How to Effectively Deal with Anxiety-Fueled Procrastination, According to Research
The following scenario may seem entirely too familiar to someone who suffers from anxiety: You have two assignments due the next morning, a meeting to schedule with your friends, and a pile of laundry that needs to be tackled. Yet, it seems next to impossible to get anything done, and you find yourself having done absolutely nothing the entire day, letting too much precious time escape your hands without even realizing it.
Many a time, such behaviour is merely brushed off as laziness; something that could easily be combatted if one actually bothered to put in a little more effort into being more productive. However, research has shown that feeling sluggish, unmotivated and exhausted — whether it be emotionally, mentally or physically — is often a trait present in people with anxiety disorders.
This anxiety-fueled procrastination could potentially have many underlying reasons, including feeling overwhelmed by the amount of work that needs to be done, fearing that something negative may come out of beginning a task, or simply not being able to put aside one’s high standards to complete a duty. This inability to be productive can sometimes develop to the point of being incapacitating, severely impacting one’s life in a negative way.
Nevertheless, many people who suffer from this dilemma are often unaware that their anxiety is the root cause of their problems. Believing that they are purely lazy yet being unable to resolve it can also become an additional source of stress. It is therefore very important that people with anxiety disorders first recognize that they have an underlying issue, and that these feelings are often not by any fault of their own.
What they can do, however, is to mitigate the extent of which their anxiety affects their ability to do work, and this can be done via a number of helpful things, as studies in human psychology have shown:
1. Set a Goal
Setting goals for oneself may very well be the first stepping stone to overcoming procrastination. What has been found to be a leading cause of procrastination due to anxiety is the feeling of being too overwhelmed by the number of tasks at hand.
It would hence be useful to be able to consolidate what needs to be done, perhaps by compiling them into a list — something that would allow one to get an overview of the work that needs to be completed.
From there, it would be good to set small goals for oneself that are more manageable and achievable. This is likely to be more encouraging for someone who is trying to complete multiple tasks, as it is less overwhelming than attempting to tackle everything at once when it is simply not feasible to do so.
The effects may be purely psychological, but being able to cross items off a to-do list may very well increase your sense of achievement, which may lead to an increased overall productivity.
2. Get to Work
This step may be the most difficult one to carry out, but taking action is absolutely necessary to get the ball rolling. Sometimes, anxiety may cause one to overthink a task, and cause one to feel the need to put it off, to be completed at a different time. However, these tasks are more often than not pushed aside indefinitely.It is important to remember that no matter what fears one faces with regard to one’s work, the fact remains that in order to get something done, it has to first and foremost be started. It would be useful to put aside whatever insecurities one may have regarding the task and just do it, saving the worry over potential problems for the moments when (and if) they actually occur.
3. Associate Positivity to Tasks
The feeling of incompetency and not being adept is often present in anxiety sufferers when they find themselves unable to complete tasks to the best of their abilities, and can sometimes be a driving factor to why they find it so difficult to begin to be productive in the first place.
It would therefore be easier to perform a task if there is a purpose linked to it. Finding a purpose behind a task could potentially boost one’s enthusiasm or willingness to see it through. The final result would be the positive feelings of satisfaction and success that come with achieving a goal, which may help one become more motivated.
Procrastination is a vicious cycle — it is caused by anxiety yet has the uncanny ability to create more anxiety as well. It is a problem that should definitely be addressed and resolved, because doing so will prevent the recurrence of anxiety in the future. Taking action may be difficult initially but is bound to result in a bigger payoff in the long run.
References:
Stop Procrastination and Eliminate Anxiety — Here’s How by Dr. Alicia H. Clark. (n.d.). Retrieved February 26, 2018, from https://www.findapsychologist.org/stop-procrastination-and-eliminate-anxiety-heres-how-by-dr-alicia-h-clark/
Boyes, A. (2013, March 13). 6 Tips for Overcoming Anxiety-Related Procrastination. Retrieved February 26, 2018, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/in-practice/201303/6-tips-overcoming-anxiety-related-procrastination
Burka, J. B., & Yuen, L. M. (2009). Procrastination: why you do it, what to do about it now. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Lifelong.
Ferrari, J. R., Johnson, J., & McCown, W. G. (1995). Procrastination and task avoidance: theory, research, and treatment. New York: Plenum Press.
With thanks to Keisha
