Part 1: What and Why

It’s pervasive

Various writers tell me that “50% of university students struggle regularly with procrastination, and up to 80% struggle occasionally,” while others claim up to 90%. “Twenty per cent of adults are chronic procrastinators,” writes another. Perhaps these are valid stats.

But regardless of the stats, most of us procrastinate occasionally, some of us often, and others of us chronically. Procrastination is common, but it varies for each of us. It varies in frequency, causes, and remedies.

What it is

Procrastination isn’t laziness. Laziness – an unwillingness to do much or to make effort – can have similar results. Laziness is a character flaw; procrastination is a habit, but we still need to address it.

Procrastination is the delay of a task, leading to negative consequences. It is often a result of avoiding unpleasant feelings, but it can have other causes. It also has physical, mental, emotional, financial, and relational consequences.

Why we do it

Much recent research is built on the idea that procrastination is seeking short-term positive feelings to avoid the negative feelings of doing a task. While I think that is largely right, nothing is that simple, and there are multiple reasons we procrastinate.

Do any of these sound familiar to you?:

It’s unpleasant

• I am overwhelmed – The task is so big that I don’t want to start it. Or I don’t know where to start.

• I feel sad, lonely, or scared about the amount or type of work I’m facing.

Fear

• I’m afraid I can’t do it.

• I’m afraid I can’t do it well enough for my standard.

• I’m afraid I might not do it brilliantly – I think I am HD material, but what if I only get a Pass or a Credit?

• (If I do it late, then I can blame a poor grade on doing it in a rush.)

Skills development

• Lack of time-management skills – Time management is a life skill developed and learned. But some of us arrive at College with that skill underdeveloped.

• Lack of skill in focussing – Another skill to be developed.

• “But I work better under pressure.” Really? Research shows this is very, very unlikely. This is likely code for “I don’t work until I have to.”

Motivation and humility

• Poor motivation – “It’s not important enough to bother.”

• “I’m not academic, so it doesn’t matter what I do.”

• A lack of humility – “I don’t need this subject (or “this assessment” or “this curriculum”) to be a good minister.”

• “I just want to do ministry. Studies (or “grades”) aren’t important.”

Genuine impediments

• ADHD – Some people have genuine organic struggles with focusing, and when they do, the act of focusing takes much energy, leaving them exhausted.

• Personality and the way we are built – These make time management easier for some and harder for others. That means some of us have to work harder to get things done.

• Depression, burnout, grief, illness, or spiritual affliction – If we are struggling in these areas, we may have little energy or strength remaining for other priorities.

It’s not procrastination

• Overly self-critical – If we believe the myth that we can always be focused and hyper-productive, we may be down on ourselves for our lack of perfect ‘output.’ You are a person, not a machine; even Jesus grew tired and rested.

• Prioritising one demand over another – If it is strategic or necessary then it is a wise delay, not procrastination.

And the list goes on, but these are the common reasons.

Want to test yourself?

Procrastination Test / Quiz | Psychology Today

This told me how much I procrastinate compared to others in the general population. It also encouraged me that I procrastinate less than I used to, so there is hope.

Procrastination Test (idrlabs.com)

This told me fairly accurately why I procrastinate and what it looks like in me. If you procrastinate, this might help you identify why.

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Part 2: What we can do about it

There is no universal, all-purpose answer to procrastination. We are different people, and what works for me might not work for you. And it takes time to retrain ourselves to new habits.

If you’re married, ask your spouse why they think you procrastinate. If you are single, ask a couple friends who will be honest and not blindly endorse your behaviour. Also, seek wisdom from older, wiser people who know you and will be honest with you. (And by ‘older’ I don’t just mean over 35.)

After that, study the above list and choose your top three reasons for procrastinating.

After you’ve got some likely reasons, try a couple of the strategies below, one at a time.

If it’s unpleasant or you are afraid of the task:

1. Just start.

Like jumping into cold water, the worst is over once you take the plunge, and you might just continue ‘swimming.’ A few options:

• If you can’t bear to start an hour’s work or a major project, then just do five minutes, and give yourself the freedom to quit after that. But after that plunge, you might just be able to continue.

• Set a starting time and just start it. No starting time? It likely won’t happen.

