Procrastination is when we postpone completing tasks even when it may have negative consequences. Many times, procrastination can be an underlying symptom of anxiety.
Most people will avoid a task or postpone a task because it feels overwhelming. The task feels really big and anxiety provoking so they avoid it. An example might be someone not going through their mail pile because the pile looks big and/or because of the unpredictability of what might be in the pile.
People might avoid a task because they do not necessary want to complete the task at that time or people might avoid a task because they do not feel as though they have enough time to do it properly. An example might be someone having difficulty cleaning their house because they do not have time to clean the entire house all at once.
When we avoid the task as a result of anxiety, our anxiety increases and we are less likely to complete the task. Let’s take the two examples above for instance—
An individual feels overwhelmed by their mail pile and does not open their mail. The pile continues to grow bigger. Their anxiety and feelings of overwhelmed continue to grow bigger as well looking at this huge pile of unknown.
An individual feels overwhelmed by the thought of cleaning their house. They feel like they do not have enough time to clean the entire house and therefore they do not clean anything. The house continues to get messy and anxiety continues to increase.
Symptoms of procrastination are usually anxious feelings and increased negative self talk. People will speak negatively to themselves in their head, "I should have done this, I should do that." Symptoms of anxiety can be a range of several things including procrastination, perfectionism, anxious thoughts in our heads and physical symptoms can be sweating, having to use the restroom and even pressure in our chest.
Anxiety is rigid. It will tell our thoughts that things have to be this way in order to be done and many times goes hand and hand with an all or nothing mentality. I have to do all of the mail or I cannot do any of it. I have to clean the entire house all at once or I cannot do clean any of it. When we practice flexibility in our thoughts, we can start to implement that into our behavior to begin opening one piece of mail or cleaning one corner of the house to work towards our goals and decrease anxiety.
There are activities that we can implement into our daily routine to decrease anxiety. We can start to engage in self care activities that help us to be more mindful and present in the moment. We can journal about our thoughts and feelings to begin to have space in our day to process and reflect. Our daily life is so busy that there is not time to reflect on our feelings unless we create that time. The more reflect on our feelings, the more aware we are of what is happening in our minds and bodies.
Awareness can help us avoid procrastination and there are ways to structure our day and schedule our time to avoid procrastination. Knowledge is power and once we learn that procrastinating causes us to feel worse, we are more likely to be motivated to want to change that even if it feels uncomfortable at times.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Hey, I'm Brooke --I'm a licensed anxiety and addiction therapist serving individuals, adolescents and couples in the states of New Jersey, Delaware and Florida. My experience brings both a personal and professional perspective to the work that I do with my clients. If you are interested in learning more about the therapy process and would like to schedule a free consultation, I would love to chat with you!
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