Understanding and Overcoming Procrastination

Understanding What Causes Procrastination

Procrastination is a common problem- and not just for students, but for people in general. Procrastination can stem from a number of mental health or cognitive function deficits and can be overcome. Awareness of the problem and emotional regulation around task initiation are key elements in changing procrastination behaviors. With just a few simple behavior shifts, emotional reactivity and cognitive overwhelm can adjust. Over time, a person can teach their brain more effective coping strategies than avoidance, but like all behavior modification, this new neural pathway takes time and practice to develop.

Breaking the Procrastination Habit

Step 1: Recognize what it is and what you are avoiding
The first step in breaking the procrastination habit is recognizing it for the maladaptive behavior that it is and treating it like a choice. Procrastination is not necessarily a laziness or time management issue. Procrastination instead is a threat response that yields immediate relief from fear of failure, perfectionism, and the negative self-talk that says you aren’t good enough. In simple terms, procrastination stems from the human brain’s need to feel safe. The problem suggests that the brain values instant results over long-term achievement. So the challenge in breaking the procrastination habit begins with recognizing what we are trying to
avoid in the first place.

Cognitive distortions like fear, awfulizing or catastrophizing, and shame responses are all based in irrational beliefs. These beliefs combined with other self-defeating intrusive thoughts can lead to bad habits that sabotage the very results a person is trying to achieve. Overcoming these beliefs requires self-compassion, patience, and the deliberate choice of different behaviors. Once we recognize and accept that procrastination is not about limited motivation or poor task initiation and treat it like the emotionally overwhelmed response that it is, we can take different, more effective action.

Step 2: Replace old habit with wih a new response
The second step in breaking the procrastination habit is developing new responses to self-limiting beliefs and changing negative behaviors. Begin with small, effective changes and repeat them often. These changes can include taking breaks to calm emotional responses, managing negative self-talk to rewrite the internal narrative to a more positive outlook, and building tolerance for even the most non-preferred tasks by working for shorter amounts of time. The repetition of these small changes effectively teaches the brain that it is safe from the perceived threat procrastination was attempting to avoid. Over time, the neural pathways in the brain rewrite the internal monologue to one of safety and achievement rather than fear and failure.

Additional Strategies for Overcoming Procrastination

Mindfulness is another effective approach to overcoming the procrastination habit. Find the willingness to examine negative self-talk and other intrusive thoughts without additional judgment. What does that mean? When your brain tells you that nothing you do is good enough, choose to self-soothe and offer yourself patience and compassion rather than additional sabotaging thoughts. Ask yourself why you think about yourself or the task in a negative way and examine the facts over the feelings. Perfectionism is a logical fallacy. Perfect is not possible. Instead, reach for the achievable goal of “good enough”. Allow the words to actually mean what they mean. Good enough is good enough, and sometimes it is the best we can do.

Key Takeaway

Procrastination is not about poor time management and limited motivation. Procrastination is an avoidant response to emotional or cognitive overwhelm and can be changed. Approaching tasks with curiosity and without self-defeating fear and judgment are important steps in changing the procrastination habit. Over time, the brain will believe that task initiation is not a threat, and achievement is more effective than avoidance.

Written by Angela Moscheo, MA Education