• Start, don’t prep. Schedules, a tidy work area, another great source, a shower, a conversation, a cuppa… They can feel like useful preparation, but they also delay the vital task.

• Just do one thing for the bigger task. It might not be the most important but it’s still progress.

• “Eat that frog” – Do the thing you least want to do first. If you begin by eating the dreaded frog, the rest of the day can only get better. Seriously.[1]

• Pick just the three most important things to focus on for a month, a week, or a day. They are your priority for that time, so it’s already decided. Now you can focus on those important things and not put them off with trivial things or excuses.[2]

2. Set achievable micro-goals.

• Try the Pomodoro method – The classic pomodoro is 25 minutes work and a five-minute break, three times and then a twenty-minute break. But some students find they do best at 35-, 40- or 50-minute intervals. Just keep it sustainable for you.

• Plan brief steps, achievable in single, one-hour sessions. You won’t write an essay in an afternoon, but you could write an initial thesis sentence and outline.

• For something like vocabulary revision, languages reading, or exam preparation, aim for an extended streak (can I do Monday-Saturday for a whole term?)

• Or aim for another goal – a new personal best time for reading a Greek text, or just skimming Thursday’s theology readings.

3. Celebrate your progress – any progress!

• A celebration or a reward reminds you that you are making progress. It also causes your body to release the hormone dopamine, making you feel better, so you can keep going. It can also reduce anxiety.

• Success is not finishing the essay. Success is making progress, even if it feels small. When you make progress – any progress – reward yourself with a pat on the back, a bit of dark chocolate, a ten-minute walk, or another milestone ticked off on your progress chart.

• Put up a physical calendar with progress steps marked out. Tick them off daily as you go. It will encourage and motivate you.

• Remember that we humans are terribly over-optimistic planners: We expect to achieve far more than we can in a time. So don’t get down on yourself for working slower than you expected – you were probably unrealistic to begin with. (So build spare time into your plans.)

• Make yourself accountable – Set up a chat group with a couple others. Publicise your work targets and post your achievements. Celebrate for each other.

4. Stick to the task

• Even if just for 30 minutes.

• If you aren’t yet able to focus for long, don’t start with a three-hour study goal. Start with 30 minutes, or 15 if that’s too daunting. Get that under your belt. Then grow it to an hour. Then two hours. Then…

• Imagine you have super-glued your bottom to the chair. Don’t move till the time goal is up.

5. Identify the emotions you feel about tasks you don’t want to start[3]

• Use the emotions wheel. Name those feelings. What is stopping you?

• “Recast” the task – Link it to important goals or recall previous encounters and victories with such tasks. Try to look at it positively.

• Don’t dwell on your negative feelings about the task. (They are likely overinflated anyway.)

• If you can’t work out feelings, goals, or previous victories, try writing a mind map or a journal page to think it out.

• Reach out for help or support.

6. Look after yourself

• Sleep – When we are young, we may foolishly think we need little. Bad move! Sleep affects our emotions, our health, our godliness, and our learning. We will struggle to work, write, read, or think if we sleep too little.

• Similarly, for diet, exercise, sunlight, and social life – We neglect them to our harm, including our studies.

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Image by PIRO from Pixabay

7. But don’t indulge yourself: “I need some me time,” or “I need to focus on self-care.”

• That’s often an excuse to avoid work.

• Build your sustainability practices into your weeks and months. If you suddenly need it when you want to study, then it’s probably a delaying tactic.

8. Practise “Self-compassion” if you “beat yourself up” and think you are terrible for procrastinating.

• How you would treat a friend who struggles with procrastination? Lighten up on yourself.

• You are not alone in this. Others also struggle with procrastination, even if you don’t see it.

• We are all differently made and differently affected by the fall. This may be one of your peculiar struggles. The gospel of grace applies to you too.

9. Location, location, location!

• Pick a place that is dedicated only to focused study and away from distractions. For most, that should be away from your bedroom or kitchen table. It may be a quiet space in the Library or a study room, or it may be in an area with a steady buzz of background noise.

10.   Make the work attractive

• I dreaded the loneliness of essay work at College. It could have been more attractive if I’d had some study buddies, and we set ourselves an afternoon goal: Two hours of work and then fist bumps all around.

