If you’re a procrastinator, then you’ve probably asked yourself at some point “why do I procrastinate so much?” or “why do I keep procrastinating even though I know that it’s bad for me?”. These are important questions, since understanding why you procrastinate is crucial if you want to figure out how to stop doing it.

The following article will give you the answers to those questions.

Specifically, you will learn about the psychological mechanism behind procrastination, and see a comprehensive list of the reasons why people procrastinate, based on decades of research on the topic. Furthermore, you will learn how this information can help you figure out why you procrastinate, and how you can use it in order to successfully overcome your procrastination.

Note that this article is extensive, since procrastination is a complex problem, that different people experience for different reasons. However, don’t let this discourage; feel free to skim through this article, especially when it comes to the list of reasons why people procrastinate, and focus on the things that are the most relevant to you. Furthermore, if you prefer to just read a summarized version of this article, then simply scroll right on to the next section.

The short version

The main psychological mechanism behind our procrastination is as follows:

When we need to get something done, we rely primarily on our self-control in order to bring ourself to do it.

Our self-control often receives support from our motivation, which helps us get things done in a timely manner.

In some cases, we experience certain demotivating factors, such as anxiety or fear of failure, which have an opposite effect than our motivation.

In addition, we sometimes experience certain hindering factors, such as exhaustion or rewards that are far in the future, which interfere with our self-control and motivation.

When demotivating and hindering factors outweigh our self-control and motivation, we end up procrastinating, either indefinitely, or until we reach a point in time when the balance between them shifts in our favor.

When it comes to specific reasons why people procrastinate, in terms of demotivating and hindering factors, the following are among the most common:

Abstract goals.

Rewards that are far in the future.

A disconnect from our future self.

Feeling overwhelmed.

Anxiety.

Task aversion.

Perfectionism.

Fear of evaluation or negative feedback.

Fear of failure.

A perceived lack of control.

ADHD.

Depression.

Lack of motivation.

Lack of energy.

Sensation seeking.

To successfully deal with your procrastination, you need to figure out why you procrastinate and how your procrastination is preventing you from achieving your goals, so you can formulate a concrete plan of action, based on appropriate anti-procrastination techniques, that will help you deal with your reason for procrastination.

The rest of the article contains more relevant information about the psychology of procrastination, and explains in-depth each of the reasons why people procrastinate.

What is procrastination

Procrastination is the act of unnecessarily postponing decisions or actions. For example, if you need to write an essay, but end up wasting time on the internet even though you know you should be working, that means that you’re procrastinating.

Procrastination is often detrimental to people’s ability to successfully pursue their goals, which is evident, for example, in the fact that procrastination is associated with receiving worse grades at school and earning a lower salary at work. Furthermore, procrastination is also associated with a wide range of secondary issues, such as increased stress and worse physical and mental health.

Why people procrastinate

People often assume that procrastination is simply a matter of willpower, but in reality, the situation is far more complex than that.

When faced with a decision to make or a task to complete, we usually rely on our self-control in order to push ourself to get things done. Furthermore, our motivation, which is based on the expectation of receiving some reward for our efforts, can support our self-control, and make it more likely that we will get things done in a timely manner.

However, there are also various demotivating factors that we can experience, which have an opposite effect than our motivation, meaning that they make us more likely to procrastinate. For example, anxiety, fear of failure, and other negative emotions can cause us to delay unnecessarily, as can being given a task which is unpleasant.

Furthermore, there are some hindering factors that interfere with our self-control and motivation, in a way that also makes us more susceptible to procrastination. For example, exhaustion, which occurs as a result of having to work hard all day, can make it more difficult for us to exert self-control if it’s already late at night. Similarly, a large gap between the time when we complete a task and the time at which we will receive the reward for completing it can cause us to discount the value of this reward, which means that its motivational value will be greatly reduced.

