It was a sunny November afternoon in Dupont, and my friend and I were walking to Un je ne sais Quois Cafe to begin working on our presentation that was due the next day.
“I was procrastinating so badly last night,” she admitted with a nervous laugh, “I was procrastinating so badly that I taught myself how to count to ten in Italian.”
As a sophomore in college, I am fully willing to admit that I have fallen victim to the rabbit hole of procrastination more than once—a lot more than once. And between the wallet-damaging retail therapy and multiple hours spent organizing my makeup brushes, I can certainly attest that my methods of work aversion do not typically yield any sort of Italian fluency. They do, however, leave me wondering the impossible question of why do we procrastinate?
The easy answer: laziness. Who, on a Sunday afternoon, would not rather binge watch “Gilmore Girls” than finish that 10-page midterm paper on the threat of democratic backslide? In fact, I wish procrastination was as simple as laziness. In that case, it would be easy to splash some cold water on my face, remind myself that this paper grade is important to my future, and start typing. However, it seems as though the increased stakes of a task or assignment actually further disincentivize us from getting it done.
In her article for “Psychology Today,” acclaimed author and psychologist Dr. Alice Boyes sheds light on this phenomenon by identifying procrastination as a direct result of anxiety-induced perfectionism. In other words, when we continuously doubt ourselves and our abilities, our minds inherently turn manageable tasks into daunting obstacles. We interpret informal discussion board posts as essays on law school applications; two or three-page papers as dissertations. Why, then, spend the time doing something we can only see ourselves failing, miserably and irreversibly? I, for one, would much rather watch “Gilmore Girls”—all seven seasons. I can understand why you would, too.
The fact that procrastination is not always the result of laziness alone, though, should actually yield more hope than despair. For many and for myself personally, a primary source of self-doubt stems from our innate tendencies to compare ourselves to others. There is always someone with nicer clothes, clearer skin, better grades; there is always someone with what we see as more. But if we consistently look for these missing pieces, how will we recognize the ones we ourselves have already put in place?
Striving for perfection is just one of the many gateways to procrastination; we are also human. We get tired, we prioritize our friends and family over homework, we do what we desire in the moment. But if we begin to address those feelings of inadequacy—those fears of not being enough—and reject them by praising ourselves for what we have already accomplished, it will likely become easier to take on that next task. You will begin to perceive that simple assignment as that simple assignment, not as running a marathon or solving world peace.
Try to focus less on criticizing yourself for procrastinating, and instead ask where the incentive to do so is coming from. Turn off that seventh Netflix episode in a row, and when it comes to the Italian counting, stop at ten. Remember what you did to get here, how you’ve earned your place, where you want to go. Take a new look in the mirror—and I promise you’ll move mountains.
Works Cited
Boyes, Alice. Sussex Publishers. (n.d.). How to recognize anxiety-induced procrastination. Psychology Today. Retrieved November 6, 2022, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/in-practice/201908/how-recognize-anxiety-induced-procrastination