What is procrastination and who is at risk? Procrastination - what it is, how to overcome A person who puts things off until later is called.

Procrastination is postponing planned (important, urgent) matters, leading to problems in life and psychological impairment of health.

An invisible psychological or physical ailment is observed with chronic procrastination, causing feelings of guilt, stress, and loss of productivity.

The meaning of the word procrastination is translated from English as a delay in time, postponement, and in Latin it is specified specifically as for tomorrow.

Procrastination what does it mean

The manifestation of procrastination is that a person realizes carrying out business, their official functions, but focuses attention on lighter- household chores, entertainment.
Perhaps a man purposefully doesn't want to do a difficult task. Therefore, he postpones things to the next day according to the life principle of the landowner Oblomov, described in the novel by I.A. Goncharova.
There is an unusual type of people deliberately delays urgent matters until tomorrow, as if they plan the work for a long time and thoughtfully, and then carry it out fruitfully in a short time.

What is procrastination in psychology

Psychologists have come to the conclusion that the process of procrastination depends on the person himself, on his emotional reaction to planned activities.

« Relaxed procrastination" refers to the first type of people who use personal or work time for a pleasant pastime. Often, it’s just too lazy to do the work without causing anxiety and worry. In the subconscious, a person’s brain, with the help of procrastination, reminds of an unstarted or unfinished task.

The second type includes “ intense procrastination“When people are not confident in themselves, in achieving the intended goal, there is a feeling of loss of time associated with a general overload of the body.

Reasons for procrastination

Let's look at the reasons in more detail lack of desire carry out planned work.

1. Stress, anxiety
People with a high degree of procrastination are prone to feelings of fear and anxiety. Source of anxiety: fear of tomorrow's consequences. The person is worried that he is not competent in this matter, does not do the work on time, and disappoints the hopes of his superiors. In conclusion, he unconsciously stalls for time, is afraid to inform management about this, and waits for the day of the “crash” meeting.

People with a lesser degree of procrastination experience the pleasure of completing work within a limited time frame, under the influence of management's perfectionism. Such people are called perfectionists who are trying to achieve perfection, to stand out among other subjects. It is believed that the more pressure from above, the better the result.

2. Self-esteem and limitation
Subconscious fear limits a person from becoming successful, a leader within a team, fearing criticism, increased demands, and envy. The procrastinator subjectively underestimates his personal ability to respond to changed conditions (at the initial or final stage of the matter).
In the first two cases, the cause of procrastination is human fear.

3. “Rebels” or controversial people
The spirit of rebellion and contradiction is inherent in any person. Irritants can be: imposed roles, plans.
Another person I don’t agree, but obediently completes tasks. The other one defiantly postpones the matter, proving your ability to act, applying your own solution, without fear of external pressure, entering into conflict with the leadership or the masses.

Rebels defend their views, proving their independence. Generating an idea limits their activities.

What are your reasons for procrastination?

It is necessary to turn on the imagination, collect your thoughts, and make an effort to move from reluctance to work to the necessary actions. Your hidden abilities will help you.

Motivation theory

A person’s task to perform a useful action depends on factors:

confidence in success - successful completion of the task;
remuneration – in monetary terms;
deadline for completing the case and sensitivity to work interruption - proper planning of the work range according to deadlines.

Consequently, the level of procrastination decreases when the expected results of the business and the interest of the person participating in it are achieved. A less persistent person is more prone to procrastination.

A person must maintain a positive attitude, feel pleasant consequences in any environment, creating an incentive for further activity and its activity. Praise yourself for your successes, appreciate your own usefulness. Be confident in new endeavors despite past failures. Celebrate small successes. Plan new tasks and successfully overcome them.

Fighting procrastination

Should be productive realize with the mind, do not run away from experiences and diversify your life with entertainment, learn to get maximum pleasure from the upcoming work, in a healthy state the fight against procrastination is carried out.

A proper daily routine should include time for rest and specific tasks.

American expert, David Allen, creator of the popular Getling Things methods for combating procrastination. came to the conclusion that stress increases when a large number of urgent urgent matters accumulate, which your brain constantly reminds you of.

