How to Stop Procrastination, For Good!

Within this article, you will learn what causes procrastination, and how to stop procrastination – FOR GOOD.

Are you struggling with procrastination?
Do you find that, no matter how hard you try, you can’t kick the habit?
Do you lack the motivation to start and complete tasks?
Are you looking for the BEST way to stop procrastination, for good?

My name is Shahrzad, and I am a 6th-year Clinical Child Psychology doctoral candidate. I am currently in my clinical residency year at a large, urban children’s hospital. I have been working with patients with behavioral concerns for 6 years now, and a problem concern I frequently see is lack of motivation – or more specifically, procrastination! Continue reading to learn how to stop procrastination, for good.

What is procrastination?

This pesky habit is extremely prevalent, and also extremely debilitating. Many of my patients feel immense guilt after they procrastinate, and often tell me that they feel lazy, unmotivated, and unable to change. I’m here to tell you that NONE OF THIS is true.

“Procrastination is, hands down, our favourite form of self-sabotage.”
– Alyce P.Cornyn-Selby, author

At its core, procrastination is not actually about laziness, or lack of motivation. It also is NOT as a result of poor time management. Procrastination is a form of self-sabotage, and also a very strong practice of AVOIDANCE. That’s right – children and adults who tend to procrastinate are actually struggling with distress tolerance and facing conflict/distressing feelings.

Procrastination is avoidance!

Avoidance is a powerful behavior, that tends to make us feel good in the short term – but horribly in the long term. The same way that children who are afraid of peer rejection may avoid going to school, children who are afraid of the uncomfortable or distressing feelings associated with school work will AVOID by procrastination.

Procrastination (i.e., avoidance) feels good short term, as it is an immediate reward that the brain recognizes. After all, who wouldn’t want to delay a homework assignment to catch up on the next Netflix episode? In the long run, avoidance becomes extremely maladaptive. This means that, instead of developing positive coping skills and adaptive strategies to face distress, procrastinators learn to avoid, avoid, avoid – which will NOT actually solve anything!

Why procrastination is harmful

Procrastination tends to become a cycle, as does any avoidant behavior. Children who procrastinate learn to value short-term feelings of elevated mood and reinforcement, over longer-term pursuit of emotional wellbeing and achievement of goals. More specifically: procrastinators value instant gratification above and beyond any other reward or achievements.

This is detrimental for several reasons. Whenever we procrastinate, we still have to complete the task we are avoiding. The issue is that the task is now associated with extreme stress, negative feelings, and physiological disruption. Our bodies begin to associate the avoided tasks with immense stress and anxiety, which creates an even greater reason to avoid in the future. Thus, the cycle of avoidance begins.

The instant reinforcement (i.e., good mood) from procrastinating, combined with the increased negative feeling (i.e., stress and anxiety) associated with the avoided task, will contribute to further procrastination in the future, as well as diminished ability to manage time, stress, and difficult emotions. This makes it extremely difficult and unlikely to tackle stressful tasks in a timely manner, in the future.

How to stop procrastination

So, how do we reduce procrastination tendencies? It is actually quite simple. First, we must stop rewarding ourselves for procrastinating. Our brains feel immediate relief and reward when procrastinating, which is a very powerful feeling. Instead of relying on motivation to kick the habit – we must instead rely on our purpose for the task. Motivation will wax and wane, but usually a deeper purpose remains constant. For instance, instead of relying on being motivated to study for a test – it is more beneficial to understand why you are studying in the first place. That is, are you in school to attain your dream job? Do you want to provide for yourself in the future? There are many long-term goals that are easily to lose sight of in the present moment. Taking one step closer to your goals and life purpose can be a much greater reward than immediate avoidance can provide – you just need to train yourself to practice this.

Ultimately, your solution must be internal, and not external. The bad news is – there is no *magic* phone app, self-help book, or counselor who will solve all your procrastination problems for you. On the flip side, there is absolutely room for growth, and it is feasible to tackle this problem (once and for all) if you understand the root cause of procrastination. Procrastination is a deficit in emotion regulation and distress tolerance, and NOT in motivation or time management.

Time for action!

Now, for the action steps. 1) Write down your goals and purpose that drive you to complete daily tasks; 2) Write down a solid action plan to accomplish these goals, in a timely manner; 3) Stick to your plan, and revisit your goals and purpose when you feel the urge to procrastinate; and 4) STOP searching the web for your answers – you won’t find them there. Now, get to work! Good luck!