Is it Procrastination or Something Else

Procrastination is major reasons why people start therapy. They want to know why they are not as productive as they would like to be. Procrastination can often be a symptom of an underlying disorder or mental issue. Understanding the type of procrastinator you are can unlock whether or not your procrastination is a symptom of something else. Generally speaking, the number one drivers of procrastination are fear and anxiety. For those who procrastinate because of fear, it is generally a fear of not being perfect. When perfectionism is driving procrastination, the reason tasks are not begun is because there must exist a plan to execute the task perfectly. This drive to execute the task perfectly results in getting stuck in the planning phase and never starting the task for fear of being less than optimal. Another thing perfectionist are waiting for to start projects is the perfect time. Because perfection rarely exist in the world, it can become impossible to start projects.

Anxiety is also present in perfectionism but can be its own source for fueling procrastination. When anxiety drives procrastination, there is a variety of fears that create barriers to beginning and completing tasks. The fears create a false narrative of failure, dread, and negative outcomes generally not based on facts but rather on feelings. Some common anxiety narratives and fears are that it is impossible to do the task correctly, that the task will never be completes, and/or that the once the task is completed it will result in a negative outcome.

Additional drivers for procrastination are doing too much, believing that anxiety is motivator, feeling defiant, and entitlement. Some people get caught on the trap of listing everything they could possible do to improve a project and become so immersed in all of the possibilities that their to do list becomes impossible to complete. Others create situations that increase their anxiety in the belief that, when they are stressed out enough, they will begin and complete task. Others struggle to start tasks because they don’t want to follow the rules and want to do things their way.

The final contributor to procrastination is entitlement and the belief that we shouldn’t have to work so hard to get what we want. Once you know the underlying trigger for your procrastination, you can work on addressing the issues driving procrastination and stop procrastinating.  If you address the underlying issue and procrastination doesn’t stop, this may indicate that there is something else going on such as ADHD.