Productive solution: free your brain's memory from the load by writing down everything: on paper, in your phone, in your calendar.
Prioritize: distribute tasks by degree of importance, urgency, less important, less urgent, indicating a specific date, if necessary, and time.
Productivity: Consistently completing planned work on time.

For the procrastinator the fight against procrastination, allows you to dispel fear before starting specific work. A person consciously understands the purpose of the task, what needs to be achieved, what needs to be done to get a positive result, what the efforts of his whole life were spent on. Therefore, there is no reason to postpone important matters until tomorrow.

Procrastination treatment

Let's fill in the meaning of the word - procrastination, which is translated as postponing until tomorrow, meaning specific cases.

If a person puts things off because of laziness, he doesn’t worry, he’s not afraid: he’s just lazy.

And if a person tries to put things off until the last day, he worries, he may have a shock - stress. The psychological state of such a person is disturbed, and a disease develops. It is not advisable to entrust him with urgent matters that may not be completed on time. The subject's personal potential will remain at the achieved level.
People with procrastination, when they fail to complete a task on time, look for excuses and prove to themselves and management the problem of delay. Chronic procrastinators defend themselves as best they can.

Symptoms of Procrastination

Conflict with others, management;
Loss of performance;
Lack of permanent work;
Goals in life are not defined;
Aggressive response to comments.

If one of the listed symptoms appears, you need to think about it and consult a doctor. The initial stage of neurotic procrastination is inherent in the body; it can progress and take on the form of a chronic disease. Planned treatment depends on the procrastinator.

You can help yourself and start treating yourself, identifying their causes:

Loss of strength. Most likely it's fatigue
A sign of procrastination occurs when there is a lot of stress on the body; you should rest. They are running out of deadlines (to submit a project, exam, dissertation), forget about eating, sleeping, and are carried away by work. If the period of stress lasts a long time (a week, a month), everything should be left for rest and recuperation. It is not advisable to alternate rest with work. Only after a good rest will a desire appear, stimulating acceleration in business.

Intuition
An unexpected anxiety appears in the body when you think about the plan, about work.
Intuition suggests, sensing a catch in the matter. This is how procrastination manifests itself; such a reaction can sometimes be deceptive.

Psychologists distinguish two types of procrastination: neurotic and psychopathic.
From neuroticism, the person himself suffers. From psychopathic - many people suffer from a specific person.

A qualified psychologist will help a sick person with psychopathic procrastination. Contact a specialist and listen to his advice.

There is a category of people who blame the system, the authorities, the whole world, society, without finding the cause of failures in themselves. Such people are not curable, they do not want to be patients of a psychologist, but they have a passive-aggressive personality disorder.

During the life of every person, changes occur because the communication environment, people, interests, and needs change. Watching a child, we rejoice at his determination and chosen direction, but at any age, at different stages of life, everything can change dramatically.

The American psychologist (Abraham Maslow) identified several stages of life's journey:

survival; A person enters adulthood. Mastering a profession. The fear of being left without work disappears.
stability; Labor performance improves. You only think about work.
attachment; It is common for every person to have a family, to love, to have close relationships.
self-respect; Over the years, a person gains success, skills at work, at home.
unlocking inner potential. Establish yourself and take your rightful place on the career ladder.

By increasing your self-esteem, you work more efficiently. Constantly postponing things until “later” disappears. The word procrastination is becoming a term.

Every person is familiar with it, but not everyone knows the phenomenon of procrastination. Procrastination is not synonymous with laziness, but it is a close relative. Putting off unwanted tasks for later, getting carried away with unimportant things instead of important ones are the main manifestations of procrastination.

Psychology has been studying the phenomenon since the 20th century. The term came into scientific use in 1977. However, the first mention of procrastination is found in the writings of Cicero. This is approximately 106-43 BC.

The term consists of two Latin concepts and literally means “tomorrow”, “on”. It turns out that procrastination is putting things off until tomorrow. But people forget that today exists only, and tomorrow never comes.

Procrastination is a delay in doing unpleasant things. “I don’t even want to think about it,” the person shouts, and instead of important, but unpleasant things, he does things that are pleasant or simply fill the void. A person stubbornly entertains himself or finds supposedly urgent tasks.

