Do You Really Know What Happens When You Procrastinate?

Piers Steel, the author of the book The Procrastination Equation: How to Stop Putting Things Off and Start Getting Stuff Done, defines procrastination in this way:

“Procrastination is to voluntarily delay an intended course of action despite expecting to be worse off for the delay.”

In other words, procrastination is doing more pleasurable things in place of less pleasurable ones. The end result is that important tasks are put off to a later time.

Delaying action or making a choice is a form of procrastination. For example, people who procrastinate have a week to complete a task but keep putting it off until the very last minute, even if they intend to begin working on it earlier.

A lack of self-control leads to procrastination, which is often related to the mental condition known as ‘akrasia.’ This is when one acts against their better judgment to avoid doing something important.

Procrastination stems from a psychological perspective, where short-term mood repair and emotional regulation (instant gratification) are prioritized over long-term performance and well-being. To put it another way: when procrastinators are reluctant to take on a task because they’re anxious or find it tedious, they postpone it to avoid experiencing negative emotions in the here and now.

Procrastination can also be exacerbated by disconnection from one’s future self. Even if they are aware that this is not the case, people still believe that any happy or unpleasant results they may encounter in the future will be experienced by someone else. [3] When it comes to procrastination, this means that the prospect of incentives or punishments drives them.

Procrastination is bad. It drags your progress and makes you unable to get anything done. If you procrastinate, you will lose your precious time and blow opportunities.

Here’re some of the reasons why procrastination takes a toll on your productivity and performance:

Lower Performance

Whether in academics or work, a person who procrastinates cannot give their true potential.

Not because they are slackers, but because the lack of perfection, over-planning, or just not being in the right headspace makes it difficult to start at the right time, and certain unrealistic expectations worsen the quality of input and effort put into a task.

Consequently, one turns out to be exhausted and worn out, and dissatisfied with their contribution to academics or work.

Lose Time and Miss Opportunities

It takes something to realize that the time you spent procrastinating was the golden time of opportunity that you just lost. Procrastinators don’t take advantage of opportunities and chances when they are fresh and relevant.

Too late, they realize the gig they are putting off for ‘some other time’ is going to cause a great deal of stress and regret. So, neither does loss of time return nor does an opportunity, so realization of the importance of time is crucial to beat procrastination.

Suffer From Low Self-Esteem

Since procrastination kills productivity in highly capable and efficient people, the hastily-finished end product or project may have a person doubt their true potential. This feeling of incomplete satisfaction may root in the vicious cycle of procrastination and not the lack of ability.

Your perfectionist mind may put off important things in order to not mess them up, but last-minute hassles worsen your state of mind. You may begin to doubt yourself and feel less confident about things that you are passionate about.

Start Taking the Wrong Decisions

Procrastination is seen by psychologists as an emotional reaction that makes decisions more difficult and future tasks more complex. Every decision we make comes with a degree of uncertainty. We experience fear when faced with uncertainty because our brains are programmed to avoid it.

If we don’t do something to combat our fear, it will begin to paralyze us. Our procrastination occurs when we put off a task because it appears too difficult, and the repercussions if we don’t complete it outweigh the effort required to do so.

What Can You Do About Procrastination?

Now that you know how procrastination can hold you back from achieving what you want and becoming who you want to be, I want to recommend you to read my comprehensive guide on how to overcome procrastination. In this guide,? I’ve broken down procrastination into chapters that will help you hack the behavior and become an effective goal getter.

Head over to my guide on procrastination here.

Leon Ho is the Founder and CEO of Lifehack – a productivity blog he started in 2005. He was listed as Business Week’s #4 “Top 24 Young Asian Entrepreneurs” and has grown Lifehack into one of the most read self-improvement websites in the world – with over 12 million monthly readers. You can check out his book The Full Life Essential Guide, and take a look at his self-improvement mastercourses here or join one of his free classes here.