Procrastination

Most people would admit to procrastinating at various points in their lives. It’s normal human behaviour to put off unpleasant tasks, and there are many easily understandable reasons for it. We may procrastinate because a task is onerous, boring, unfulfilling or stressful. We may have other things we’d prefer to do that are more appealing and rewarding. However, most often we end up doing the task, even if it’s at the last moment.

Procrastination can become a major problem, and is frequently so for people suffering from significant levels of anxiety and depression. Often, in these emotional states, procrastination occurs to such an extent that people don’t meet job, study or bill paying deadlines. This in turn can lead to dismissal from work or curtailing career advancement, and failing subjects and courses. The impact of this can deepen anxiety and depression, disrupt social, domestic and work relationships, and increase the chances of drug and alcohol use.

Anxiety easily encourages procrastination, as avoidance is a core “strategy” for this feeling. In particular we may avoid starting a task, such as writing an assignment or report, because we anxiously doubt that it will be good enough, or that we’ve made the right decision. We may anxiously anticipate that we will become stressed and overwhelmed by the task, that these feeling will be intolerable, so it would be better not to start. We may worry that we will suffer criticism from others by our output, and if we are averse to conflict or criticism this will encourage us not to start. If we are perfectionists in the sense of fearing failure, as we cannot guarantee success, it may seem more comfortable to put tasks off indefinitely.

Depression is a well-known sapper of energy, enthusiasm and motivation, and so this in itself makes it harder to start or complete tasks. It fills our head with messages of “it’s pointless, a waste of time, doomed to fail, why bother” and these depressive notions can determine our inaction.

There are strategies to overcome procrastination, and appropriate psychologists and counsellors can help explore these. Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is particularly useful, because of its practical nature. It helps identify core irrational beliefs that are often created by the feelings of anxiety and depression themselves, and find more useful and realistic alternatives. It encourages approaching and doing tasks differently, so as to maximise the possibility of achievement. Frequently people find that by overcoming procrastination, they are simultaneously doing a lot about their anxiety and depression levels.

Joe Bolza is a clinical psychologist in private practice, specializing in anxiety disorders and depression. He can be contacted through PADA (Panic Anxiety and Depression Assistance) in Glen Iris. Tel 98869400

December 2004