As long as our self-control and motivation outweigh the effects of demotivating factors, despite the hindering factors that interfere with them, we manage to get our work done in a timely manner. However, when all the negative factors outweigh our self-control and motivation, we end up procrastinating, by putting off our work either indefinitely, or until some future point in time when the balance shifts in our favor.

Overall, we procrastinate because our self-control and motivation, which might be hindered by factors such as exhaustion and rewards that are far in the future, are outweighed by demotivating factors, such as anxiety and fear of failure.

This causes us to fail to self-regulate our behavior, which means that we postpone things unnecessarily, even when we know we should be doing them, which is why procrastination often leads to a gap between how we intend to act and how we act in reality.

Note: there are some exceptions to this, in cases where procrastination is driven by some other factor, such as rebelliousness or the desire to add excitement to otherwise boring work. However, for the most part, the mechanism outlined above is the main one which explains why people procrastinate.

Reasons for procrastination

This section contains a comprehensive list of the specific reasons why people procrastinate, based primarily on the psychological mechanism which was outlined in the previous section.

If you’re wondering why you yourself procrastinate, look through this list, and try to figure out which of these causes of procrastination apply to you. Try to be reflective and honest with yourself while you do this, since figuring out the underlying causes of your procrastination is crucial if you want to be able to successfully overcome it.

Note that not everything here will apply to you, so feel free to skim through the list, and read primarily about reasons that you think could apply in your particular situation.

Abstract goals

People are more likely to procrastinate when their goals are vague or abstract, compared to when their goals are concrete and clearly defined.

For example, goals such as “get fit” or “start exercising” are relatively vague, and are therefore likely to lead to procrastination. Conversely, a goal such as “go to the gym on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday right after work, and spend at least 30 minutes on the treadmill, running at high speed” is concrete, and is therefore much more likely to lead you to take action.

Furthermore, note that in addition to a lack of a clear definition, there are other factors that can make a goal feel abstract. For example, according to construal-level theory, goals that are perceived as highly improbable are also perceived as relatively abstract. This means that if a person finds it unlikely that they will attain a certain goal, this can cause them to view that goal as abstract, which in turn can increase the likelihood that they will procrastinate on it.

Rewards that are far in the future

People often procrastinate on tasks which are associated with rewards that they will only receive a while after completing the task, since people tend to discount the value of rewards that are far in the future, a phenomenon known as temporal discounting or delay discounting.

For example, it’s easier to discount the value of attaining a good grade on an exam while that exam is still weeks away compared to when it’s only days away, which is one of the reasons why people wait until right before the deadline to complete necessary tasks.

Accordingly, people often display a present bias when they choose to engage in activities that reward them in the short-term, at the expense of working on tasks that would lead to better outcomes for them in the long term.

Note that the relationship between the time it takes to receive a reward and the perceived value of that reward is usually inconsistent, as the rate of discounting decreases over time. Essentially, this means that the farther into the future a reward is, the less the increase in time matters, when it comes to lowering that reward’s perceived value.

For example, while there is a big difference in how we value a reward that we can receive now compared to a reward we can receive in a week, there is a much smaller difference in how we value a reward we can receive in a year compared to a reward we can receive in a year plus a week. Similarly, while there is a big difference between receiving a reward in a day compared to in a year, there is less of a difference between receiving a reward in a year compared to receiving it in two years.

This phenomenon is called hyperbolic discounting, and it’s contrasted with exponential discounting, which is a time-consistent model of temporal discounting, where an increased delay before receiving a reward always has the same effect on its perceived value, regardless of how far in the future it is.

Finally, note that the same concept can also apply to punishments, in addition to rewards. Essentially, this means that the farther in the future a potential punishment is, the less it motivates people to take action.

A disconnect from our future self

People sometimes procrastinate because they view their future self as being disconnected from their present-self, a phenomenon known as temporal self-discontinuity or temporal disjunction.

