Why Do We Procrastinate? 💢

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What Is Procrastination?

I see procrastination as a way of coping with tasks in your life which you would rather not do. There are many different emotions that go off when we do not want to do a task, for example, boredom, frustration or stress. We are always trying to feel good, prioritising our mood instead of pursuing an unfavourable task.

Nothing gets done when you are procrastinating, and the bad thing is you have a constant, looming feeling of guilt over you.

Let's imagine you have been watching TV for a while and then you remember a work task that you have to do. You constantly try to put it off, but that lingering feeling of guilty enters your body. You aren't able to truly relax with this in your head. Procrastination does not stop you from doing the task; it simply delays it. It will not get rid of that anxiety in your mind.

Is Guilt A Form Of Justification?

The problem is that lots of people feel bad and beat themselves up for procrastinating. We are more vulnerable than others to anxiety and depression with an evergrowing amount of stress building up. It isn't healthy. Negative, guilty thoughts start enveloping our minds.

When we procrastinate, we uplifting our mood by not being bored or frustrated and leave our future self to deal with the consequences. We don't really care about our future self. We see our future self as more of a stranger who will pick up the pieces later. Rumination increases with more procrastination.

Value Yourself More

By increasing our compassion for ourself, it could increase the resilience we face to procrastination. If we value ourself more, we will realise that we will have to deal with the task in the future. It is better that we get the task over and done with now rather than letting our future self face the consequences.

Value yourself more; your future self will thank you.