12 Ways to Deal With Chronic Procrastination

Chronic procrastination is the practice of consistently avoiding or putting off completing tasks or responsibilities, even when doing so can possibly result in negative outcomes.

An estimated 20% to 25% of adults experience chronic procrastination. While procrastinating on one or two tasks might seem harmless, chronic procrastination can have negative ripple effects on your life and well-being.

Research has found that procrastination is linked to mental health problems, including anxiety, depression, and stress. Procrastinators have worse sleep quality, get less physical exercise, experience greater loneliness, and increased financial problems.

Fortunately, there are ways to address chronic procrastination, such as breaking to-do items down into smaller tasks, setting deadlines, having a friend hold you accountable, and seeking professional help. Read on to learn some practical solutions to help you combat chronic procrastination.

Symptoms of Chronic Procrastination

Signs of procrastination can include:

• Anxiety
• Aversion to completing tasks
• Delays in task performance
• Distractibility
• Increased stress
• Lower task performance
• Reduced well-being
• Regret

While you're procrastinating and avoiding an important task, you may notice that you become productive in other areas of your life. For instance, you might clean the whole house rather than fill in a tax form (even if you usually hate to clean).

Causes of Chronic Procrastination

There are many reasons you may be procrastinating. People typically associate procrastination with a lack of self-control. It can be easy to give in to temptation or the instant gratification of doing something we enjoy instead of spending time on a task that reaps no immediate reward.

But while self-control can be a contributing factor, chronic or extreme procrastination may be a symptom of one or more of the following:

Distractions

Distractions can also play a role, particularly if you struggle with focus and impulsivity. Information and communication technology, including social media, make it easy to access tempting sources of distraction, which can make procrastination worse.

Fear of Failure

The fear of failure can keep you from finishing something—especially if you're afraid of humiliation or rejection. You might have low self-esteem that keeps you from going after what you really want.

Irrational Beliefs

You may have underlying irrational beliefs that prevent you from being productive. For instance, if you believe you don't deserve success, you might avoid doing anything that could lead to your success.

Learned Helplessness

Learned helplessness is a state of mind in which a person believes nothing they do matters, so they opt to do nothing at all. It's often related to a traumatic event and/or depression.

Perfectionism

If you are a perfectionist, you might not think anything you do is good enough. That mindset could be why you're unconsciously choosing not to do anything at all.

Anxiety

While procrastination often leads to feelings of anxiety, people who have anxiety also often use procrastination as a way of avoiding the source of their worry and fear. Unfortunately, putting things off leads to more worry and can undermine a person's belief in their ability to complete a task. 

Chronic Procrastination in ADHD

Procrastination is not a specific symptom of ADHD, but ADHD-related procrastination is most definitely a real experience.

ADHD procrastination often results from ADHD symptoms such as distractibility, disorganization, feeling overwhelmed, problems with prioritizing, and anxiety—all of which often make fighting procrastination even more difficult. ADHD procrastination can make it feel like you don't have control in your life, which can be frustrating.

People may experience what's often called ADHD paralysis. ADHD paralysis is when someone with ADHD has trouble figuring out how to begin a task. It can easily lead to feelings of overwhelm, and ultimately, procrastination.

Treatment for Chronic Procrastination

Chronic procrastination can take a serious toll on your health and well-being. Studies suggest that it can increase symptoms of anxiety, stress, and depression. It is also connected to greater loneliness, lower life satisfaction, cardiovascular disease, and unhealthy lifestyle behaviors. If chronic procrastination negatively affects your life, seeking help is crucial.

Psychotherapy

There isn't a specific medical treatment for chronic procrastination, but psychotherapy can help you understand the root cause of your procrastinating. A therapist or other mental health professional can also teach you coping mechanisms to help combat procrastination.

Medication

If you have ADHD, a doctor may also recommend a medication that can help improve your focus and concentration. Common medications prescribed for ADHD include Ritalin (methylphenidate), Vyvanse (lisdexamfetamine), and Adderall (amphetamine/dextroamphetamine).

These medications can cause side effects such as loss of appetite, sleep problems, increased heart rate, and irritability. Be sure to talk to a doctor if you experience these or any other side effects as a result of ADHD medication.

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How to Cope With Chronic Procrastination

In addition to treatment such as psychotherapy, you can use coping mechanisms in your everyday life to help you with chronic procrastination. While it may be challenging to overcome procrastination, that does not mean you are powerless. These 12 strategies can help you address chronic procrastination.

Discover Why You're Procrastinating

Whenever you find yourself procrastinating on a task, take a step back and ask, “Why am I procrastinating on this task?” If you know the underlying reason, then you can match it with the right solution. Here are some common reasons for ADHD procrastination (and procrastination in general):

• Getting motivated is hard until things are urgent and a deadline is close.
• Negative thoughts and feelings get in the way of doing the task. 
• Not knowing how to do the task makes it hard to get started.
• The task looks tedious and boring. 
• The task seems large, complex, and too overwhelming.