For example, someone might delay when it comes to eating healthy, even if their doctor told them that it’s important, because the harmful impact of their present diet will only start being a serious issue in a couple of years, which they view as someone else’s problem (i.e. as the problem of their future self).

This disconnect between the present and future selves can cause people to procrastinate in a variety of ways. For example, it can cause them to think that their present-self shouldn’t have to worry about the future, since their future self will be the one who has to handle any tasks that they postpone or deal with any consequences for failing to complete those tasks on time. Similarly, it can cause them to think that their present-self shouldn’t have to bother with getting things done now, if their future self will be the one who reaps the rewards of their actions.

A focus on future options

People sometimes avoid taking action in the present because they intend or hope to pursue a more attractive course of action in the future. This mindset can lead to long-term procrastination, and persist even in cases where the person who is procrastinating never ends up following through on their intended plan.

For example, a person might avoid starting to exercise on their own at home, because they plan to join a gym and start a detailed workout plan later, despite the fact that getting started now would still be beneficial and wouldn’t prevent them from switching to a more serious exercise plan in the future.

Optimism about the future

People sometimes procrastinate on tasks because they are optimistic about their ability to complete those tasks in the future. This optimism can pertain to two main things, and namely to the amount of time which will be available for the completion of the task, or to the person’s inherent ability to complete the task.

For example, a student might decide to postpone getting started on an assignment that is due a few weeks from now, because they feel that there will be plenty of time to get it done later. In many cases, this form of optimism might occur as a result of underestimating the time it will take to complete the tasks in questions; this phenomenon is known as the planning fallacy, and it can lead both procrastinators as well as non-procrastinators to assume that they will finish upcoming tasks earlier than they actually will.

Similarly, a person might decide, after struggling to get started on a task, to postpone it to the next day, because they believe that tomorrow they will be able to bring themself to work on it, even if they have postponed the same task in the exact same manner several times in the past. In many cases, this form of optimism involves an overestimation of future abilities, and it’s important to note that people who are prone to procrastination often promise to themselves that “things will be different next time”, when it comes to procrastinating on tasks.

Indecisiveness

People sometimes procrastinate because they are unable to make decisions in a timely manner. This can be an issue in various ways, such as when a person can’t decide which course of action to engage in, or when a person needs to make a certain decision before they can move ahead with their general plan of action.

For example, a person might delay starting to diet, because they can’t decide which diet plan to follow. Similarly, a person might delay getting started on their research paper, because they can’t decide which topic to write about.

There are various factors that generally make it more likely that someone will get stuck over-thinking the situation while trying to make a decision, a phenomenon which is sometimes referred to as analysis paralysis or choice paralysis. The main factors to consider, from a practical perspective, are the following:

The more options you have, the harder it will be for you to choose. Essentially, the more options you have to choose from, the harder it will be for you to evaluate them and decide which one is preferable.

Essentially, the more options you have to choose from, the harder it will be for you to evaluate them and decide which one is preferable. The more similar your options are to one another, the harder it will be for you to choose. Essentially, the more similar the available options are, and the closer they are in value, the harder it will be for you to decide which one is better, especially in cases where there isn’t a single option that is clearly preferable to the others.

Essentially, the more similar the available options are, and the closer they are in value, the harder it will be for you to decide which one is better, especially in cases where there isn’t a single option that is clearly preferable to the others. The more important the choice is, the harder it will be for you to choose. Essentially, the greater the consequences of making a decision, the harder it will be for you to finalize your decision, so that you are generally more likely to delay before making a major decision than you are before making a minor one.

In addition, it’s important to keep in mind that each time you have to make a decision, you end up depleting your mental resources to some degree, especially if you are prone to indecisiveness. Accordingly, the more decisions you have to make during a certain time period, the more you deplete your capacity for self-control, and the more likely you are to procrastinate in making future decisions, at least until you have a chance to recharge yourself mentally.

