What You Need To Know About The Impact Of Procrastination On Mental Health

It’s Wednesday, and you have a project that needs to be completed by Friday. Yet, instead of moving forward with your project, you find a number of other tasks that need to be completed. You spend an hour organizing the files on your computer. You pay a bill that’s been sitting on your desk. You give yourself a break to scroll social media for a bit. Before you know it, the day is almost done, and you’re no closer to finishing your project than when the day began.

Almost everyone has engaged in procrastination at some point. They have put off tasks both small and large, often until the last minute, and sometimes to the point of never completing the task at all. Procrastination can be a challenging and almost compulsive behavior at times. While you may feel a sort of relief or excitement by putting tasks off in the moment, there are long-term ramifications to constantly procrastinating. There are several ways you can modify your behavior and hold yourself accountable. If it feels like your cycle of procrastination isn’t one you can break on your own, you may consider turning to an online therapist for support. 

Understanding procrastination

Procrastination isn’t a unique problem— anywhere from 20-25% of adults worldwide struggle with chronic procrastination. Understanding the reasoning behind procrastination may help you better understand your behavior and make changes that benefit you both now and in the future. 

Common reasons people procrastinate

You may be tempted to look at procrastination as nothing more than a sign of laziness, but scientists have found that the reasoning behind the behavior goes much deeper.

Procrastination is a way of coping with the challenging emotions we associate with specific tasks. Instead of tackling a task that feels challenging, boring, or overwhelming, we find other activities to take its place. A few specific emotions may contribute to procrastination.

Perfectionism

If I can’t do it perfectly, why bother doing it at all? It’s a question perfectionists may ask themselves again and again. For some tasks, this may result in putting off projects for months or even years. For others, it may mean waiting until the night before something has to be completed so that they ultimately lean into an at least it’s done attitude. 

Fear and anxiety

If something causes you anxiety, you may push it off as long as possible, resulting in a snowballing problem. Tackling a mountain of clutter in your bedroom may feel terrifying, so you let the pile grow and grow. The results you might receive from a medical test are too scary to think about, so you hold off on going to the doctor for at least another six months. 

Distraction

Our brains are hard-wired to experience present bias, where we prioritize immediate needs over long-term needs. It’s why you might spend an hour cleaning your bathroom instead of working on a paper due next week: the bathroom seems like it needs to be cleaned right now, whereas the paper can hypothetically hold off another day or two. 

Procrastination and your health

A study of Swedish university students, based on the Sustainable University Life Study, suggests that procrastination can be associated with a range of health outcomes. Students completed a Pure Procrastination Scale, which assessed health outcomes, including psychosocial health factors, disabling pain, and mental health problems. 

Researchers determined that students who frequently procrastinated were more likely to experience negative consequences, including back pain, physical inactivity, loneliness, stress, poor physical health, and poor sleep. The consequences of procrastinating aren’t always directly tied to the task itself. You may also experience subsequent health outcomes that impact your mental and emotional well-being. 

Increased stress levels

A quickly approaching deadline is enough to raise anyone’s stress levels. Those feelings may be amplified when that deadline moves closer and you haven’t accomplished anything. Not only might your stress increase as a deadline moves closer, but small hurdles are also more likely to cause anxiety. 

You might feel stressed as you finish a paper the night before it’s due. Imagine that the following day, you go to print your paper before class, and the printer jams. This inconvenience, which before might have felt mild, is amplified by the choice to procrastinate.  

Guilt and shame

Few people are proud of their choice to procrastinate. Chronic procrastination may make you feel guilty or ashamed of your choice to leave things until the last minute, especially if you tell yourself that you should know better after the last time it happened. 

Guilt and shame may feel like the worst psychosocial health factors associated with procrastination, especially when others attach negative attributes to your behavior. For example, you may feel guilty that you waited until the last minute to work on your part of a group project, especially when that choice negatively impacts your group. 

Poor performance

Chronic procrastinators may tell themselves that it doesn’t matter when a task gets done as long as it does get done. However, research has shown that procrastination can be a detriment to academic performance— one study revealed that students who procrastinated ultimately earned lower grades than those who didn’t. 

Mental health disorders

The impact of procrastination on mental health is clear: chronic procrastination can contribute to mental health problems. Studies have shown that procrastination can be linked to depression, anxiety, OCD, and other conditions. 

Physical illness

Since procrastination is linked to stress, chronic procrastination can lead to some of the same physical symptoms associated with stress. In addition, someone who often procrastinates may put off seeking treatment for their symptoms, allowing adverse health outcomes to compound and grow over time. 

How to break the procrastination cycle

You cannot overcome procrastination until you decide it’s something you want to do. For some people, it may take a dramatic consequence, such as poor physical health, mental health struggles, financial difficulties, or adverse consequences at work, before they’re ready to tackle the cycle. Once you choose to break free from constant procrastination, you will likely experience improved mental health. 

Recognize chronic procrastination

Dr. Joseph Ferrari, a leading procrastination researcher, has asserted, “Everyone procrastinates, but not everyone is a procrastinator.” To know if you are a chronic procrastinator, look at the areas of your life where you put off tasks. If you find it’s nearly every area of your life– at home, in your medical care, at work, and in your relationships— you can infer that procrastination is a serious problem you need to address. 

Develop healthy coping strategies

Evolving from a chronic procrastinator into someone who generally addresses life in a timely manner requires you to address unhealthy lifestyle behaviors and replace them with healthier coping strategies. 

Choosing to forgive yourself is one way to avoid future procrastination. A 2010 trial examined students who procrastinated when it was time to study for their first exam in a class. When it came time to study for the second exam, those who forgave themselves and moved past their behavior were more likely to study in a timely manner. 

Another strategy to prevent procrastination is to focus on the next immediate step. Instead of thinking about everything that needs to be done to prepare for a baby you’re expecting, do just one thing to move onward, such as scheduling a doctor’s appointment or setting up a baby registry. 

Gretchen Rubin, author of Better Than Before: What I Learned About Making and Breaking Habits, suggests making your temptations more difficult to access. For many people, social media is a tool for procrastination, so you might delete social media apps from your phone or use an app that questions you before you log in. 

Utilize professional support

Changing ingrained behaviors is not always a solo endeavor. If you experience failure in trying to change your ways, you may be at risk for subsequent mental health problems you didn’t experience before. A mental health professional can help you uncover the reasoning behind your procrastination and then create a plan to replace unhealthy behaviors with more positive ones. 

However, if you constantly procrastinate, you may even put off scheduling a session with a therapist by telling yourself that you’re too busy or can’t afford it. Online therapy can remove many barriers that prevent you from seeking professional support by making therapy accessible and convenient. With platforms like BetterHelp, you can be matched with a therapist within 48 hours and then schedule therapy on your own schedule, making the timing aspect of therapy easy to manage. 

A recent study examined whether an online intervention could help college students decrease academic procrastination, ultimately benefiting their health and college success. Researchers discovered that the online intervention significantly reduced procrastination and increased committed actions among the students. Guidance of a mental health professional, whether in-person or online, can help you reduce your procrastination. 

Takeaway

Research has shown that people don’t put off tasks because they’re lazy but often because they have a mental block associated with the task. Fear, anxiety, and perfectionism are just a few reasons someone may procrastinate. Over time, however, procrastination can negatively impact your mental health, physical health, relationships, and academic and work performance. 

Healthy coping strategies can help you modify your behavior to get tasks done more timely. If you need help developing and committing to behavior changes, a licensed BetterHelp therapist can be a source of support.