Are you a procrastinator or is someone close to you a procrastinator? Procrastination is different from laziness or apathy. In this article you will learn the reasons for procrastination. What will surprise you is procrastination is closely related to a person’s behavior style and personality.
Do not lose hope if you think you are a constant procrastinator. There are many famous procrastinators. Leonardo da Vinci spent nearly 16 years painting the Mona Lisa—and never completed it. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy author Douglas Adams famously wrote, “I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.” And Frank Lloyd Wright spent a mere two hours designing Fallingwater—after delaying for nine months (See Edutopia).
What is Procrastination and What It is Not.
The short definition of procrastination is “to put off intentionally and habitually“. Procrastination is closely related to laziness and apathy, but it is different. Procrastination is an active process where you make a conscious decision to delay a task and do something else instead. In most cases it is a decision of doing something more pleasurable instead of making progress. This turns into procrastination when a person is habitually delaying tasks that they know need to be done. Laziness or apathy on the other hand is more associated with a state of inactivity or outright unwillingness to act versus an active decision to just delay a task
Reasons To Procrasinate.
There are countless reasons for procrastination. A good way to recognize the different reasons for procrastination is to look at the different types of behavior styles. In most cases these behaviors are habits that we have picked up over the years that result in procrastination. These behavior styles include:
The Perfectionist:
Puts off tasks out of the fear of not being able to complete a task perfectly. This also includes a fear of criticism. The person has an all or nothing attitude.
The Avoider:
Habitually prefers short-term pleasures over making progress. They lack energy or are not in the mood to do the task so they avoid it. In some cases they lack the skill to do the task so they avoid it instead of gaining the training or help to get it done. They are disconnected with helping out their future self. Also, depression and low-self esteem make for avoiding necessary tasks.
The Dreamer:
Puts off tasks because they are not good at paying attention to detail. This includes people who have ADHD and have trouble concentrating. This could also be a case of just putting off or inability to start a task.
The Defier:
Doesn’t believe someone should dictate their time schedule. It just feels like work so I just won’t do it right now.
The Worrier:
Puts off tasks out of fear of change or leaving the comfort of “the known”. Low self-esteem in many cases is the root cause where the person believes all their negative self-talk.
The Confused:
There are just too many options for making a decision so they defer taking action. This is called decision fatigue. It takes a lot of mental energy to make decisions. They see the task as too complex and do not make an attempt to break the tasks up into smaller tasks. Procrastination could also be a case of not defining goals to make progress in life. Also, the person is just disorganized and forgetful.
The Crisis-Maker:
Puts off tasks because they like working under pressure. High achievers can fall into this category where they wait until the last minute to get that rush of euphoria at completing a task on time against all odds. This could be a case of vague deadlines that soon become emergencies as the task was deferred over and over again.
The Overdoer:
Takes on too much and struggles with finding time to start and complete tasks. This could also be a case of too many distractions, lack of planning, and prioritizing activities.
For more details on the reasons and solutions for procrastination see VeryWellMind’s What Is Procrastination?, SoulSalt’s What Causes Procrastination (and 7 Real Solutions), and Bloomsoup’s 25 Causes Of Procrastination (And How To Overcome It).
For more information from Unvarnished Facts, see articles on values.
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