Finally, note that this form of procrastination is generally referred to as decisional procrastination, since it involves a delay in making a decision. It is therefore contrasted with behavioral procrastination, which involves a delay in performing a task once you’ve decided on your preferred course of action.

Feeling overwhelmed

People sometimes procrastinate because they feel overwhelmed with regard to the tasks that they need to handle. A feeling of overwhelm can occur due to a variety of reasons, such as having a single task that feels huge in terms of scope, or having a large number of small tasks that add up. When this happens, a person might simply decide to avoid the tasks in question, or they might attempt to handle them, but then end up feeling paralyzed before those tasks are completed.

For example, if you need to clean up your entire house, the fact that the task will take so long and involve so many parts might cause you to feel overwhelmed, in which case you might avoid getting started on it in the first place.

Anxiety

People sometimes procrastinate because they feel anxious about a task that they need to handle.

For example, someone who feels anxious about checking their bills might repeatedly delay doing so, even though this avoidance won’t make the problem go away.

This issue can be especially problematic in cases where a person’s anxiety increases as a result of their procrastination, which can lead to a feedback loop where someone feels anxious about a certain task, which causes them to procrastinate instead of doing it, which makes them even more anxious, which in turn causes them to procrastinate even further.

Task aversion

People often procrastinate because they are averse to the tasks that they need to perform.

For example, if you need to make an important phone call to someone you dislike, you might end up procrastinating instead of just getting it done, because you don’t want to talk to them.

This occurs because, in general, the more people find a certain task unappealing, the more likely they are to want to avoid it, and therefore the more likely they are to procrastinate.

Note that there are many things that can make a person averse to a task in a way that causes them to procrastinate on it. For example, a person might procrastinate because they perceive a task as frustrating, tedious, or boring, or they might procrastinate because they believe there is a gap between the difficulty of the task and their own competence, which means that they feel that the task is too difficult for them to handle.

Perfectionism

People sometimes procrastinate as a result of their perfectionism. Perfectionism can lead to procrastination in a number of ways, such as by making someone so afraid of making a mistake that they end up not taking any action at all, or by making someone so worried of publishing something with any flaws that they end up reworking their project indefinitely instead of releasing it when it’s ready.

For example, someone might delay working on their book, because they want every line that they write down to be perfect from the start, which causes them to not write anything at all. Similarly, someone who has finished writing their book might repeatedly delay sending it out for feedback, because they want to make sure that it’s absolutely flawless first, so they keep going over it, again and again.

While it’s reasonable to want to create and publish high-quality work, the problem starts when perfectionists aim for unattainable flawlessness, which causes them to procrastinate by giving them a seemingly valid excuse for unnecessary delays.

In that regard, note that perfectionism doesn’t always lead to procrastination, and there are even situations where a person’s perfectionism can make them less likely to procrastinate, by pushing them to do a good job and complete their tasks in a timely manner. As such, perfectionism isn’t always a negative thing, and only leads to issues when it causes people to unnecessarily delay things because they’re overly worried about their work not being flawless.

Fear of evaluation or negative feedback

People sometimes procrastinate because they are afraid of being evaluated or because they are afraid of receiving negative feedback from others.

For example, someone might delay publicizing a project that they worked on, because they’re worried about what other people are going to think about it.

In many cases, people’s fears in this regard are irrationally exaggerated or unjustified, either because the chances of receiving negative feedback are low, or because the consequences of that feedback aren’t as significant as they feel.

In addition, note that in some cases, it’s possible for fear of evaluation or fear of negative feedback to make people less likely to procrastinate, by motivating them to get their work done in a timely manner. Whether the influence of this fear is positive or negative depends on a variety of factors, such as how anxious a person feels about the upcoming evaluation, and how confident they are in their ability to successfully handle the task at hand.

Fear of failure

People often procrastinate because they’re afraid of failing at the tasks that they need to complete. This fear of failure can promote procrastination in various ways, such as by causing people to avoid finishing a task, or by causing them to avoid getting started on a task in the first place.

