Beating Procrastination -- Time Management -- Learn & Lead

Time Management

It Was Never Really About Being Lazy

You now know how to sort your priorities, plan your week, and avoid the deadline illusion. So why does it still sometimes feel impossible to start? Researchers who study procrastination, including Dr. Tim Pychyl and Dr. Fuschia Sirois, have found something that surprises most people: procrastination is not really a time management problem. It is an emotion regulation problem.

When you avoid a task, you are usually avoiding a feeling the task brings up, boredom, being overwhelmed, the fear of doing it badly, or worry about being judged. Putting the task off makes that feeling disappear for a moment, which is exactly why it works so well in the short term, and exactly why it keeps happening.

This section is about noticing which feeling is actually driving the avoidance, because the fix is different depending on the reason, and "just try harder" almost never addresses the real cause.

"Procrastination is the thief of time."

Edward Young, Night Thoughts, 1742

Reflection

What Students Sometimes Think

Here are some thoughts students have shared about tasks they kept putting off.

All of these are honest responses. Avoiding a task that brings up an uncomfortable feeling is a completely human reaction. What this section explores is how to notice that feeling and respond to it directly, instead of just feeling bad about avoiding the task.

Practice

Check Your Understanding

Six questions on the ideas from this section. You will get immediate feedback after each answer.

Question 1 of 6

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Well Done

You have explored why procrastination is really about feelings rather than laziness, the four common reasons behind it, and how to match the right fix to the real cause. The next step is a small one: the next time you catch yourself avoiding a task, pause and name the feeling first. Head back to Rising Leaders to explore what is next.