WHY We Procrastinate ? Steps to OVERCOME It.

Procrastination is nothing but an act of postponing a task that needs to be accomplished. It is the practice of doing more pleasurable things in place of less pleasurable ones, thus putting off impending tasks to a later time. Sometimes, procrastination takes place until the "last minute" before a deadline. Procrastination can take hold on any aspect of life — putting off cleaning the stove, repairing a leaky roof, seeing a doctor or dentist, submitting a job report or academic assignment or broaching a stressful issue with a partner. Procrastination can lead to feelings of guilt, inadequacy, depression and self-doubt.

Psychologists call this phenomenon negative reinforcement. "Negative" because the reward comes from not having an aversive experience and "reinforcement" because it makes the behavior (in this case, delaying) more likely in the future.

In a study performed on university students, procrastination was shown to be greater on tasks that were perceived as unpleasant or as impositions than on tasks for which the student believed he or she lacked the required skills for accomplishing the task. The pleasure principle may be responsible for procrastination, one may prefer to avoid negative emotions, and to delay stressful tasks.

We procrastinate in one of the following ways-

· Avoidance: Avoiding the location or situation where the task takes place (e.g. a  student avoiding the coaching classes).

· Denial and trivialization: Pretending that procrastinatory behavior is not actually procrastinating, but rather a task which is more important than the avoided one, or that the essential task that should be done is not of immediate importance.

· Distraction: Engaging or immersing in other behaviors or actions to prevent awareness of the task (e.g. intensive video game playing or web browsing).

· Descending counterfactuality: Comparing a life situation with others who have it worse (e.g. "Yes, I procrastinated and got a B− in the course, but I didn't fail like one other student did.")

· Valorisation: Pointing in satisfaction to what one achieved in the meantime while one should have been doing something else.

· Blaming: Delusional attributions to external factors, such as rationalizing that the procrastination is due to external forces beyond one's control (e.g. "I'm not procrastinating, but this assignment is tough.")

· Mocking: Using humor to validate one's procrastination. The person uses slapstick or slipshod methods to criticize others' striving towards the goal as funny.

         

To a certain degree it is normal to procrastinate and it can be regarded as a useful way to identify what is important, due to a lower tendency of procrastination on truly valued tasks (for most people). On the other hand, excessive procrastination can become a problem and impede normal functioning.

Perfectionism is a prime cause for procrastination, because demanding perfection usually results in failure. Unrealistic expectations destroy self-esteem and lead to self-repudiation, self-contempt, and widespread unhappiness. To overcome procrastination, it is essential to recognize and accept the power of failure without condemning, to stop focusing on faults and flaws and to set goals that are easier to achieve.

Steps to overcome Procrastination-

1.    Create manageable pieces. A mammoth task can feel daunting because of the amount work involved and because we're not sure how to go about it. The first part of the task is actually making your plan for how to do it, because it's exponentially easier to take the first step when it's modest and clearly defined. 
 

2.    Decide to start. We often delay starting a task because we're not exactly sure how to. Sometimes I delay responding to an email, for example, because I'm not sure what I to say. As with creating a plan of attack, figuring out how to do the task is part of the work. We may never get started if we put off a task until we know how to do it, but we can generally find a way to complete it once we decide to jump in.  
 

3.  Make space. Think about the conditions you work best in, then aim to create those conditions. Most likely this includes having a suitable physical space in which to work, such as a comfortable desk for reading. It probably also includes creating the necessary mental space by removing unnecessary distractions (e.g., email notifications, text messages).
 

4.    Set alarms and reminders. When we're avoiding a task, it's easy to forget to do it. We're much more likely to do something when we've set aside a specific time to do it and have put it in our calendar with an alarm. Notice the little lies the brain tells us, such as, "I'll do that in five minutes," after an alarm goes off. Aim to complete the task right away; if you have to finish something else first, make sure you set another alarm so you'll come back to it.
 

5.  Build in accountability. Telling at least one person about our plan to complete a specific task by a certain date can raise our odds of doing it, if only to avoid the discomfort of being asked why we haven't. We can also be more accountable to ourselves by writing down our plans and checking things off as we complete them.
 

6. Reward yourself. In addition to feeling the satisfaction of having completed something, we can also motivate ourselves with small rewards for meeting a goal. The specifics will depend on the individual and might include snacks, entertainment, or socializing. And take care not to choose a reward with a high likelihood of further distracting you (e.g., surfing the web, playing video games).
 

7.     Practice acceptance. It's difficult to change our habits, and accepting that it's hard work can go a long way toward increasing your willingness to do it. Remind yourself why you wanted to procrastinate less, and how uncomfortable you're willing to be in the short term to feel better in the long term.

We're often not very good at predicting what's going to make us happy; we typically lack the imagination to know just how satisfying it will feel to complete something. So the next time you finish a task, notice how you feel. 

You might also pay attention to how much you enjoy your leisure activities when you're not avoiding something vs. when you're procrastinating. By reinforcing our awareness of the upsides of task completion, we make it easier to continue taking care of things.

References

Gillihan, S. J. (2016). Retrain your brain: Cognitive behavioral therapy in 7 weeks—a workbook for managing depression and anxiety. Berkeley, CA: Althea Press.