For example, someone might be so worried that their business idea will fail, that they end up continuing to work on it indefinitely, without ever making it available to the public.

How afraid someone is of failing is generally related to how important the task in question is, so that more important tasks are often associated with higher levels of procrastination, in cases where fear of failure is the driving cause behind the person’s procrastination.

Furthermore, certain personality traits, such as low self-esteem and low self-confidence, are associated with an increased fear of failure, which makes people who have these traits more likely to procrastinate. Moreover, fear of failure is an especially serious issue among those who suffer from high levels of self-doubt, and particularly among those who are prone to having negative, irrational beliefs about their abilities.

In addition, note that fear of failure doesn’t always cause people to procrastinate. Rather, fear of failure promotes procrastination primarily when it reduces people’s sense of autonomy, or when people feel incapable of dealing with a task that they’re afraid to fail at. Conversely, when people feel that they are well-equipped to deal with a certain task, fear of failure can serve as a motivating factor, that encourages people to avoid procrastinating.

Finally, keep in mind that fear of failure, perfectionism, and fear of negative feedback are all strongly related to each other, but one doesn’t necessitate the others, and a person might be influenced by any combination of these factors. For example, someone might be confident in their ability to perform a task well but still worry about receiving unjustified negative feedback from others, or they might worry about failing at something even if no one else will know about it.

Self-handicapping

People sometimes procrastinate as a way of placing barriers in their own way, so that if they fail their failures could be attributed to their procrastination rather than their abilities, a behavior which is referred to as self-handicapping.

For example, a student might procrastinate instead of studying for a test, because they prefer knowing that they failed due to their procrastination, instead of knowing that they failed because they were unable to understand the material well.

As a result of this defense mechanism, certain procrastinators spend more time procrastinating if they believe that they are likely to fail when it comes to the task at hand, especially if they feel that failure will reflect badly on them.

Self-sabotage

People sometimes procrastinate due to their tendency to engage in self-defeating behaviors, which means that they actively try to sabotage their own progress.

For example, a person might delay applying for a new job, even though they knew that it represents a great opportunity for career advancement, because they feel that they don’t deserve to be at a better place in life.

There are various reasons why people engage in self-sabotage, and individuals who procrastinate for this reason tend to also engage in other types of related behaviors, such as pushing away people who treat them well.

Low self-efficacy

Self-efficacy reflects a person’s belief in their ability to successfully achieve their goals, and in some cases, having a low degree of self-efficacy can cause a person to procrastinate.

For example, if someone is given a task that they don’t think they can handle, they might delay getting started on it, because they feel that they will most likely fail to complete it anyway.

Note that people can have different levels of self-efficacy with regard to different domains in their life. For instance, a person might have high levels of academic self-efficacy, but low levels of social self-efficacy, which means that they believe in their abilities when it comes to tasks that are academic in nature, but not when it comes to tasks that are social in nature.

Furthermore, self-efficacy can relate to specific tasks or abilities. The most notable among these, in this context, is self-efficacy with regard to your ability to self-regulate your behavior, in order to get yourself to complete tasks in a timely manner. This is because the belief that you will be unable to avoid procrastinating could become a self-fulfilling prophecy, which encourages you to procrastinate in situations where you might have otherwise been able to get your work done on time.

A perceived lack of control

People sometimes procrastinate because they feel incapable of controlling the outcomes of events in their life.

For example, a person might delay getting started on an assignment at work, if they feel that their boss will criticize it regardless of how much effort they put into it.

Though this perceived lack of control can play a role in specific, isolated cases, some people are more predisposed to feeling a general lack of control than others. This issue is operationalized through the concept of locus of control, which is the degree to which people believe that they have control over events in their life. The locus of control is described on a spectrum of internality and externality:

Individuals who are internally oriented believe that they have a high degree of control over their life.

believe that they have a high degree of control over their life. Individuals who are externally oriented believe that they have a low degree of control over their life, and think that external factors, such as other people or their environment, influence them more strongly.

