What is procrastination and who is at risk?

You made a lot of plans for the weekend: you need to have time to clean up, cook dinner, finish the report on work by Monday, and finally start studying English - the video course purchased six months ago is gathering dust on the shelf. But Saturday passes, followed by Sunday, and you are sitting at the computer, diligently studying the political situation in distant Syria, or just lying on the couch with a book ... to the report, and wave your hand in English: there is no time!

If this has happened to you at least once, then you know firsthand about the phenomenon of procrastination. Sometimes even very purposeful, self-confident people become victims of this “ailment”. True, it quickly passes for them, and they again rush to conquer their Everests with renewed vigor. What is procrastination, if you look at it through the eyes of a psychologist?

A simple lazy person or a mysterious procrastinator?

The term came to us from English-speaking countries. In translation, it means something like this: "postponing."

The procrastinator knows perfectly well that he needs to complete or start specific things (he can even neatly list them in an extensive list), but he does absolutely nothing to achieve this goal.

“Well, this is it!” you exclaim. You are partly right. Procrastination can be compared to laziness in the sense that a person is in no hurry to achieve some goals, preferring to just have fun. However, a true procrastinator is distinguished from an ordinary lazy person by some signs, in particular:

• The procrastinator knows that he has to get busy, while the lazy one only talks about it, but in his heart he does not intend to do anything;
• The lazy person doesn’t care what will happen if he lies on the couch all day (remember the classic Oblomov), and the procrastinator is tormented by his conscience because of his own weakness of will;
• Sometimes a procrastinator can develop a flurry of activity if he feels that “X time” has come, and things stand still. That is, he is able to take control of himself! Perhaps a lazy person can also, but he just doesn’t want to ...

Who is more prone to procrastination? Maybe this is a sign of our difficult times? Yes, not at all! Remember Emelya on the stove from old fairy tales. While Cinderella (they have in the West) was busily working for the future, creating the preconditions for a happy life, our Russian Emelya only dreamed: “But if ... But when I ... I can do everything, I can do everything ... "As a result he could not part with the convenient stove on his own, because he had brought his tendency to procrastinate to extreme limits. In other words, he condoned her. In part, perhaps, this is a national character trait, but we will not explain our idleness in this way. Because this is also a sign of procrastination.

Let's start to act. Let's first analyze the reasons that lead to this deplorable phenomenon. Knowing what procrastination is, we will be able to draw up a plan to get rid of this scourge. So why and when does it occur?

Any person who:

• prone to;
• possesses and does not struggle with it;
• suffering;
• finally, it does not suffer from anything like that, but simply.

In the first case, a person is too demanding of himself. The roots of this phenomenon lie in childhood. If parents constantly demanded ideal results from a child, and he did not always succeed, he may, as an adult, simply fear that he will not be able to complete the task perfectly, at the highest level. The result is the constant postponing of an important matter for later, replacing it with simple, everyday trifles. As a result, towards the end of life, a person is upset: “I never achieved what I wanted! But he could!

If a person is characterized by low self-esteem, he will also try (and with all his might) to avoid unnecessary difficulties: “Why suffer something? I still can't do it!" Of course, at the same time, he realizes that he should try, at least try, he is tormented by a feeling of guilt ... But he can’t - that’s all! Like a wall in front of him. Here, too, parents could play a significant role, who did not trust the child with serious responsible matters, motivating this by his ineptitude: “You still can’t do it. Come on, I’m better, you won’t succeed.” And over time, the growing child began to believe in it. If it doesn't work, there's no point trying. This is already a direct path to procrastination. True, a grown child should not blame everything on his parents, he needs to take his fate into his own hands.

An increased level of anxiety is characteristic of this type of temperament as a melancholic. Melancholics are extremely responsible, therefore, if they have already taken upon themselves the obligation to complete some task, then, as they say, they will die, but they will do it. However, it is very difficult for them to start this responsible work. As a result, they worry, put things off until later, and then get nervous and in a hurry. The result is too much waste of strength, which melancholics have little from birth.

If a person is chronically tired at work, in household chores, then he also becomes prone to procrastination. He understands that it is necessary to urgently redo a lot of cases, but there is no strength. Procrastination is persistently knocking on the door.

Procrastinators strive for a sense of pleasure, trying to avoid boring and difficult duties. They try to rest at a time when they should be working, but as a result, the balance between work and rest is disturbed, they cannot recover for a long time. This does not lead to anything good: the nervous system is depleted, as the procrastinator is constantly in suspense, plans collapse, relationships with colleagues and friends are upset, who are forced to state that the procrastinator is violating agreements.

If you recognize yourself in the description of the procrastinator, it's time to think about it. The reason is not always serious enough: sometimes procrastination arises from fatigue and is “cured” by a change in activity and rest. However, if such a state has become almost the norm of life, it is time to sound the alarm. Do you feel how your life flows by itself, as if without your participation, and you manage to do only the most necessary? Are you constantly to someone (and most importantly - to yourself) to blame? So it's time to make a conscious decision to fight procrastination.

There is no need to fight with yourself, it is detrimental to the psyche and peace of mind and is fraught with health problems, but with procrastination, which unceremoniously interferes with your plans, you need to fight a little.

Well, are the goals clear, the tasks set? Get to work, comrades!

Video

An interesting video from the network on the topic of the article: