Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsWhat Is Procrastination?What Causes Procrastination?Revenge Bedtime ProcrastinationNegative ImpactsHow to OvercomeFrequently Asked Questions
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
What Is Procrastination?
What Causes Procrastination?
Revenge Bedtime Procrastination
Negative Impacts
How to Overcome
Frequently Asked Questions
This article will discuss the types of procrastination, what causes them, the negative impacts, and how to overcome procrastination.
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Procrastination is when a person delays a task or puts something off until the last minute or even past the deadline.
Procrastinators will often do other tasks in advance of starting or returning to a task or commitment they’re avoiding. For example, if there’s a difficult conversation to be had at work, procrastinators may take on other tasks to avoid the anticipated discomfort.
Impending deadlines may prompt procrastinators to check out on social media until the last minute or to do menial household activities like sweeping and washing floors, or other tasks they’ve been procrastinating doing for longer, like answering emails.
One estimate from 2010 claims that 20% of U.S. adults are procrastinators.Estimates may be higher today due to the ever-present distractions of technology and social media.
Types of Procrastination
Identifying what type of procrastinator you are is the beginning step in changing your behavior. There are six types of procrastination based on the main perceived issue causing the behavior:
While everyone’s reasons for procrastinating are unique, there may be a common element of fear andperfectionismmotivating procrastinating behavior. Perfectionism makes a person want to do every task flawlessly, which becomes a block to getting things done and leads to procrastination.
Procrastination is also associated with higher levels of anxiety and depression.
Anxiety and Procrastination
What Is Revenge Bedtime Procrastination?
Revenge bedtime procrastinationis when a person sacrifices sleep for staying up later and doing whatever they didn’t have time to do during the day. This may include scrolling through social media, watching television past bedtime, or so close to bedtime that it disrupts your total sleep.
This isn’t the same as truly unwinding or relaxing because this type of procrastination quickly adds to sleep deprivation, which is directly associated with mental distress and disorder, including depression.
What Is the Negative Impact of Procrastination?
Procrastination doesn’t do anyone any favors. It can create problems beginning in your school years, when you may delay deadlines, project management, and follow-through. Studies have shown that the earlier an assignment is submitted (indicating less procrastination), the higher the academic achievement.
Other negative impacts of procrastination are:
Putting things off you eventually do anyway also takes energy and time. Avoiding tasks doesn’t make you stop thinking about them or worrying about them.
What Is Stress and How Can I Recognize It?
How to Overcome Procrastination
Procrastination is a learned behavior, and it can be unlearned. A good place to start is to acknowledge that you’re procrastinating. Once you recognize this behavior in yourself, you can figure out what’s causing you to procrastinate and change it.
Ways to overcome procrastination include:
Summary
A Word From Verywell
No. However, mental disorders such as anxiety disorders, OCD, ADHD, or eating disorders may include procrastination as a symptom.Knowing where the behavior stems from is important in helping you change these patterns.
Procrastination looks like avoiding a task, doing other tasks to distract from the current task, or making excuses. If you keep avoiding a task at all costs, you’re procrastinating.
10 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Steinert C, Heim N, Leichsenring F.Procrastination, perfectionism, and other work-related mental problems: prevalence, types, assessment, and treatment—a scoping review.Frontiers in Psychiatry. 2021. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.736776American Psychological Association.The psychology of procrastination: Why people put off important tasks until the last minute.Reed College.The six styles of procrastination and how students can overcome them.Limburg K, Watson HJ, Hagger MS, & Egan SJ.The relationship between perfectionism and psychopathology: A meta-analysis.Journal of Clinical Psychology. 2016;3(10):1301–1326. doi: 10.1002/jclp.22435Steinert C, Heim N, Leichsenring F.Procrastination, perfectionism, and other work-related mental problems: prevalence, types, assessment, and treatment—a scoping review.Frontiers in Psychiatry. 2021;0. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.736776American Psychological Association.Anxiety.The Sleep Foundation.What is revenge bedtime procrastination?Jones I, Blankenship D.Year two: Effect of procrastination on academic performance of undergraduate online students.Research in Higher Education. 2021;39(1-11).McClean Hospital.Why you put off things until the last minute.Princeton University The McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning.Understanding and overcoming procrastination.
10 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Steinert C, Heim N, Leichsenring F.Procrastination, perfectionism, and other work-related mental problems: prevalence, types, assessment, and treatment—a scoping review.Frontiers in Psychiatry. 2021. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.736776American Psychological Association.The psychology of procrastination: Why people put off important tasks until the last minute.Reed College.The six styles of procrastination and how students can overcome them.Limburg K, Watson HJ, Hagger MS, & Egan SJ.The relationship between perfectionism and psychopathology: A meta-analysis.Journal of Clinical Psychology. 2016;3(10):1301–1326. doi: 10.1002/jclp.22435Steinert C, Heim N, Leichsenring F.Procrastination, perfectionism, and other work-related mental problems: prevalence, types, assessment, and treatment—a scoping review.Frontiers in Psychiatry. 2021;0. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.736776American Psychological Association.Anxiety.The Sleep Foundation.What is revenge bedtime procrastination?Jones I, Blankenship D.Year two: Effect of procrastination on academic performance of undergraduate online students.Research in Higher Education. 2021;39(1-11).McClean Hospital.Why you put off things until the last minute.Princeton University The McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning.Understanding and overcoming procrastination.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Steinert C, Heim N, Leichsenring F.Procrastination, perfectionism, and other work-related mental problems: prevalence, types, assessment, and treatment—a scoping review.Frontiers in Psychiatry. 2021. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.736776American Psychological Association.The psychology of procrastination: Why people put off important tasks until the last minute.Reed College.The six styles of procrastination and how students can overcome them.Limburg K, Watson HJ, Hagger MS, & Egan SJ.The relationship between perfectionism and psychopathology: A meta-analysis.Journal of Clinical Psychology. 2016;3(10):1301–1326. doi: 10.1002/jclp.22435Steinert C, Heim N, Leichsenring F.Procrastination, perfectionism, and other work-related mental problems: prevalence, types, assessment, and treatment—a scoping review.Frontiers in Psychiatry. 2021;0. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.736776American Psychological Association.Anxiety.The Sleep Foundation.What is revenge bedtime procrastination?Jones I, Blankenship D.Year two: Effect of procrastination on academic performance of undergraduate online students.Research in Higher Education. 2021;39(1-11).McClean Hospital.Why you put off things until the last minute.Princeton University The McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning.Understanding and overcoming procrastination.
Steinert C, Heim N, Leichsenring F.Procrastination, perfectionism, and other work-related mental problems: prevalence, types, assessment, and treatment—a scoping review.Frontiers in Psychiatry. 2021. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.736776
American Psychological Association.The psychology of procrastination: Why people put off important tasks until the last minute.
Reed College.The six styles of procrastination and how students can overcome them.
Limburg K, Watson HJ, Hagger MS, & Egan SJ.The relationship between perfectionism and psychopathology: A meta-analysis.Journal of Clinical Psychology. 2016;3(10):1301–1326. doi: 10.1002/jclp.22435
Steinert C, Heim N, Leichsenring F.Procrastination, perfectionism, and other work-related mental problems: prevalence, types, assessment, and treatment—a scoping review.Frontiers in Psychiatry. 2021;0. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.736776
American Psychological Association.Anxiety.
The Sleep Foundation.What is revenge bedtime procrastination?
Jones I, Blankenship D.Year two: Effect of procrastination on academic performance of undergraduate online students.Research in Higher Education. 2021;39(1-11).
McClean Hospital.Why you put off things until the last minute.
Princeton University The McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning.Understanding and overcoming procrastination.
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