As a rule, the individual is aware of the danger of such behavior. The closer the work deadline, the stronger the anxiety. The procrastinator suppresses unpleasant feelings with a double dose of entertainment.

If the completion date is not defined, for example, this is a personal plan to reconcile with a relative, change profession, then the matter remains unfinished. Gradually, unfinished projects accumulate. Along with them, the passivity of the individual grows. It is shaping up that the menacing cloud of unrealized plans will become even larger.

Procrastinators put off not only things, but also making decisions and thinking about a problem. They also suppress unpleasant thoughts and feelings, planning to deal with them someday later.

Procrastination is an indicator of a lack of internal motivation, a discrepancy between the work and the individual. Look at procrastination as a symptom of disharmony. Think about what your problem is. Find it, then procrastination will disappear from your life.

Procrastinators are not born. They become procrastinators.

Procrastination is a complex problem, and the approach to solving it must also be complex. Two leading experts in the world of procrastination—PhD philosopher and psychology professor Joseph Ferrari and psychology professor Timothy Pichil—answered questions from Hara Estroff Marano, editor of Psychology Today. The result is interesting material that will help everyone get to know themselves better.

1. 20% of people are chronic procrastinators

For them, procrastination is a way of life. They are late in paying bills and delivering projects. They miss concerts and often don't cash gift certificates and checks. Chronic procrastinators buy New Year's gifts on December 31st.

2. Procrastination is not considered a problem.

Of course, it’s okay if you’re late all the time - everyone is already used to it. And because we write the report on the last night and are late in submitting it, the end of the world will not come. We also put off calling friends and family. What can happen?

And a lot can happen. For example, someone close may, but we will only find out about it in a week. Or you could be fired for being slow to work. And sometimes not only you, but also several other people for the company and inept management. And if this may not be a problem for you, then for someone it can become a real tragedy. So there is a problem, and it is much more serious than everyone thinks.

3. Procrastination is not a problem with time management or planning.

The time estimates of procrastinators and ordinary people are no different. Although chronic procrastinators are more optimistic. Dr. Ferrari believes that telling a procrastinator to buy a planner to track time is the same as simply telling someone who is constantly depressed to cheer up.

4. Procrastinators are not born.

They become procrastinators. And the chances that a procrastinator will appear in a family with a strict authoritarian style of government are much higher than in a more tolerant environment. This is a kind of response to parental pressure - an action from the opposite side.

In adolescence, all this develops into rebellion. Friends who are more tolerant of constant delays become the main advisers and role models.

5. Procrastination leads to increased alcohol consumption

Procrastinators end up drinking more alcohol than they intended. And all this is because of the main problem that lies at the heart of procrastination. It consists not only of starting to do something on time, but also of slamming on the brakes in time.

6. Procrastinators love self-deception

Statements like “I’m not in the right mood today. It would be better if we postpone this matter until tomorrow” or “I work better under pressure” are actually banal excuses that a person tells himself and others in order to explain the reasons for his laziness, inaction or unwillingness to make important decisions.

Another version of self-deception is the assertion that under tight time limits, procrastinators become more productive. Although in fact all this is self-hypnosis. They are simply wasting their resources.

7. Procrastinators are constantly actively looking for distractions.

And whoever seeks always finds. Even in the most unimaginable situations. Checking email is the most common option, as it not only distracts from more important matters, but also provides an alibi for an excuse to management.

It's also great food for fear of failure. Because if you start doing something really important and difficult, it may not work out.

8. Procrastination Procrastination is different

Procrastination can manifest itself in completely different ways and sometimes in very unexpected forms. People put things off for a variety of reasons.

Dr. Ferrari identifies three main types of procrastinators:

Thrill seekers are people who wait until the last minute to experience euphoria. They like it when their hearts race because of the understanding that they may not make it in time. At the same time, a decent portion of adrenaline is injected into the blood.
Gray mice are people who avoid the fear of failure or even the fear of success. They are afraid that they will not cope with the task and constantly look around at others. Such people listen to other people's opinions and prefer to remain in the shadows than to break forward, making mistakes, alternating defeats with victories.
Irresponsible people are those who delay making a decision because of the consequences. He who does not make decisions is not responsible for anything.

