If you've ever felt like procrastinating is a major problem, you're not alone. Around 20 percent of us procrastinate. It is not as harmful as you might think, because the benefits far outweigh the negative consequences. The good news is that procrastination is not the end of the world. With a little help, you can stop putting off important tasks and regain control over your life.
A common mistake that people make is ignoring the actual deadline of a task. People procrastinate because they don't understand the length of a task, and they fool themselves into thinking that they'll forget about it or put it off until the last minute. To get rid of procrastination, divide tasks into smaller periods of time, and make the task seem less daunting.
When we procrastinate, we avoid difficult tasks because we are afraid of the consequences of failure. We feel like we're too inadequate, too fearful, or too overwhelmed to handle the task. In order to avoid that feeling, we push ourselves off the task and instead focus on something else. Procrastination may provide temporary relief, but it is not sustainable.
Research on procrastination has also revealed that procrastinators report high levels of guilt, indicating that they have a persistent dread of the work they've put off. While procrastination does not cause immediate physical harm, it does damage to our time-related health. Thus, overcoming the emotional urge to procrastinate may actually benefit us in the long run.