Experiencing difficulties in understanding oneself is common. Despite being well-acquainted with our own beliefs, routines and habits, investigating certain psychological events of our inner lives is no easy task. Procrastination is one of those occurrences the root of which is tricky to pin down. Nevertheless, let us try.
Most popular definitions of the notion above consist roughly of the following: “Procrastination is an act of unnecessarily and voluntarily postponing a task that requires timely completion”. Some explanations of procrastination include the claim that it comes from laziness or lack of motivation, while others credit it to poor organisational skills. While insights vary, procrastination seems to be widely recognized as a common behavioural disposition, meaning that it’s experienced by a wide variety of individuals across many different settings.
Curiously, procrastination is concluded to hold certain irrational, arbitrary, and even melancholic qualities. The quirky aspects of this human tendency are somewhat characteristic of our relationship to time, in a way it has us rebel against our fast-paced reality by unpredictably pulling us out of our rhythm. Procrastination is a highly complex “force” due to its elusive nature, as its triggers and consequences are most diverse as well as tough to trace and measure.
Procrastination tends to negatively impact our self-esteem and capacity to move forward with our tasks. This delay and disruption within our performance is commonly associated with a sense of failure, which is thought to be a potential foundation for disorders spanning from anxiety to depression. Commonly, the feeling of overwhelm that the fear of failure largely contributes to might come to negatively influence our motivation to carry out a set assignment. In a way, procrastination, and the notions disturbant of our efficient performance associated with it are a rabbit hole of sorts that one, often unconsciously, falls into.
Different factors, both internal and external, are at play. Reflecting upon these very triggers of procrastination is essential to understanding and preventing it. It might be that we’re set a task with an unrealistic timeline or unclear instructions or maybe our work environment doesn’t function in favour of our concentration abilities. The subtleties of potential grounds for procrastination demand the individual to remain considerate and attentive to their workplace conditions, whether it would be within a professional or an academic setting.
Mindfulness is an excellent preventative measure. Such concepts as self-regulation and accountability, whilst undeniably desirable, are difficult to not get further overwhelmed by in the event of experiencing whatever form of complication while performing a certain task. It may be counterproductive to interpret procrastination as a diagnosis of lacking motivation, laziness or personal incapability. Instead, one may want to approach such an event with particular sensitivity, acknowledging the complex nature of it. An individual may be inclined to stay mindful of their external as well as internal circumstances, in the process of determining the cause of procrastination so a sensible solution may be discovered.