9. Procrastination is quite an expensive pleasure.

Health problems are also part of the cost. And it’s not just that if you don’t put off annual checkups with the same dentist, treatment costs will be much lower.

We are talking about the constant stress a person is under. For example, students who constantly put everything off and begin to prepare voraciously before a session are more likely than others to suffer from digestive problems, get sick more often (due to lowered immunity), and have sleep problems more often than others.

And if you imagine working with reports that need to be submitted once a month, then the consequences will indeed be catastrophic. Here you can also add problems in relationships with family, friends and colleagues due to failure to keep promises, shifting your work to someone else and a simple reluctance to take responsibility.

10. Procrastinators can change their behavior

However, this is a labor-intensive and energy-consuming process. This does not mean at all that a person suddenly felt internal changes and a desire to immediately do something. These changes must be comprehensive. Well-structured cognitive behavioral therapy can help with this. The “Change yourself” option is only possible in untreated cases.

In the case of a chronicle, you will not only have to work hard to improve yourself, but also fork out a large sum. No wonder good psychoanalysts are so popular and so expensive. If there is demand, supply will follow.

We all periodically procrastinate on certain matters and decisions. And sometimes it really poisons life. But it’s very difficult to cope with yourself.

For example, I experience a feeling of great relief and sometimes even pride in myself when I submit my reports to the tax office, because any interaction with our government services brings little joy. But I always delay this activity as much as possible. Why? Because I hate going there.

The last time I tried to remember the feeling of lightness after the next quarterly reporting, and now I don’t procrastinate, moving this task to the list of mandatory routine tasks. It’s stupid to delay doing these things.

But it’s one thing to deal with such little things, it’s quite another to start making really important decisions. For example, decide to move, get involved in a new project, start your own business, and so on. This is no longer a trip to the tax office. These are decisions that will dramatically change your life.

The steeper the changes, the more difficult it is to decide. Sometimes talking to a good and smart friend or group of people helps. But in more advanced cases, the help of a professional is really necessary.

There are two types of people. The first type: a person is successful, achieves everything he wants, 24 hours a day is enough for him. Second: procrastinator. People of the first type will most likely never come here; they have many important matters that require their direct participation. And this article is just for you, representatives of the second type.

I hasten to note that there is no shame in being a procrastinator; moreover, the absolute majority are procrastinators of varying degrees of severity.

The word itself " procrastination“, as Wikipedia tells us, has Latin roots and currently in English has the meaning “delay, postponement.” Thus, “procrastination” is the tendency to constantly put off unpleasant thoughts and actions “for later.” Up to a certain level, procrastination is the norm (we all know the common joke about work that is not a wolf and will not run into the forest), but beyond this limit, procrastination becomes a serious problem. Laziness and procrastination have a lot in common, but they are not the same thing. Rather, laziness is one of many components that make up the phenomenon of procrastination.

So who is he, this mysterious “procrastinator”?

First of all, those who are not accustomed to discipline suffer from procrastination. In fact, who wants to brush their teeth on a schedule and exercise strictly from 6:30 to 6:45? Who is actually ready to do this exercise without even being tied to a certain time? That's right, only those who will not read this article.

By the way, this very article was planned to be written at least six months ago. And all this time it was not published solely due to the problem of procrastination that the author of this article had. It’s difficult, you know, to take it and write it, and what if it doesn’t work out? What if I'm missing something? But what if…? Ahh... okay, it really doesn't burn. I'd better go and have some tea.

And this is the whole point of procrastination.

What does a procrastinator do when he has things on his agenda and he realizes their importance and the need to complete them? He, most often, is distracted and has fun, until the last moment trying not to notice this unpleasant feeling in every sense that time is running out and nothing has been done yet. A person begins to be distracted and have fun with a vengeance, just to forget about the oppressive consequences of not doing everything that needs to be done.

A true procrastinator is never in a hurry to complete his tasks. There will always be 1000 and 1 reasons why “the whole world will wait.” Sooner or later, in particularly advanced cases, It becomes difficult not only to finish what you started, but also to start anything new at all. The fear immediately arises that another one will be added to the mountain of unfinished tasks, which will only bother you with its presence.

