How Procrastination Steals Time And How You Can Get It Back

Are you reading this article instead of working? Perhaps you are procrastinating.

But don’t worry. You’re not alone. Almost everyone, at some point in their lives, has been guilty of delaying tasks and procrastinating. Daniel Marston, PhD, says procrastination is a natural behaviour – and even animals do it.

While you can shrug off the occasional delay as a lazy day, a habit of procrastinating is problematic. Doing it regularly can make you fall into a cycle of excuses and irresponsibility. For example, it can cause a domino effect at work if other people's tasks depend on your deliverables.

Why Do We Procrastinate?

Procrastination does not happen because of laziness.

Difficult tasks come with all sorts of worries–How much effort is needed? Will I fail? Do I know how to do it? To avoid dealing with these kinds of negative thoughts, we try to avoid the task altogether. And this is when we procrastinate, according to Fuschia Sirois, a behavioural scientist at Durham University in England.

We see the task as a problem so we put off doing the task. It’s an irrational and deliberate decision to delay and suffer the consequences.

Researchers Oliver J. Kaftan and Alexandra M. Freund, who studied procrastination among Swedish adults who intended to exercise, found that the respondents in the study procrastinated when they feared failure and when the task was unpleasant.

In the workplace, we see this play out when we delay work because we feel doubtful about our capacity to complete it, when we delay to postpone criticism, which we are avoiding, or when we delay because the task is tedious, such as organising receipts or filing taxes.

Deadlines also affect whether or not we procrastinate. People tend to choose the commitments with a closer, more urgent deadline over those with longer deadlines. Longer deadlines increase the likelihood of people procrastinating and quitting according to the research of Meng Zhu, et al. in the Journal of Consumer Research. One reason is that tasks with extended deadlines are typically more challenging and cumbersome, while more urgent ones provide immediate rewards.

Procrastinating Is Not Always Counterproductive

Procrastinating can be helpful, too, so don’t beat yourself up about it.

You may think that postponement is the opposite of productivity, but researchers Jihae Shin and Adam Grant found that the time spentnotdoing the task can also be productive. In an article published in the Academy of Management Journal, the authors state that “moderate procrastination can foster creativity when employees have the intrinsic motivation and opportunity to generate new ideas.” It means that in the space between active work periods, new ideas can germinate and flourish if one is open to such ideas.

In the creative process, this period is called incubation. It’s the time when you stop working and let ideas simmer in the back of the mind. In this period of rest, your brain on the back burner can cook up even better ideas than the ones you started with. Thus, while to observers you may look like you are doing nothing, your mind is hard at work coming up with solutions to your problem or task.

Researchers of the creative process also found that momentarily stepping away from the task allows people to avoid responding prematurely. Delaying work lets you calm down and appraise matters more objectively, leading to better decisions.

Clinical psychologist Nick Wignall calls procrastination a “productivity tool.” People should just stop feeling shameful about doing it.

How can you turn procrastination into productivity? The key is to do productive things, like low-level work or activities that jumpstart your creativity, such as hobbies, while on your break. Procrastinators tend to do all sorts of things just to avoid doing the job they are supposed to be doing. So why not get other, smaller tasks done to keep productive?

Let Your Brain Take a Break

The brain benefits from time away from work. The mind is a muscle, and it does get exhausted. After strenuous brain activity, it helps to let the mind rest and recuperate.

Taking breaks allows the mind to reorganise and refresh. So when you get back to work, you are more ready to handle the challenges.

That said, too much procrastination can be more futile than helpful. If you think you're falling into this vortex and you want to get out, here are some tips.

Tips to Manage Procrastination

1. Practise time management.

Plan your work schedule with what you must accomplish each day leading up to your deadline. Splitting the task into more manageable pieces helps you not feel overwhelmed while structuring your days ahead of time spares you from dawdling.

2. Disconnect.

Remove distractions by turning off or locking your mobile phone and other gadgets when it is time to work. It’s easy to lose an hour or even half a day doomscrolling.

3. Manage your thoughts.

Reduce, if not eliminate, negative self-talk such as “Why am I such a procrastinator?” Or “Why can’t I focus?” These only serve to demotivate you. Instead of admonishing yourself for wasting time, practise self-compassion. Recognise your struggle and remind yourself of all that you have accomplished thus far.

4. Find meaning in the task you are delaying.

Revathi Turaga, in theIUP Journal of Soft Skills, writes that putting the purpose front and centre can help you overcome the urge to procrastinate.

5. Take frequent but productive breaks.

By giving yourself several break periods, you’ll less likely to feel the need to reward yourself with time wasters such as binge-watching sessions, for example. But, don’t just scroll through your phone mindlessly when you step away from the task. Instead, work on the smaller tasks on your to-do list. Accomplishing small but still valuable tasks makes you feel productive and raises your self-esteem.

Procrastination is a natural tendency, but you can find ways around it. Use it to recover from work fatigue or simple to build energy for your next project. Taking breaks to nourish and sustain yourself can only help you perform better at work.

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