Individuals who are internally oriented tend to get started and complete tasks on time, while individuals who are externally oriented tend to procrastinate more, perform worse on tasks, and experience more anxiety.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

Some people procrastinate as a result of their ADHD.

For example, a person might procrastinate because their ADHD makes it hard for them to concentrate on a single task for long, especially once it gets boring, so they constantly jump from one task to another, without finishing any of them.

In general, research shows that there is a significant correlation between engaging in ADHD-related behaviors and procrastination. This is expected, given the fact that many ADHD behaviors can lead directly to procrastination, and given that various forms of procrastinatory behaviors are sometimes viewed as direct symptoms of ADHD.

However, note that not all forms of ADHD are equally associated with procrastination, and research on the topic suggests that symptoms of ADHD which have to do with inattention are more strongly associated with procrastination than symptoms which have to do with hyperactivity or impulsivity.

Depression

Some people procrastinate because they suffer from underlying depression. This is because depression can lead to issues such as fatigue, difficulty in concentrating, and a reduced interest in activities, which in turn can cause people to procrastinate.

For example, someone who is depressed might repeatedly postpone cleaning their room or going out to get groceries, because they simply don’t have enough mental energy.

Lack of motivation

People often procrastinate because they are not motivated enough to work on a given task.

For example, a student might procrastinate when it comes to studying for a test in a subject that isn’t relevant to their major, because they don’t care about getting a good grade on it.

This is often an issue when the main motivation for performing a task is extrinsic, as in the case of someone who is pressured by their parents to do well in school, rather than intrinsic, as in the case of someone who simply wants to feel that they’ve successfully learned the material. Accordingly, when people are driven to complete a certain task by an external source of motivation, they generally display higher levels of procrastination than when they are driven by an internal and autonomous source of motivation.

Furthermore, there are various other reasons why people can be unmotivated to work on a task. For example, in some cases, people are unmotivated because they don’t value the reward for performing the task, or because they experience a disconnect between the task that they need to perform and the reward that is associated with it.

Finally, note that different people have different levels of general achievement motivation, which means that some people are more driven and motivated than others to pursue their goals in life. Accordingly, those who have lower levels of achievement motivation are more likely to procrastinate on various tasks.

Lack of energy

People are generally more likely to procrastinate if they suffer from low energy levels, in terms of physical or mental energy.

For example, someone who is tired after having worked hard all day might find it harder to exercise self-control when they get home late at night, which could cause them to procrastinate on things they need to take care of such as washing the dishes.

Laziness

Laziness reflects a person’s intrinsic unwillingness to put in the effort needed to achieve their goals, even when they are able to do so. In some cases, a person’s laziness can be one of the driving forces behind their procrastination.

For example, someone might procrastinate when it comes to doing the dishes, because they simply don’t feel like getting up and doing it.

However, note that in many situations, people might assume that their procrastination is driven by laziness, when in reality it’s actually occurring due to some other underlying reason, such as anxiety or fear of failure.

In addition, note that although laziness and lack of motivation appear similar, these are two separate issues. For example, it’s possible for someone to be highly motivated to pursue a certain goal, but at the same time not make any progress toward it because they’re unwilling to put in the necessary work.

Prioritization of short-term mood

People often procrastinate because they prioritize their feelings in the present, and do things that will help them feel better right now, even if this comes at the expense of taking action that aligns with their long-term goals, a phenomenon which is known as short-term mood repair.

For example, a student might delay getting started on an assignment by wasting hours on activities such as browsing social media, playing video games, and watching TV, because doing so is more pleasant in the short-term than working on the task at hand.

Essentially, this form of procrastination, which is sometimes referred to as hedonistic delay, occurs when people give in to their desire for instant gratification, and engage in behaviors that are satisfying in the short-term, instead of working on the tasks that will benefit them more in the long-term.

