smaller and achievable steps. You will feel a sense of accomplishment and pride as you begin to work through them.

The motivation and confidence speaker Mel Robbins acclaimed ‘5 Second Rule’ may also be an asset. She advocates to take action within 5 seconds when you feel an instinct or desire to act on a goal before your mental habits come into play. Counting backwards from 5 can potentially eliminate self-doubt setting in and instead keep your instinct to change alive and tangible. Whilst the above might be helpful in recognising when your procrastination tendencies are prominent and you hopefully are more confident in overcoming them, it doesn’t mean that these inclinations will just disappear. Rather you should aim to hinder their ability to negatively affect your life. As has surely become apparent by now, it is not a sign of laziness or poor time management skills and is not your fault. I’m hopeful that as the concept receives more traction it will become something that others (colleagues, managers, teachers etc) can understand as a real and common experience. Okay here goes, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 ….