How to stop putting off work: What causes procrastination?
By: Callum Denault
Published on: November 8th, 2024
Many people often find themselves gravitating toward other activities instead of completing a task that needs to be done. Or taking a prolonged break in the middle of an important assignment.
While everyone deserves an occasional break, for some, scrolling on Instagram can lead to hours of wasted time. It could also result in incomplete work or an unsatisfying end to a day.
This phenomenon of continuously putting off work that needs to be done is known as procrastination. Procrastination is the act of turning a well-deserved break into a prolonged one that leads to unfinished work.
While taking a break from work can clear one’s mind, procrastination can lead to stressful consequences. The prolonged nature of the break often creates worry as individuals grow anxious thinking about all the work they are not doing.
Illustrated are the common causes of procrastination and some strategies to meet deadlines.
Causes of procrastination
Very Well Health lists six types of procrastination: perfectionists, dreamers, over-doers, worriers, deniers, and crisis-makers. These different types of procrastination outline causes and mechanisms but still lead to delayed work.
These six types are typically divided into two categories: people with difficulties reaching desired results or those who create reasons to avoid work.
Perfectionist procrastinators place high expectations of themselves and put off work out of fear they will not live up to the standards of others.
Similarly, dreamers have big ambitions but do not have realistic plans to reach their goals. Likewise, over-doers — also known as busy bees — are bad at setting achievable goals and struggle to manage their priorities.
Worriers fear change and avoid taking risks, while deniers make excuses for why they are putting off work. Crisis-makers self-sabotage, deliberately or subconsciously, and try to cause disasters at the last minute to give them a reason to put off their latest task.
Scrolling addiction: When browsing social media wastes half a day
One form of procrastination which is all too common in today’s world is scrolling on social media apps like YouTube, Instagram, Reddit, X (formerly Twitter), and TikTok. While it is perfectly fine to engage with social media, procrastinators may find themselves being distracted from important tasks.
The reason social media can be such a distraction is because of the psychological dependency it can create in users. While the internet is not a drug that causes users to become physically dependent on it, it can create psychological dependency similar to dangerous substances.
This is called behavioural addiction, which is separate from substance-abuse addiction that can lead to withdrawal symptoms. Behavioural addictions can form out of any action people enjoy to the point they cannot stop, including gambling, playing video games, and browsing the internet.
After conducting studies involving over 6,000 people, Harvard Business Review found three reasons why scrolling on social media is such an addictive time waster. The first reason clearly suggests that the more videos a person watches, the more likely they will want to continue watching. For instance, someone who watched a single video is 10 per cent less likely to keep scrolling than someone who watched five in a row.
The researchers’ second finding was labelling videos under the same category makes people 21 per cent more likely to keep scrolling. Videos are often categorized like this because content creators know users are less likely to keep scrolling if they do not find similar videos.
Finally, Harvard Business Review found that large, uninterrupted binges of videos are worse than multiple, smaller breaks taking up the same amount of time. People who take long breaks while using social media are 22 per cent more likely to keep scrolling than those who use it for short intervals.
In an interview with The Guardian, Anna Lembke, a world-leading expert in addiction studies, called smartphones “the modern-day hypodermic needle.” She said that even though scientific concepts like dopamine were only discovered recently, people’s minds are hardwired to seek pleasure and joy.
Smartphones — and the apps they connect us to — have let people constantly indulge in quick hits of entertainment, distraction, validation, and attention through social media.
Lembke explains that this behavioural addiction results in people constantly interrupting themselves, preventing them from focusing long enough on a task to get into a creative flow.
How to stop procrastinating
Just as there are different types of procrastination, there are also different ways to manage them. For instance, over-doers can try listing all the tasks they currently need to finish, prioritizing whichever has the most importance and whatever can be done quickly. Individuals who avoid tasks should work on the worst task first. This way, the most difficult tasks are completed and they will not be anxious over avoiding the task.
Perfectionists should focus less on tiny details and instead meet their overachieving goals. Dreamers would benefit from stepping back from big-picture ideals to create a practical schedule for smaller, more manageable tasks. This way, they can spread out their tasks across a longer period of time to reach their goals.
It is important for procrastinators to identify why they are avoiding important tasks. This way, they can find a coping mechanism that allows them to complete their work and avoid the anxiety that comes with procrastinating.
It is also essential for procrastinators to understand that they are not lazy or irresponsible. Procrastination is a frustrating experience, which can be amplified by societal perceptions. It might be helpful for procrastinators to seek help from a counsellor to discover the reasons behind their procrastination.