Procrastination and self-sabotage: what it is, scientific basis and how to deal with it

What is procrastination

Procrastination involves putting off important things for later, delaying their completion as much as possible. At the same time, these actions cannot be explained by humans. He just starts doing any other things: watching TV, playing computer games, communicating on social networks.

A person realizes that it is necessary to cope with a very important task and solve it, but in the brain there is a reason why there will be nothing terrible, for example, going to social networks. Engaging in extraneous matters leads to unpleasant emotions in the form of remorse and guilt.

Such torment forces them to solve an important problem, and the procrastinator begins to complete it. But, it turns out that today’s mail has not yet been viewed, and right now it is necessary to respond to all letters. And you can solve the problem later. And so constantly, then one thing appears, then another.

There are two types of procrastination.

The person avoids making decisions.
Delays execution of tasks.

As a result of such actions: missed deadlines or work in emergency mode, stress, anxiety.

Danger of the phenomenon

Procrastination typically leads to:

low quality of the result, even if the task is completed on time;
lack of time to evaluate results, identify possible shortcomings and eliminate them in a timely manner;
feelings of guilt, fear, anxiety, sleep disturbance.

This negatively affects not only work, but also the psychological state of a person, as well as health in general.

Difference from laziness

Procrastination should not be confused with ordinary laziness.

Lazy people are not hard-working and prefer to relax rather than work. They don't care about solving problems in principle.

Read more: How to discipline yourself and form healthy habits

Unlike slackers, procrastinators only postpone their actions until the future, and at the same time they are very worried.

And if the rest of lazy people does not lead to a loss of energy, procrastinators lose it.

Scientific justification for the development of the problem

Since ancient times, people have been faced with procrastination. The Roman philosopher Seneca wrote: “As long as we put off life, it passes,” i.e. even then humanity understood that delay in solving primary problems is a problem.

Today, the phenomenon of procrastination is studied in psychology. Many experts note that this problem, as it develops, is fraught with negative consequences. Canadian psychologist Piers Steele drew attention to the fact that such behavior, despite awareness, is not capable of becoming a source of significant bonuses - neither psychological nor material.

Psychologists who study procrastination know that it can cause fear. The person understands that he is doing wrong and that he needs to attend to the primary task. He is afraid of possible negative consequences, but at the same time he cannot start an important business. Fear gradually increases. With procrastination, it does not push you to action, but affects you like paralysis.

Manifestations of procrastination

Analyze your behavior. The alarm bells are:

performing low-priority tasks and postponing complex and important problems;
lack of quick decision making;
the process of solving an important task is accompanied by constant distraction to other matters;
your to-do list doesn’t get smaller for a long time, important things remain on it for a long time;
you need “special inspiration” or “the right time” to do something important.

If you have identified one or more of the above signs, think about what could have caused them.

Why do we procrastinate?

Let's look at why the brain constantly finds problems that are a reason to put off more pressing matters. There are many theories about the origin of this phenomenon.

Thus, Chris Bailey in his book “My Productive Year” identifies the following six reasons for procrastination.

The upcoming task is boring. The process of doing it itself does not give a person pleasure.
Our efforts seem fruitless. A person does not understand how big problems will be solved with his help and the goal will be achieved.
The work seems difficult. There is a feeling that it will not be possible to cope with it.
The problem is unstructured or requires an ambiguous approach. It is not clear where to start and how to continue working.
There is no personal value for you in solving the problem. It is not clear why this is necessary. No motivation.
The upcoming case does not contain a reward. The results of such work are not immediately noticeable.

If there is not one, but several such components, it is especially difficult to start a business.

It is not surprising that a person puts off the most important and difficult things until later. After all, their value is maximum dedication, and the process of implementation often requires overcoming difficulties. As a rule, solving such problems requires a lot of effort, more time to complete, more energy costs, etc. But it is thanks to them that real changes occur in a person’s life.

What happens at the physiological level?

It turns out that procrastination is a fascinating struggle between two systems in the brain:

limbic system, which is involved in the regulation of emotions and forces a person to act at the level of instincts and
the prefrontal cortex, which is involved in planning complex cognitive behavior, expressing personality, making decisions, and regulating social behavior. It is she who makes us set goals, go and achieve them.

The struggle happens all the time, even while reading this article. If the limbic system wins, it means that you took up reading at the expense of more important things. If prefrontal, you have allocated time for self-development, you perform the planned action.