This kind of behavior relates to the concept of the pleasure principle, which is the tendency to seek out pleasurable activities and avoid unpleasant ones. While this tendency is natural and instinctive, it becomes a serious issue when a person is unable to control it, since it causes them to continuously pursue short-term satisfaction, at the expense of long-term achievement and development.

Low capacity for self-control

Self-control reflects a person’s ability to self-regulate their behavior in order to bring themself to follow through on their intentions, and take action that is in their best interest, particularly in the long-term. A lack of self-control makes people much more likely to procrastinate, which is not surprising, given that self-control is crucial when it comes to allowing people to self-regulate their behavior.

For example, a person low on self-control might browse social media for hours, while continually telling themself that they’ll get started on their work in just a few minutes, despite the fact that there is no reason for them to delay.

Lack of self-control can cause people to procrastinate in itself, and can also make them more likely to procrastinate as a result of other issues, such as task aversion or fear of failure.

Note that, in many cases, insufficient self-control can lead people to engage in behaviors that are easy and accessible, even if they’re not inherently appealing, instead of working on tasks that are more inherently appealing, but which would necessitate more effort.

For example, lack of self-control could lead people to browse social media instead of working on their favorite project, even if they don’t derive much pleasure from doing so, and even if they would feel better if they were working on their preferred project.

Lack of perseverance

Perseverance is the ability to maintain goal-driven behavior in the face of obstacles. A lack of perseverance makes people more likely to procrastinate, especially when it comes to finishing tasks that they’ve already started working on.

For example, a lack of perseverance could cause someone to stop working on their favorite side project, because they feel that they’ve reached a stage in development that is difficult and challenging.

Impulsivity

Impulsivity is the tendency to act on a whim, without planning ahead or considering the consequences of your actions. Impulsivity is strongly associated with the tendency to procrastinate, since the decision to procrastinate is often an impulsive one, such as when people ignore the long-term consequences of their actions, or when they fail to plan their work ahead of time.

For example, an impulsive person might end up procrastinating on an assignment that they’re currently working on, by suddenly deciding to go out with friends, even though the assignment is due soon and they need to work on it now if they want to be able to turn it in on time.

Distractibility

Distractibility is the inability to focus your attention on one thing at a time or to stay focused for long in general. High levels of distractibility can make a person more likely to procrastinate, such as when they lead people to constantly switch from one locus of attention to another.

For example, a person who is studying for a test might end up procrastinating because they are constantly distracted by the notifications on their phone. Similarly, someone might delay finishing various projects that they started working on, because they keep getting distracted by ideas for exciting new projects.

Sensation seeking

People sometimes procrastinate because they like to wait until right before the deadline to start working on tasks, in order to add pressure, challenge, and excitement to those tasks.

For example, a student might wait until the night before a class presentation is due to start working on it, because they feel that doing so will make the otherwise boring act of preparing the presentation more exciting.

In some cases, this type of delay can lead to positive outcomes, such as when it motivates a person to work hard on a task that they would otherwise find tedious. However, in most cases, this sort of delay leads to negative outcomes in terms of performance. Furthermore, postponing tasks for this reason can often increase the amount of stress that people experience, and can also hinder their performance in situations where the delay means that they don’t have enough time to deal with any unexpected issues that they encounter in their work.

Note that some researchers refer to procrastination that occurs for this reason as arousal procrastination, in contrast with avoidant procrastination. However, this distinction has been criticized, and it’s not crucial to understand it from a practical perspective, as long as you understand that this is a reason why some people procrastinate.

Rebellion

Sometimes people procrastinate as an act of rebellion, generally against an authority figure, by postponing a task that they resent being given.

For example, an office worker might procrastinate on an assignment that they got at work, because they dislike their boss, and because they resent the fact that their boss sets their deadlines for them.

How to stop procrastinating

In this article, you saw a comprehensive list of reasons why people procrastinate.