Even if a procrastinator has found the remnants of strength in himself to complete a particularly important or particularly long-drawn-out task, the fact of its completion does not bring the former moral satisfaction, only... The reason is that the remaining pile of tasks has not gone away, and completing one project with such difficulty is a merciless reminder that there is still a long list of tasks ahead, each element of which will require no less, if not more, effort.

By the way, it would be nice to have this list. Most often, the procrastinator does not have this list, naively believing that all his numerous unfinished tasks fit into his head. The only thing these things do in his head is that they bring “confusion and vacillation”, do not allow him to concentrate, and frighten him with their quantity, which often “from the inside” seems greater than it actually is.

Therefore, this leads to a conclusion for those who decide to move from the second type of people to the first:

Rule #1: Make a numbered list of things that have already accumulated.

After compiling such a list, a small positive reinforcement follows: almost every person had this list in their head much more extensive than it is on paper. This means that there is not as much to do as it seemed. The mountain to be climbed is not that high. For a neglected procrastinator, this is a good sign and some relief.

I’ll say right away that following these rules is also a matter and it will also fall into the same pile if you don’t start implementing it right away, before it even occurs to you to go have tea. If you have time to read this article, then you have time to create a sorted, numbered list. Therefore:

Rule #2: Make that list now.

In this case, it won’t be possible without pleasant bonuses. The fact is that every time a procrastinator brings a task to the end, even the smallest and even the most insignificant, he will have the effect of realizing that he could, that he is worth something, that he can, when wants. Time after time, this confidence will grow stronger. And the day will come when, after small things, great things will come into play, which a person (no longer a procrastinator) will be able to bring to their logical conclusion. Would you like to experience a little joyful feeling of being closer to solving your problem? Then follow rule #2.

Immediately after drawing up a list of to-dos, it is strongly recommended to decide on priorities. This means that it is necessary to reconsider the importance, urgency and necessity of each individual item. You will see, if you approach this task with all seriousness, then your “mountain” will become more like a hillock than Everest. And this, again, will add enthusiasm.

Rule No. 3: Determine priorities (importance, urgency), sort tasks in accordance with implementation priorities. Eliminate from the list those things that have already lost relevance or were never important.

There may be difficulties along the way. A person is accustomed to believing that all his affairs are important and that he cannot do without them. In fact, it was not for nothing that he carried them all the time in his head, so that he could then take them like this and throw out, say, half of them. Definitely not in vain. He wore them because they seemed important to him, but it is time to reconsider them and take a critical look at this great importance.

A simple test will help you here. For brevity, I will refer to this test as the “desirability test.” Take each point and say it out loud "I want…" and instead of the ellipsis, substitute the wording of the case that you have listed there. If it suddenly turns out that you don’t want to, but, for example, have to, then this matter is not suitable for you and you can safely remove it far away from this list. If you are afraid to part with those things that you owe to someone, but don’t want to do yourself, then create a separate list specifically for them. You'll see, by the end of this article you can safely throw it away. But for now, do it anyway, this exercise will also greatly help you on the path of transforming from a procrastinator into a successful person, and will also give you an incomparable feeling of “a weight off your shoulders” when you finally throw away this list.

The importance of meeting the desirability criterion cannot be overstated. The fact is that, regardless of religious, philosophical and other ideological views, I hope that each of you cherishes the time of your life. Using this criterion, you can free up as much time as possible in your life only for those things that you always want to do. These things will be done not so much for the sake of the result, but for the sake of the process itself. This means that the time spent watching them will fly by unnoticed, but this makes it no less pleasant. Such things are not even business at all, but natural relaxation.

It may seem that I advise you to leave only some frivolous matters, but then how to live? How to eat? How to work, after all? How many people, author, have you seen who like to work? But you have to live!

Of course it is necessary. But you also need to know why it’s all there. The eternal question arises: “Do we live in order to eat or do we eat in order to live?” the same with all other areas. Do we live to work or work to live?

