Maybe you've had a certain goal for years, but have just not gotten around to actually taking the steps to achieve it. Maybe you're someone who always does everything at the last minute. Maybe you always find a chore you need to do first, before you do what you need to do, for example, and maybe you are 1 of those people who submits the tax return on the very last day and sometimes too late because the site was offline.
Do you recognize yourself in this procrastination behavior? Then this is an article for you to read. In this blog, I discuss the cause of procrastination and what you can do about it.
Procrastination is something almost everyone has had to deal with at some point in his/her life. There are estimates that 80 to 95 percent of college students suffer from procrastination, and 75 percent of students also name themselves as notorious procrastinators(2, 3).
This is very annoying because procrastination is not good for the quality of what you do. In fact, the chances of success increase if you don't procrastinate but just do what you need to do when you can, rather than when there is really no way to get out of it anymore.
In addition, procrastination also causes a lower sense of well-being, and people who put things off often feel worse than those who do not. So time to tackle it, if only to be a little happier(1).
Also, procrastination can cost money. For example, filing your taxes late can easily save you hundreds of dollars that you would not have had to pay if you had started on time and properly researched what you can or cannot actually deduct from your taxes.
Cause of procrastination
In an earlier article about whether procrastination actually exists, I talked briefly about the cause of procrastination. In short, it comes down to the fact that a problem doesn't hurt you enough to force yourself to take action.
For example, you want to make more money, but because you're quite able to make ends meet, you don't ask for that pay raise.
Another cause of procrastination is the reaction you have to fear. Fear can cause you to fight, flee or freeze. In the case of procrastination, you are actually freezing or fleeing. You are actually more likely to procrastinate than address behavior because of the biological disposition to danger.
Procrastination due to anxiety
To throw in the example from just now. Addressing your boss because you want a pay raise is actually also something very scary to do. Because your boss isn't attacking you or going to fire you, there isn't really any defensive action needed either, and so you delay the moment when you need to ask for a pay raise.
Anxiety that is life-threatening, such as when your partner has suddenly lost his job can actually cause you to take that step. Because then the household is suddenly dependent on only 1 income.
Another danger of anxiety is to perform other behaviors similar to working toward a solution, such as brooding.
Worry
Mulling is thinking about the problem and it is very similar to solution-oriented thinking. In itself, brooding is not a problem, but then it must be followed by action to solve the problem you are brooding about.
Without action, it's really just a useless business.
The task is not pleasant
Of course, this is an important reason to just not do the task until you can't put it off anymore. This might include cleaning up with children or doing your tax return. Or perhaps heavy physical work.
You get stress from the task
Especially people with fear of failure and fear of performing the task can become stressed by the task. That feeling is not pleasant and therefore can lead to delaying performing the task.
Illogical beliefs
Beliefs that you are not going to achieve success at the task at hand often cause you to procrastinate as well.
You feel like you can't do the task properly and therefore put it off.
If the opportunity is there to distract you, you are also more likely to procrastinate doing what you need to do.
Of course, the degree of discipline you have to do what needs to be done when it needs to be done also plays a big role.
Addressing procrastination
Addressing procrastination can be very difficult if the pain the procrastination causes is not bad enough. Because you have many safety nets in the Netherlands, you can basically procrastinate a lot, but you have to settle for benefits and not spend too much of them.
Fortunately, the reality is that most people want more than the bare minimum in the Netherlands. If you too want to achieve more and instead of thinking about achieving goals, start actually executing the goals, it's time to make a change.
First, it is helpful to identify why you put things off. If you find this difficult, a hypnotherapist can help you with this. One way to do this is to ask questions during hypnosis about why you do things the way you do them or through regression therapy.
Once it is known why you procrastinate, a hypnotherapist can use various techniques to change your beliefs and self-confidence. For example, guided visualizations, hypnotic suggestions and techniques from neuro-linguistic programming and cognitive behavioral therapy can be used to address procrastination.
Tips against procrastination
If you still want to try tackling your procrastination yourself first, that's why I've listed some practical tips for you.
Tip #1: Write down what you need to do
If you think something is not feasible or if a project is very large, you can first briefly write down what actually needs to be done to accomplish a task. Writing it down can reinforce the feeling that you can do it, which also increases the likelihood that you will accomplish it.
For example, if you need to write a cover letter, you can write down the following things first:
- Email prompts.
- Find the company's e-mail address.
- Writing down good qualities of myself for the company.
- Indicate who they can call for a reference.
- Writing a closing with a call to action to invite or call me.
By listing all the steps, you get an overview and can indicate for each step whether you can do it or not. This makes it a lot easier.
Tip 2: Set intermediate goals
If a goal takes a very long time to achieve, such as writing a thesis or completing a project that will take months, it is helpful to set intermediate goals. By setting those intermediate goals, you ensure that you at least periodically make progress in the process and also to make the whole goal less overwhelming.
Tip 3: What's the worst that can happen right now
Fear can be very paralyzing, but if you think realistically for a moment you'll see that it doesn't have to be. If something fails, what's the worst that can happen? Most things you do wrong once will not kill you, you will not immediately lose your home, you will not immediately lose your job either, and if you are still going to school there are often many retake opportunities. Realizing that your fear is unfounded and certainly does not have to be as big as it is now can lessen the paralyzing effect.
Tip 4: Turn off your wifi
If you need to do something, such as cleaning your house or doing spss calculations, that you don't need the Internet for, it is wise to turn off your Internet. That way it's much harder to check your Facebook or take a quick look at the news. Then also hide your phone for a while.
Tip 5: Use mindfulness
Mindfulness is a way to live in the here and now and to monitor your thoughts and actions. By using mindfulness during your work/study/task, you avoid or recognize distractions sooner, allowing you to shift your focus back to accomplishing the task at hand sooner.
Tip 6: Use self-hypnosis
You can use self-hypnosis to increase your self-confidence and also confidence that you can perform the task at hand. You can do this by repeating suggestions and by visualizing performing the task and what result the task has for you. For example, you visualize how you feel once the task is completed and what it looks like when you are in the process of performing what you need to do.
Also listen to this session on procrastination:
Want to learn more about hypnosis and what effect it can have on improving your life or someone else's? Then check out the Hypnosis Institute Netherlands' courses or come to a seminar.
Also pin this handy infographic as a reminder:
Sources:
http://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/abs/10.1287/mnsc.2015.2360