This struggle is created by our lives. The limbic system often wins.

Notice that when we think that we need to do something tomorrow or later, it always seems to us that there will be no problems solving the problem. But after waking up in the morning, the difficulties do not disappear; on the contrary, a feeling of fatigue appears, something begins to interfere. The idea becomes much more unsightly than in the plans.

What happens at the physiological level?

Experts have concluded that when we imagine ourselves or another, cooler person in the future, the brain’s reaction is practically no different. Therefore, for our brain, you in the future have the same traits as your idol. The brain doesn't differentiate between you.

This must be realized, since this fact has a huge impact on productive activity. You imagine yourself in the future as a more concentrated, energetic, intelligent, charismatic person who will do all the things planned or postponed. In the meantime, I will be able to watch a movie in the present time, chat with friends, etc.

Read more: How to stop procrastinating? Characteristics of people of action and inaction

How to cope with yourself

To change yourself for the better, you need to have the opportunity and potential for improvement, as well as an inner desire.

Prioritization

There are 24 hours in a day, so a person only has time to sleep, rest and work. The time allocated to work should be productive. It can turn out this way thanks to correctly set priorities.

You can set priorities using the Eisenhower Matrix. It consists of four quadrants, which are built using two axes - the axis of urgency (vertical) and the axis of importance (horizontal).

Each quadrant includes different activities:

Quadrant A – important and urgent matters. It is advisable that it always be empty. The appearance of cases in this sector may be a sign that a person is not solving problems from other quadrants in a timely manner. If important and urgent matters appear suddenly, then they need to be dealt with first.
Quadrant B – important but not urgent matters. They should be a priority on the list of all existing tasks. The speed and correctness of their decisions affect the overall success.
Quadrant C – urgent but not important matters. Often they are distracting and do not influence the approach to the intended result.
Quadrant D – other matters that are not urgent and important. Psychologists call them “time sinks.” Such tasks should be done last, and in some cases they can be abandoned.

Focusing attention

In a given period of time, a person needs to solve only one problem, without paying attention to anything else. The principle of focusing helps you get things done more efficiently. Proof of this is the work of the juggler. In one second, he only watches the ball that falls into his hand. Next, he switches to transferring this ball to the other hand and tossing it. At these moments the juggler does not pay attention to other objects.

You can change your life for the better just by reading and studying this article.

Planning and simplifying goals

When fighting procrastination, it is recommended to create an individual plan for yourself every day. This process speeds up the achievement of the goal, because it represents the preparation of a practical guide to action. There is even a “6 P” rule in time management: the process of pre-planning prevents poor performance.

You can also try to simplify your existing goals. Often people become procrastinators because their brain perceives tasks as too difficult and impossible to complete. He doesn't want to experience tension and discomfort.

Self-discipline and relaxation

Self-discipline is a personality quality that is expressed in self-control, self-organization, the ability to carry out work according to a previously established plan, show responsibility and not be led by one’s emotions and mood. Self-discipline is not a character trait. This is a useful skill that you can and should develop in yourself, because all great people achieved success thanks to it.

Before you begin to develop this quality, psychologists advise understanding that each person has one of the components of their personality that can be called a child. She opposes the development of self-discipline until contact and conversation are established with her.

There are 2 approaches to strengthening self-discipline:

Bringing unconscious processes to the conscious level. The inner child constantly whines and convinces that it is not worth wasting time on any activity. When fighting, he uses methods such as a cynical, defeatist, negative attitude towards everything, avoidance, and postponement. A person should learn to recognize and distinguish between these mechanisms of influence. Action-oriented internal dialogue can help in dealing with a child.
Introducing existing goals and objectives to the subconscious, internal level. The following methods help in implementing this approach:

relaxation (if, while doing something, a process of avoidance has begun, fears and tension have arisen, then you should stop, take a few deep breaths and exhales and imagine how the negative charge leaves and the state seems to be “zeroed”);
positive rereading of goals (if you do this exercise daily, your goals will gradually move to the subconscious level);
the thought “everything will go easily” (this is what you should think when you have to solve a difficult problem).

Choosing the Right Activities

A person is accustomed to thinking that all his affairs are important. However, you can safely refuse many tasks. When working on yourself, it is recommended to cross out from your daily plan those things that do not matter, have become less important or have lost relevance.