This knowledge is valuable from a practical perspective, because understanding why people procrastinate can help you understand why you yourself procrastinate, and because once you understand that, you can successfully figure out how to solve your procrastination problem.

For example, if you notice that you procrastinate because you use abstract goals, you can make sure to define more concrete goals for yourself. Similarly, if you notice that you procrastinate because you feel overwhelmed by a large task that you have to deal with, you can break that task apart into a series of small tasks that you will feel more comfortable handling.

Specifically, if you want to successfully overcome your procrastination, here are the main steps that you should follow:

Start by establishing your goals . When doing this, make sure to define your goals as clearly as possible, and make sure that these goals are significant enough that they’ll allow you to make meaningful progress, while also being possible for you to accomplish in reality.

. When doing this, make sure to define your goals as clearly as possible, and make sure that these goals are significant enough that they’ll allow you to make meaningful progress, while also being possible for you to accomplish in reality. Next, figure out the exact nature of your procrastination problem . You can do this by thinking about cases where you procrastinated, and then identifying when, how, and why you did so.

. You can do this by thinking about cases where you procrastinated, and then identifying when, how, and why you did so. Then, create a plan of action . This plan should involve a combination of relevant anti-procrastination techniques, that will allow you to deal with situations where your procrastination problem is preventing you from achieving your goals.

. This plan should involve a combination of relevant anti-procrastination techniques, that will allow you to deal with situations where your procrastination problem is preventing you from achieving your goals. Finally, implement your plan of action. As time goes by, make sure to monitor your progress and refine this plan, by modifying or dropping anti-procrastination techniques based on how well they work for you, and by adding new ones if you think they could help.

When it comes to anti-procrastination techniques, here are some examples of relevant ones that you can use:

Prioritize tasks based on how important they are.

Break large and overwhelming tasks into small and actionable pieces.

Get started on tasks by committing to only work on them for a few minutes.

Remove distractions from your work environment.

Identify when you’re most and least productive, and schedule your tasks accordingly.

Set intermediate deadlines for yourself on your way to your final goals.

Create a daily goal and mark streaks of days on which you’ve successfully achieved it.

Reward yourself when you successfully implement your plan of action.

Focus on your goals instead of on the tasks that you have to complete.

Visualize your future self experiencing the outcomes of your work.

Count to ten before you indulge the impulse to procrastinate.

Avoid a perfectionist mindset by accepting that your work will have some flaws.

Develop a belief in your ability to successfully overcome your procrastination.

If you want to learn more about this concept, take a look at the follow-up guide on how to stop procrastinating. It contains an in-depth explanation of the process that you should use in order to beat procrastination, and of the various anti-procrastination techniques that you can use.

Summary and main takeaways

We rely primarily on our self-control in order to get things done in a timely manner, though our motivation to be rewarded for our efforts can often provide our self-control with a helpful boost.

There are various demotivating factors that have an opposite effect than our motivation, meaning that they make us more likely to procrastinate; this includes, for example, anxiety, fear of failure, perfectionism, and task aversion.

Furthermore, there are also hindering factors that interfere directly with our self-control and motivation, meaning that they too make us more likely to procrastinate; this includes, for example, goals that are abstract, goals that are distant in time, and a disconnect between our present and future selves.

When demotivating and hindering factors outweigh our self-control and motivation, we end up procrastinating either indefinitely, or until some point in the future when the balance between them shifts in our favor.

In some cases, we might also be driven to procrastination by other factors, such as self-sabotage, sensation-seeking, or rebelliousness.

In conclusion

There are many reasons why people procrastinate, and a person might procrastinate for any number of them.

Understanding why people procrastinate is beneficial, since it can help you figure out why you yourself procrastinate, which in turn can help you figure out how to solve your procrastination problem. To learn more about this, and to understand how you can implement this knowledge in practice, read the follow-up guide on how to stop procrastinating.