On Procrastination

You might be fighting the wrong battle...

Before college, I almost never procrastinated (except for home chores 😂 sorry, mum). Then, I started picking up this bad habit from my ex, not because I thought it was cool or I wanted to blend it, but because (now that I look back) I simply lost interest in living.

Depression and anxiety really affect you in some way. I’m not saying that your procrastination’s root cause could be a mental health issue (though sometimes it can be), but if you dig deeper, you’d see a few possible causes:

1. Procrastination stems from a lack of motivation, with reasons you might not have uncovered.

We need to ask ourselves: are we procrastinating because we don’t want to do it? Why don’t we want to do it? Is it trivial or vital? Can I just drop it? If not, are there alternatives that can help achieve the same result? If not, can I get it done by the deadline? If yes, go ahead and procrastinate, no need to feel guilty. If I can’t get it done by the deadline, haul ass and get started, don’t “outsource it to your future self”, you’ll regret it.

2. Procrastination due to confidence (inflated or not), thinking that I don’t actually need to start early to get it done in time.

This might be healthy. According to Parkinson’s law, we will fill the time we assign a task. So maybe that type of timeboxed urgency fueled by procrastination can be a good thing… only if it suits you and certain specific tasks. It certainly doesn’t work for everyone or every project.

3. Procrastination due to fears, or other emotional hurdles.

Fear of facing the daunting tasks; fear of feeling incompetent, fear of discovering some sort of truth about ourselves (e.g. we don’t actually want to become the ideal version that we keep telling ourselves that we want to be); or procrastinating because of anticipating certain triggers that we’d kill to avoid; …

4. Procrastination as a (self-) destructive method…

This one might be subtle, but sometimes destructive tendencies manifest differently, and procrastination could be similar to “playing fire” or sabotaging. I’m afraid this type of procrastination is a tricky one. We need to have enough self-awareness to recognize the intention behind the procrastination, admit/acknowledge it, and take action to find professional help.

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Of course, when we procrastinate, the reason behind it could be a blend of the above with different %. Humans are complex. But it’s best to evaluate the situation and take actions differently.

Here’s my framework to deal with procrastination (decision tree):

1. Is it important (e.g. will cost a life/job/$)?

   • Yes → Do 5 minutes now and decide later (this timeboxing technique is great for getting started, and usually after 5 minutes you’ll realize it actually takes much less time/effort than you originally expected

   • No → Next

2. Is it urgent?

   • Yes → Do 5 minutes now and decide later

   • No → Next

3. Is it annoying to you (e.g. you don’t find joy doing it at all, it is triggering)?

   • Yes → Add to your timeboxed schedule (scheduled specifically for annoying tasks, and treat it with distanced attitudes)

   • No → Do you feel like doing it NOW?

     • Yes → Just do it

     • No → Just procrastinate

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Happy Procrastinating (or Happy 5-minute Challenge) 💪

(Yes - procrastinating doesn’t always have to be a bad thing, use it to your advantage)