6.12 Procrastination Reasons

If you’ve ever procrastinated, do any of these self-talk statements resonate with you?

• I’d rather work on easier tasks first.
• I can’t get started until I get these smaller tasks out of the way first.
• I’m afraid others will expect more of me if I do well.
• I’m concerned about what will go wrong.
• I’d rather not try than try and fail.
• I am too busy right now.
• I don’t have the energy.
• I have too many other important things going on right now.
• I’m distracted by other things.
• I don’t know what I’m doing.
• I feel too stressed or anxious to address the task.
• I don’t know what my first step should be.
• I’m afraid of what other tasks I will uncover if I start working on this project.
• I know the tasks will require a lot of effort and hard work.
• I work well under pressure, so I like to leave things to the last minute.
• I can’t do all of it now, so I will wait until I have time to complete all of it at once.
• I don’t feel like it.
• I’m not interested or invested in this task.
• This won’t take me that long; I’ll just do it tomorrow.
• I’m waiting on someone else.
• I don’t have enough information to make a decision.
• I’m waiting for a sign that it’s the right time to get started.
• I’m waiting for a sign that this is the right course of action.

Whatever the reason for procrastination, we do know that procrastination doesn’t really help us cope long-term and generally only makes stress worse. Procrastination can also be cumulative, leading to a repetitive cycle of stress and other less desirable outcomes.