Working vs. having fun: why we might be procrastinating

I have a confession to make, I’ve got a tendency to perfectionism. For people who already know me, this might sound like “water is a liquid”, but it is still hard for me to recognize it, even if it is noticeable at a distance.

Why did I confess this? Because when my perfectionism is active, I tend to put off tasks and procrastinate as much as I can. Whenever I’m confronted with a task that I consider overwhelming or non-worthy of my time, my first response is to procrastinate.

Procrastination is a behavior that is mainly related to anxiety, boredom, depression, and frustration and that most of the time acts in a self-indulgent way. It is usually linked to thoughts that contain information about “I can’t” or “I shouldn’t”, and most of us have done it at least once in our lives.

For people who identify this as a frequent event, it probably has started to become a problem. Procrastination sure became a problem for me, because when it happened, it was linked to high levels of anxiety and guilt. Why was this? Because I discovered that my train of thought started running from “I have a task to do” to “Why does everything have to be so difficult?” and “I sure won’t be able to do it!”.

The hidden rule in this situation was that I was interpreting life as it should always be easy, exciting, and free of frustration. This continued until I discovered that some things in life may never be enjoyable, but are necessary, such as scrubbing toilets!

This was a breakthrough that led me to try different techniques to act more and procrastinate less. I want to share some of the things that worked for me and some of my patients:

1. Divide the task into reachable mini-tasks
2. Plan for the day. Establish a specific time for the activity you’re finding undesirable or overwhelming
3. Establish small amounts of time for trying the undesirable task. Reward yourself when you reach your goal!
4. Take breaks! Remember that it’s ok to rest, but try to do it with activities that do not consume too much time
5. Have a planner, agenda, board, or even post-its to keep you aware of the things you have to do. You can even use more than depending on your needs. For example, I use a virtual agenda and a planner. One reminds me of the activity and the other one helps me take notes or establish how hard or satisfactory the activity was.

Remember that these tips are a way you can handle procrastination, but if you identify that your anxiety is too intense or you feel that there are also other problems, I recommend you ask for professional help in places such as https://trywillowtherapy.com/.