• Or if I’d built in some rewards – Chocolate, pizza that evening, ten minutes in the sun, or freedom to go join a touch footie game.

• Or an intangible reward – A pat on the back, a high five with a friend, a notice to my accountability buddies, or a tick on my progress chart.

• Get enthused about your successes – Allow yourself to experience a bit of excitement or pleasure at your successes. These will give you “a dopamine hit,” making you feel better.

11.   Aim to develop new habits – one habit at a time

• Set a fixed time for repetitive tasks. Keep that time brief and achievable: Don’t start with two long hours of Hebrew vocabulary; start with 15 minutes.

• Consider starting to-do lists, if those aren’t your habit. They may help you start new habits.

• Build up gradually, and keep growing to steady habits.

12.   “I don’t feel like it now. But I will feel like it tomorrow.”^[4]

• No, you won’t. So ignore that lame excuse.

• Motivation often arrives after you start a task. Start; you might even like it.

• One study found that “the most significant driver of positive emotions and motivation at work was making progress on the tasks at hand. Set yourself up to make progress, even if it feels small.”[5]

13.   Don’t expect continuous hyperfocus

• We are like sprinters – We can focus intensely for brief bursts, but we can’t sustain that for hours and hours.

• We also have optimal times for mental work (for most of us, it’s 10 AM-2 PM, so we have to work around that at College).

• Do your most demanding work in the best hours you have. Don’t get down on yourself if you can’t do deep work one afternoon – we are variable and get tired. But avoid the trap that says you never are good for deep focus.

14.   Take the long view

• Remember that you make progress one step at a time.

• Don’t get down on yourself because you didn’t finish a major assessment in a week. Celebrate that you made progress.

• Take heart as you make progress against procrastination. You conquer it in small steps, and it is a long journey.

• If you really struggle to study daily, then start with 30 or 60 minutes at a time. Maybe by the end of the year you can build up to three hours per day.

Good reading

My two best books:

From two Canadian academics who specialised in procrastination. They are both clear and practical.

*Pychyl, Timothy. Solving the Procrastination Puzzle. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin.

A solid overall guide. Especially good on “You won’t feel more like it later.”

Before he retired, Pychyl blogged here.

*Sirois, Fuschia. How to Overcome Procrastination (theoverview.art). 30 April 2024.

An excellent brief and practical article. Includes a link to a 15-minute TEDx talk.

The emotional aspects of procrastination, plus salami slicing, reimagining the task, and “self-compassion.”

A few useful blogs:

Dufour, Monique. A Fresh Take on the Pomodoro Technique | Faculty Affairs | Virginia Tech (vt.edu). n. d. Start Pomodoro with 2-30 minutes. Don’t get out of your chair till the time is up.

Kearns, Hugh. Time management and the magical motivation fairy| THE Campus Learn, Share, Connect (timeshighereducation.com). 3 October 2022.

For unpleasant tasks: Set a time, slice off a small bit to do, and then reward yourself.

Procrastination | Psychology Today

                A useful set of blogs by a variety of experts, including Pychyl.

Other books:

Burka, Jane B. and Lenora M. Yuen. Procrastination: Why you do it, What to do about it now. 2^nd ed. Cambridge MA: Perseus Books. 2008.

Old (1983 originally), but the “Solutions” section is still useful. A summary is available here: Procrastination: Book Overview (Lenora Yuen and Jane Burka) (http://shortform.com )

Michael Hyatt & Co. No-Fail Habits. Franklin TN: Michael Hyatt & Co.

“Pick your three most important goals for a year, a month, a week, or a day and focus on those” is his most helpful contribution.

Tracy, Brian. Eat that Frog. 3rd ed. Oakland: Barret-Koehler.

Do the worst task first, and the rest of the day gets better.

[1] Brain Tracy, productivity and ‘success’ coach, popularised this wisdom in Eat that Frog.

[2] Michael Hyatt & Co. No-Fail Habits. Hyatt & Co. No-Fail Habits. Franklin TN: Michael Hyatt & Co.

[3] Fuschia Sirois. How to Overcome Procrastination (theoverview.art). 30 April 2024.

[4] Timothy Pychyl. Solving the Procrastination Puzzle. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin.

[5] Why You Should Make Time for Self-Reflection (Even If You Hate Doing It) (hbr.org)