When Do You Procrastinate or Postpone? Is That A Bad Habit?

What is procrastination actually? We hear about it a lot, but its meaning varies from person to person. Some people say it's good for creativity. Others - including me - say it's the biggest enemy of results.

“When you delay something that you should do, mostly because it is annoying or boring, you are procrastinating.” (Source: Cambridge Dictionary)

Here are some examples of cases of procrastination:

1. You have a deadline on Friday, yet you didn't start working until Wednesday.
2. You haven't cleaned your house for three weeks, and you still don't want to.
3. You have an exam on Monday, but you're wasting your time having fun on Saturday.
4. You wrote one page of your novel three years ago. Then you left the rest to a later time.
5. You created a website two years ago and haven't put any content on it yet.
6. You put on your running clothes and shoes. You take a look at the weather outside, and see that it's windy. Then you give up to laziness and watch YouTube videos instead.

Perhaps you can get to the idea of ​​procrastination from those previous examples. We procrastinate when we delay unpleasant work, which is actually important and necessary for us.

What about the good kind of procrastination?

A study published in the "American Psychological Society" journal by the author Dianne Tice and the American psychologist Roy Baumeister, showed that procrastination is associated with depression, low self-esteem, anxiety, and tension.

The American writer Adam Grant offered a different argument. He believes that procrastination is not that bad. He also believes that the good kind of procrastination can benefit and nurture creativity.

It's a fun way to approach this topic. It might work for some people, but I don't get it. My biggest problem with Grant's article is that he quotes the "Zeigarnik effect", which is "the belief that people remember uncompleted tasks better compared to completed tasks."

The idea is that unfinished tasks stay fresh in your mind, which is supposed to be a good thing. But recent research shows that Zeigarnik's results have been highly questionable.

However, let's justify the behavior of "procrastination" and suppose that it is okay to delay tasks. Apparently American entrepreneur Steve Jobs was doing it all the time. But if you and I routinely postpone important tasks for a month, the majority of our lives and relationships will fall apart.

The problem with this way of thinking is that the way you do one thing is the same way you do everything. Have you ever seen the procrastinator's bedroom? It must be an unorganized and cluttered room. So, one might think that the procrastinator's mind looks exactly like their unorganized room.

I get what the writer Adam Grant and others are trying to say. They are talking about perfectionists who blame themselves for not taking more action. If you are one of those, I would not strongly object to this principle.

I also encourage you to take regular and periodic breaks. If there is anything that promotes creativity, it is taking care of yourself and taking regular breaks, such as going for a walk, reading a book, or having lunch with a friend. These things are great for us.

Spending your time thinking about or putting off a project because you need more time to do a better job is not a sign of procrastination because most of us procrastinate. In other words, delaying something that needs to be done is often because it is annoying or boring.

Get your tasks done and move on with your life:

I like short sayings and important notes that help me remember things. It may sound very cliche, but it works for me.

“Don’t put off today’s work until tomorrow” is one of my mottos. I even published a book with this title. I use it to remind myself to avoid procrastinating on important and necessary tasks. Lately, I've become more interested in the following motto: "Get your tasks done now and move on."

In other words, I know you don't feel like doing this tiring or unpleasant job, but it's important to you. So, get it done and move on with your life.

For example, if I act with some neglect and carelessness, I will do nothing all day. I will not tidy up my bed. I will eat canned food instead of cooking. I will never exercise. I will spend my time playing video games, watching movies, and going out with my friends. However, that did not happen to me because I follow a system to get things done. I take care of my tasks effectively. I don't waste time, and I move on with my life. 

So, is procrastination a bad thing for you? Sure it is, but we can do something about it. We can learn how to beat it. Honestly, it's not that hard, and you just have to follow a system that doesn't make life harder than it is.

What you will discover is that a productive lifestyle equals a healthy lifestyle. When you always carry out your tasks and never miss any work or task, you are actually feeding your mind, you will not feel pressure about those stuck tasks, and you will live your life calmly.

You procrastinate when you have an obstacle or rejection of something:

The secret to living a productive lifestyle is to make everything easy for you to accomplish. You and I know that we always prefer to go the least rugged path. There is much scientific research on this subject.

But bad marketers know this too. The American psychologist Robert Cialdini revealed most of these practices in his influential book "Influence". He consistently explains how organizations influence our behavior, and that exploiting our desire to take the least rugged path is one of their main strategies.

Who wants to contact a company to cancel their subscription? Nobody. That's why most companies ask you to do that. I think it's unethical.

The truth is the longer we delay things, the more resistance we create.

I understand that these companies try to exploit our tendency to procrastinate, but sometimes it seems like we're intentionally trying to make our lives difficult.

A few years ago, I registered at a gym with great features. They had the latest equipment, plenty of space, helpful staff, a pool, and a sauna. I had only one problem. It was about 20 minutes from my house, and it wasn't on my way to my office or wherever I go regularly. But the marketing rep who made the offer was so persuasive that I couldn't help but sign up right away.

You know what I mean. I rarely went to that gym. Although it takes a bit of effort to get there, it was enough to not go. After this experience, I signed up for a gym that was on the same road as my office. I didn't even have to take a shorter route to get there, as I was passing by it literally several times a week.

All people procrastinate when they have resistance. Your job is to remove that resistance, so you can get things done and move on. If you do that consistently, you will become someone who rarely procrastinates.