“Tomorrow, tomorrow, not today - that’s what sloths say,” - do you know how to express this phrase from a German children’s song succinctly and in one word? It is enough to use the term procrastination, formed from two Latin words “pro” (instead) and “crastinus” (tomorrow). Some call it a manifestation of elementary laziness, excuses from work, and similar words. Probably, in the eyes of a person with an iron will, this really looks like an elementary manifestation of weakness. However, the fact remains that psychologists in many countries admit that procrastination is conquering the world, and in an increasing number of residents of large cities it is acquiring the features of a real disease. What helps her to be so “popular”? In this article we will talk about what procrastination is, what causes it and how to deal with it.

Procrastination: Definition

In general, the everyday meaning of this word means “procrastination” a person's constant desire to put off everything for later: affairs (both work and household), decision making, etc. This term also includes actually putting off what you should do right now. And the more unpleasant the thing that needs to be done, the longer it is postponed, and instead of it, more and more new ways to occupy oneself are invented, including coming up with something to do.

In psychology, procrastination is also understood as quite serious deviation from the norm when a person puts off almost everything for later, including rather “innocent” things, from dressing and brushing teeth to eating. The reasons for such procrastination are associated with psychological illnesses, and specialists should work with those in whom this phenomenon has taken the form of a serious illness. However, to one degree or another, putting off unpleasant things for later is common to all of us (remember those same students).

In addition, we advise you to read the article devoted to the deferred life syndrome - a form of endless procrastination of life goals and plans.

One of unpleasant traits of procrastination is that due to constant postponement and failure to fulfill plans for the day or certain work standards, it causes a person to be dissatisfied with himself, which only aggravates the psychological problems of the individual, including the same procrastination. Other consequences include chronic feelings of guilt, constant stress, and the like. Many tasks that are postponed almost until the deadline are completed in a hurry, and therefore it is not possible to do them in the best possible way, which, again, leads us to dissatisfaction with ourselves and other above-mentioned troubles. As a result, the circle closes.

How to deal with procrastination?

As psychologists say, if you don’t have enough willpower to get rid of a bad habit (and in a weak form, procrastination can be mistaken for a bad habit), turn it to your advantage.
In general, this can be formulated this way: figure out how to plan things so that no one (including yourself) suffers from your habit of postponing everything until later. Below you will find some practical tips.

Globally, two can be distinguished basic ways to deal with procrastination. One is based on a kind of self-deception - you admit to procrastination, but make it work for you - the second will require you to be honest with yourself, because you will try to eradicate the habit of procrastination. Let's talk in more detail about both techniques.

Method one: simpler

To use the first method, let's turn to to-do lists. To make your procrastination habit work for you, make as detailed a list of what you need to do as possible. Then think what would you least like to do?. Can this matter be postponed? Most likely, yes - after all, you would have put it off anyway. So instead of the most unpleasant task, do the one that is the second or third thing you don't want to do. Anyway doing something useful is better than doing nothing at all or doing something useless.

With a little practice, putting off the most unpleasant things, you will learn to do everything on time. After all, you will know that while you are now doing something that you don’t really like, you are still putting off doing something that you like even less.

Method two: more effective

The second approach to how to overcome procrastination is more rational. It is more effective, but will require more effort from you. Here we are talking about the following principle: to get rid of procrastination,
get rid of the cause of its occurrence. For example, if you are afraid of not being able to cope with something, think about who you can turn to for help, and if you are just bored, come up with a reward for yourself for completing a task.

As we have already said, this method is associated with honesty with oneself. This mainly concerns searching for the true reason, why you don’t want to do this or that business: it’s not always easy, especially when it comes to fear of failure. Exactly the same honesty will be needed for searching for a motivator which will work most effectively for you. And asking for help from many will also require sufficient courage.

Let's talk about the most common reasons that cause procrastination and how to level them out.

Procrastination: main reasons

In this material, we will not take cases of clinical procrastination, as well as cases associated with general dissatisfaction with life or profession. Why? Regarding the first point, we note that this is a matter for specialists, regarding the second - that the process of changing jobs or a radical change in lifestyle, as a rule, is postponed for an even longer period than household or work matters, since such decisive steps cannot but frighten the unknown. You can read more about this in the article about delayed life syndrome (link above).

Of course, causes of procrastination Each has their own, but they also have something in common. Let's turn to those problems and questions that occur most often.

