Have you ever had to complete a task, but didn’t feel like it? So you put off that task again and again but one day you stumbled upon your deadline… Yes, that is procrastination.
To understand why we procrastinate, we have to understand where it comes from. Procrastination can come from depression, feeling burned out, overwhelming events, anxiety, overthinking. In fact, I was procrastinating on another task, so I decided to write this instead.
Depression and anxiety are the main sources of procrastination. Mainly depression has a big effect on people’s productivity. Anxiety can cause panic attacks which result in putting off a task until a deadline. There are also people that work well under pressure and leave their task until minutes before their deadline.
Burning out is quite common in the society we live in. It’s when we can’t balance work and rest, consequently leaving our brain and body in a complete bad condition. A burnout can result in procrastinating, because we list our priorities when we’re burned out. We do whatever is most important first because we may not be able to do it later. But a burnout can also result in slow productivity. We can’t do anything faster when we’re not properly fed, rested and organised.
In conclusion, procrastination isn’t laziness but it is simply the way of our mental system telling us to stop, take a breath and get some rest. It is reminding us to reasonably manage our time and not repeat the same mistake again. So if you ever procrastinate again, just remember to take some rest or if you work better under pressure, put a timer on. Be sure to look after your mental health as well!
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