What Causes Procrastination

What Causes Procrastination?
There are many ways to avoid success in life and one of the ways is procrastination. Everyone does it and it takes place everywhere around the world. Procrastination is when someone postpones work, which can turn him/her into a procrastinator. Procrastination is an obstacle that everyone takes in their lifetime. Many people procrastinate without even realizing they are doing it until a project or homework assignment is due. Some people eventually make a choice to do something when others spend their lives stuck in the procrastination whirlpool, sadly to say. Procrastinators also try to sabotage themselves and put extra obstacles in their path. There are many causes to why people procrastinate.
There are many different causes of procrastination and there are different reasons for different people. Everyone does not procrastinate for the same reason, although there are some causes in common; we all have our personal reasons for procrastination. Most of the time when I procrastinate is because I fear to fail; I do not want to fail at the task at hand. Sometimes I set high standards so I have to push myself to succeed at accomplishing my goals which leads me thinking that I cannot complete the task as I wish. Another reason why I procrastinate is because I think I have something better to do when in reality I do not want to do the task which can be labeled as laziness. I always tell myself I will do it tomorrow but when tomorrow comes, once again I put the task off because of my laziness. I plan to stop my procrastination by doing the more important things first and then have fun.
“William Knaus, a psychologist, estimated that 90% of college students procrastinate. There are many causes that can lead to procrastination when a student is in college (Overcoming Procrastination).” I think the most common cause of procrastination is time management. Procrastination means not managing time wisely. The Procrastinator may be uncertain of their priorities, goals and objectives. They may also become overwhelmed and frustrated with the task. As a result, they keep putting off their academic assignments for a later date, so they can spend time with their friends and participate in other social activities. They may also worry about the assignment that they did not complete yet. “A good time management trick that can take your teen a long way is teaching her to do the harder assignment first (Kelly, 89).” Students may have difficulty concentrating on the assignment. For example, when a student sits at a cluttered and disorganized desk it can cause them to lose focus and get off track. When a student sits at a desk and finds themselves daydreaming, staring off into space, texting, watching television or listening to music breaks their concentration and they fulfill non important needs. All of these examples promote time wasting and frustration. If the student is having difficulty concentrating, they should move to a les noisy and distracting environment, such as a library. Most students does not like doing papers, so if they find the paper not interested then they will put it off until the last minute; this is the cause of boredom. If the student finds the paper interested then they will do the paper and get it done. Another cause why students may procrastinate is because they set high standards and sometimes they cannot succeed and it causes them to have a negative outlook on the assignment. If they lowered their standards; completing the assignment can be easier (Overcoming Procrastination). That is why students procrastinate and they can have the same causes as other adults also.
The most common reasons why adults procrastinate are perfectionism, anger, and negative thinking. There are some people that like to perfect everything they do. They like to over-achieve everything leading to perfectionism. They set high standards and expectations which can cause them to procrastinate because they feel as if they do not have the skills or abilities they need to complete the task for them to be satisfied. They are afraid of attempting the task, and doing it perfect so they make excuses saying they need more information before they can sit down and attempt to master it. The best way to break this cycle is by telling them that they can do it and they can brainstorm realistic expectations and standards. Anger occurs when people finds their self avoiding the task or refusing to complete it. The feelings of anger can come across them when the task is forces upon them and they are unwilling to do the task. They may be uninterested in the task which may cause anger also and this would result in avoidance. Negative thinking is when people constantly thinking that they are not good enough to complete the task and complete it well. They may even think they are stupid and they lack self confidence. When a person thinks negative about the task it makes it difficult to attempt the task because they think they will fail. The cause of this thinking can be from previous failures and from their peers around them because they may be giving negative or abusive comments. This causes them to be labeled with their own inadequacies and perceived shortcomings (Why do people procrastinate). Some people have poor work habits and these are the people that procrastinates everything. They usually work better under pressure and they are poor organizers. They think it is easier to wait until the last minute to start the task because in their mind it is now important and they have to get it done now. (Hasley, 2009)
Other causes of procrastination is poor time management, inability to prioritize, negative mindset, fear of failure, lack challenge and they may be bored with the task. The people that has poor time management causes procrastination occurs for two reasons because they have overconfidence in the person’s ability, or overestimation of the time to complete the task. Sometimes when the person is overconfident in their own abilities, they may risk putting off an important task for a less important one and they believe they can finish the other task in time because they believe in their capabilities. Sometimes people doesn’t know what is important than what isn’t as important and they may not complete the task in time due to inability to prioritize. People with low self esteem or have been affected by other people’s comments leads to a negative mindset and it makes them incapable of working well. Many people have a fear of failure because being successful is life-changing, full of losses and gains. If they failed in the past then it can cause them to avoid putting in effort and failing again (Why do people procrastinate). “Fear of failure or doing badly on a task is difficult to overcome, because the fear is usually based on an emotion rather than logic. Most tasks are logic-based, while most procrastination tends to be emotion-based (Grohol, 2005).” If the task does not challenge someone then this can make them unmotivated and leave them feeling restlessness due to lack of challenge. If people are bored with the task then people chooses to procrastinate because the task makes them feel bored and is not challenging enough for them. People also get bored when the task is lengthy and repetitive (Why do people procrastinate). If a person is depressed it can affect their ability to work on assignments because they have low energy, and they feel as if they cannot do their best. “Researchers found that depressed affect, neuroticism, and diminished feelings of control over the situation tended to load together, indicating that collectively they could represent at least one of the causes of procrastination (Steel, 2007).”

Procrastination is a bad habit and can be difficult to stop. By identifying the reason for the procrastination, people will be able to eliminate it and finally get their work done on time. “Procrastination is the thief of time.” After doing research I found out the causes on why people procrastinate and some additional information.