You're not lazy, you're just scared! Here's how to finally stop procrastinating

As the famous saying goes, "Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today". For some of us,  though, tomorrow – or even the day after – is always the better option. This is known as procrastination, the act of delaying or postponing an action. 

Among adults, between 15% to 25% of us procrastinate frequently. It might manifest in the form of delaying work even though you have a deadline looming but instead doing other things such as replying to emails that aren't urgent or catching up on social media. Or it could be something like putting off doing laundry for no reason until you realise you have no clean clothes. 

Dr Natalie Games, clinical psychologist at Alliance Counselling, says that people who procrastinate actively look for distractions, especially ones that don’t require a lot of commitment. For example, the most common distractor activities that students engage in are daytime resting, eating or drinking, watching television and scrolling through the internet.

“When people procrastinate, they often lie to themselves or find reasons to procrastinate,” she adds. “They will convince themselves that they still have a lot of time left to finish the work and that they will find more motivation the next day or that they work better as the deadline gets nearer. They tend to underestimate the time it will take to complete a task and believe they can only work when they are in the mood to do so.”

You might think that you're just lazy for not doing the tasks you've been assigned. However, these are two totally different things, according to the experts. In a nutshell, laziness is just inactivity on one's part, but when you're procrastinating, you're choosing to do something else instead of the task that needs your attention. 

“Contrary to common belief, procrastination is not about being lazy or having poor time management; it is a form of avoidance and an important sign that something is missing that may be preventing us from getting the work done,” Dr Games explains. 

She says there are a few reasons people may be avoiding a task:

1. It's tedious, unpleasant, boring or you may find it irrelevant or personally unimportant
2. You may lack the prerequisite skills or confidence which may mean you feel anxious or insecure to be able to complete the task.  
3. The task may not have clear goals, direction or there may not be any time pressures

Long-term consequences of procrastination

There are, as expected, many downsides to procrastination. Even though procrastination leads to lower stress levels in the short term – as you delay work to engage in more pleasurable activities – there are long-term consequences such as increasing your levels of guilt, shame and stress, as well as affecting your mental health. This can result in self-criticism and compromised work quality, says Dr Games. 

“Chronic procrastination can also affect your physical health, such as weakening your immune system and even causing insomnia and gastrointestinal problems,” she adds. “Also, people who procrastinate tend to put off seeking medical treatments and tests for their health issues.”

Additionally, delaying work may result in others having to take on the burden of our responsibilities, and this can also lead to a strain in relationships. 

However, there is one potential upside to procrastination. Dr Games notes how, according to some research, moderate procrastination can help give your brain time to consider a task or problem, and create space for greater creativity and innovative ideas. 

“This is the primary work zone of innovators and original thinkers,” she says. 

12 steps to overcome procrastination

You might find that changing your environment could improve your focus or even perhaps tackling tasks as soon as they come in, instead of putting them off for later. However, because procrastination is a habit, you can't break it overnight so give yourself time to deal with it. 

Dr Games lists 12 tips to get you stop procrastinating and start working on your goals. 

1. Create to-do lists, deadlines and priorities
2. Break down tasks – SMART (small, measurable, achievable, realistic targets)
3. Set specific goals and tasks
4. 5 minutes – tell yourself you’ll work for just 5 minutes and then another. This may slowly build up to longer periods of time
5. Reduce distractions – set aside your tech and adjust your environment 
6. Set time limits for your breaks 
7. Delay procrastination – tell yourself that you’ll engage in the distracting activity 'later' 
8. Acknowledge fear, uncertainty and negative emotions
9. Reward yourself even for completing small tasks 
10. Growth mindset – a perspective that you can’t do something yet but will be able to
11. Do something harder/more effortful than the state you’re in. For example, instead of cleaning the house to avoid writing a paper, engage in something like a cold shower or cold immersion
12. Meditation – 5-10 minutes is effortful and can help you get over the hump of procrastination