It should be noted that many reasons are based on the same mechanism, which we discuss in the article devoted to the “Three Brains” model by Paul McLean.

1. Lack of personal motivation

Not everyone has the willpower to just sit down and do something that is not interesting, and if you are one of those people who
we need a “spark”, enthusiasm for achievements, think How can you motivate yourself?.

If you choose one of the simplest ways to combat procrastination, “I’ll do this and then I’ll do something enjoyable,” the main thing is don’t deceive yourself. Having said: “I’ll do this and watch an episode of my favorite TV series,” first actually do it, and then watch it. Let us also note that for some people another way is more effective - first do something pleasant for yourself, improve your mood, and then do unpleasant things. Don’t follow the rules (first lunch, then sweets), determine what’s best for you.

2. Fear of failure

For some, procrastination becomes unconscious way of escape from things that in the past ended in failure or led to something that you would not want to repeat. Postponing such activities seems quite logical, but you understand that you will still have to complete this or that task.

In this case, the main thing is to understand what exactly the failure is connected with and why it upsets you so much, and also decide how to avoid things you don't like. For example, if a project at work failed because you didn't know something, you probably already know it by now. Think about or ask your colleagues what else you might benefit from learning before taking on a new assignment.

We include in this group of causes of procrastination fear of not being able to cope at all or not to express yourself.
Fear has big eyes. Start and you will see that everything will work out for you. Step by step. And if it doesn’t work out, ask for help - there’s absolutely no shame in it.

Problems last time arose because you did everything in a hurry? The more you put off, the greater the chance that you will complete this project in a hurry. Nobody likes to be scolded, and some react to criticism (especially unconstructive) very painfully. And if you understand that it will not be possible to avoid criticism from management in any case (after all, criticism is not always related specifically to you, remember, bosses are people too, with their own psychological problems), at least soften the blow. For example, instead of communicating in person, switch to communicating via email. But in any case, you should not give your boss a new reason for dissatisfaction related to the fact that at the workplace you do everything except work.

3. Dislike of what needs to be done.

You in principle don't like the work being done? Unlike the first point, where it was more about indifference, in this case we are talking about complete dislike for what you need to do.

Not everyone has the courage to take radical steps (changing a job or even a type of activity), but in any business it is possible find some pleasant moments, even if in your eyes they look like trifles, but they are the trifles that you love. Look for them and focus on them when you get started.

4. Pressure of debt, lack of choice/freedom

What some people don’t like even in everyday affairs, not to mention workers, is that they all "imposed" by someone else. Even the phrase “You should brush your teeth twice a day” unsettles them. Out of a spirit of contradiction (most often unconscious), such matters are all
put off and put off just to prove to others that “I can do what I want.” True, then you have to do what needs to be done in a big hurry and it’s not a fact that it’s good, and therefore there is a chance that the next thing you want to postpone will be related to reason number two.

To get rid of this problem, it is important to show yourself that you yourself decided to do this or that thing. Train yourself to even mentally say not “I need”, “I must”, “I must”, but “I would like”, “I want”. This will also help get rid of feelings of guilt or anxiety if you don’t have time to do something, because some people include a month’s worth of work in their daily plans, and then get upset when the plan is not completed in the evening. So, not “I need to get this project done by Monday,” but “I would like to get this project done by Monday.”

5. Procrastination as a way to push yourself

Some people It’s easier to work precisely when they are literally under time pressure, and while the project is still far away from delivery, they simply cannot bring themselves to get down to work. It may take too much time to remake this character trait, and it is not a fact that after that you will begin to do the work effectively, because perhaps your body is designed in such a way that it is easier for it to tense up once for a short period of time than to “activate” several times for a short period of time.

If you consider yourself one of this type of personality, train yourself to leave enough time to maintain a certain compromise: find a time at which you already begin to feel the pressure of “hour X”, but so that it is enough to complete all tasks efficiently.

6. Fear of big tasks

Another common reason is fear of not being able to cope with a big task. You are so scared by its size that you simply don’t even want to start it. In this case, break the big task into many small ones and deal with them sequentially. Remember that small parts add up to a big whole.

In addition to the two main ways to combat procrastination described above, we will describe a few more simple and at the same time effective tips.