Now that you know the reason, you can use the following suggestions to help you.

Break It Down Into Small Steps

If you have a large or complex task that is causing you to feel stuck or overwhelmed, break it down into smaller, doable parts. A large project can feel like climbing a mountain. However, when you chunk the project down into small steps, the mountain seems to shrink to the size of a small hill, helping you to work more efficiently and productively.

Sometimes, ADHD symptoms can make visualizing a project difficult. It can be hard to understand how all the pieces fit together. Ask a friend or someone you trust to help you think through and organize the steps. Just be careful to avoid the trap of becoming so focused on the details that you don't make any progress.

Set Deadlines

When you have broken the task down into small parts, create deadlines for completing each part. It is easier to be successful when you have various, small short-term goals, compared to one large long-term goal. It is less overwhelming and easier to stay motivated.

Every time you complete a short-term goal, reward yourself. Creating these smaller goals also allows you to move away from last-minute panics as a big deadline approaches.

Use Positive Social Pressure

Having an accountability partner often provides the motivation to start a project and keep you in action. Make a commitment to your partner, a friend, or co-worker. Tell them your goals and timeline.

Another option is to work on the task with another person. The social connection helps keep the project stimulating and engaging.

Make Boring Tasks Appealing

A boring or tedious task may not stimulate your brain enough for you to want to take action. If this is the reason for procrastination, ask yourself, “How can I turn this boring task into one that is interesting?” There are many ways to make a task more appealing. Here are a few examples.

• Turn into a competition with yourself. How many plates can you wash in five minutes? Use a kitchen timer to help you.
• Make it fun by playing music while you work.
• Have a reward waiting for when you have finished.

Rotate Between Two Tasks

Try rotating between two tasks. This can keep your interest levels high, and allow you to feel focused and motivated on both tasks. You can set a timer and spend equal time on each task. This is another way you can make boring tasks more appealing.

Make a Small Time Commitment

It can be hard to start a task if it seems big, with no end in sight. However, it is much easier to begin if you are only going to be working on it for 10 minutes. Set your timer and work for 10 minutes. Then review how you feel.

Task initiation, or getting started on a task, is something that many chronic procrastinators struggle with. Telling yourself that you'll work for a short block of time can make getting started feel easier, and once you get started, you may find it easier to keep working.

Limit Distractions

Turn off your cell phone, email, Facebook, and anything else distracting you from getting started. Also, be aware of internal distractions that can affect your concentration.

You might say to yourself, "I will do these other little things first and then get to the important task.” However, these other “little things" often contribute to the cycle of procrastination. You feel very busy and are accomplishing a lot, yet you are avoiding the primary task that must get done.

Seek Training When Necessary

Are you avoiding a task because you do not know how to do it? For example, research has shown that while students often put off difficult courses out of anxiety, preparation was useful in reducing such fear and procrastination.

If so, why not educate yourself? You might do this by enrolling in a formal training course. Or you could do this in a more casual way, such as asking a friend to show you or watching a video on the web.

Delegate to Someone Else

Sometimes it is empowering to develop a new skill yourself. Other times, it is appropriate to delegate to another person who already has the skills.

For example, you do not have to learn how to fix your car. You can take it to the garage where there are trained mechanics. Do not feel you have to do everything yourself.

Replace Negative Thoughts

Our thoughts and feelings are very powerful. When you talk to yourself in a positive and gentle way and remind yourself of your recent successes, it can be easier to take action. In contrast, when you are stuck in negative mode, it can be hard to break out of the avoidance cycle.

CBT is a form of therapy that can help you identify the underlying negative thoughts that play a role in chronic procrastination. Once you can better recognize these patterns, you can then learn how to replace them with more helpful thoughts.

Research suggests that CBT can be an effective tool for reducing procrastination. In one study, participants with severe procrastination received eight weeks of either self-guided internet CBT (ICBT) or group CBT. In both cases, treatment reduced procrastination and improved anxiety, depression, and well-being.  

Connect With a Doctor

Let a doctor or mental health professional know about your procrastination challenges. They can determine if these challenges might be related to anxiety, depression, ADHD, or other conditions.

Therapy and medication, when appropriate, can be an essential part of your treatment plan. Though medication will not prevent procrastination, it can help with symptoms that play a part. If you have ADHD, for example, medication can help you focus and make getting started on tasks easier.

Does Chronic Procrastination Go Away?

The good news is that while chronic procrastination can be a serious problem, it often declines with age. Procrastination tends to be at its highest among young people between the ages of 14 and 29.

There are several reasons why procrastination may become less severe as people grow older. Certain personality traits, including conscientiousness, become more prominent as people age. People with higher in this trait tend to have greater self-control and self-discipline, which means they are less likely to procrastinate.

While ADHD does not just go away once people reach adulthood, it can change over time. While procrastination is still a problem for many adults with ADHD, they are also more likely to develop coping skills that help them manage these tendencies.