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What Is Procrastination?

Putting off tasks we don't enjoy is common, despite the consequences

Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Why Do You Procrastinate?

Types of procrastination.

• The Negative Impact
• Strategies to Stop

Procrastination is the act of delaying or putting off tasks until the last minute, or past their deadline. Some researchers define procrastination as a "form of self-regulation failure characterized by the irrational delay of tasks despite potentially negative consequences."

According to Joseph Ferrari, a professor of psychology at DePaul University in Chicago and author of "Still Procrastinating: The No Regret Guide to Getting It Done," around 20% of U.S. adults are chronic procrastinators.

No matter how well-organized and committed you are, chances are that you have found yourself frittering away hours on trivial pursuits (watching TV, updating your Facebook status, shopping online) when you should have been spending that time on work or school-related projects.

Whether you're putting off finishing a project for work, avoiding homework assignments, or ignoring household chores, procrastination can have a major impact on your job, your grades, and your life.

In most cases, procrastination is not a sign of a serious problem. It's a common tendency that most people give in to at some point or another.

Remember that time that you thought you had a week left to finish a project that was really due the next day? How about the time you decided not to clean up your apartment because you "didn't feel like doing it right now?"

We often assume that projects won't take as long to finish as they really will, which can lead to a false sense of security when we believe that we still have plenty of time to complete these tasks.

One of the biggest factors contributing to procrastination is the notion that we have to feel inspired or motivated to work on a task at a particular moment.

The reality is that if you wait until you're in the right frame of mind to do certain tasks (especially undesirable ones), you will probably find that the right time simply never comes along and the task never gets completed.

The following are a few other factors that cause procrastination.

Researchers suggest that procrastination can be particularly pronounced among students. A 2007 meta analysis published in the Psychological Bulletin found that a whopping 80% to 95% of college students procrastinated on a regular basis, particularly when it came to completing assignments and coursework.  

According to researchers, there are some major cognitive distortions that lead to academic procrastination.   Students tend to:

• Overestimate how much time they have left to perform tasks
• Overestimate how motivated they will be in the future
• Underestimate how long certain activities will take to complete
• Mistakenly assume that they need to be in the right frame of mind to work on a project

Present Bias

The present bias is a phenomenon observed in human behavior that may result in procrastination. The present bias means that we tend to be motivated more by immediate gratification or rewards than we are by long-term rewards. This is why it feels good in the moment to procrastinate.

For example, the immediate reward of staying in bed and watching TV is more appealing than the long-term reward of publishing a blog post, which would take much longer to accomplish.

Procrastination can also be a result of depression . Feelings of hopelessness , helplessness, and a lack of energy can make it difficult to start (and finish) the simplest task. Depression can also lead to self-doubt . When you can't figure out how to tackle a project or feel insecure about your abilities, you might find it easier to put it off.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Procrastination is also pretty common in people with obsessive-compulsive disorder . One reason is that OCD is often linked with maladaptive perfectionism, which causes fears about making new mistakes, doubts about whether you are doing something correctly, and worry over others' expectations of you.

People with OCD also often have a propensity toward indecision, causing them to procrastinate rather than make a decision.

Many adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) struggle with procrastination. When you're so distracted by outside stimuli, as well as internal thoughts, it can be hard to get started on a task, especially if that task is difficult or not interesting to you.

Is Procrastination a Mental Illness?

Procrastination itself is not a mental illness. But in some cases, it may be symptomatic of an underlying mental health condition such as depression, OCD, or ADHD.

We often come up with a number of excuses or rationalizations to justify our behavior. According to researchers, there are 15 key reasons why people say they procrastinate:

• Not knowing what needs to be done
• Not knowing how to do something
• Not wanting to do something
• Not caring if it gets done or not
• Not caring when something gets done
• Not feeling in the mood to do it
• Being in the habit of waiting until the last minute
• Believing that you work better under pressure
• Thinking that you can finish it at the last minute
• Lacking the initiative to get started
• Blaming sickness or poor health
• Waiting for the right moment
• Needing time to think about the task
• Delaying one task in favor of working on another

Press Play for Advice On Completing Tasks

Hosted by therapist Amy Morin, LCSW, this episode of The Verywell Mind Podcast shares how to get tasks done with a science-backed trick known as 'temptation bundling.' Click below to listen now.

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Some researchers classify two types of procrastinators: passive and active procrastinators.

• Passive procrastinators : Delay the task because they have trouble making decisions and acting on them
• Active procrastinators : Delay the task purposefully because working under pressure allows them to "feel challenged and motivated"

Others define the types of procrastinators based on different behavioral styles of procrastination, including:

• Perfectionist : Puts off tasks out of the fear of not being able to complete a task perfectly
• Dreamer : Puts off tasks because they are not good at paying attention to detail
• Defier : Doesn't believe someone should dictate their time schedule
• Worrier : Puts off tasks out of fear of change or leaving the comfort of "the known"
• Crisis-maker : Puts off tasks because they like working under pressure
• Overdoer : Takes on too much and struggles with finding time to start and complete task

Procrastinators vs. Non-Procrastinators

"Non-procrastinators focus on the task that needs to be done. They have a stronger personal identity and are less concerned about what psychologists call 'social esteem'—how others like us—as opposed to self-esteem which is how we feel about ourselves," explained Dr. Ferrari in an interview with the American Psychological Association (APA).  

According to psychologist Piers Steel, people who don't procrastinate tend to be high in the personality trait known as conscientiousness , one of the broad dispositions identified by the Big Five theory of personality. People who are high in conscientiousness also tend to be high in other areas including self-discipline, persistence, and personal responsibility.

The Negative Impact of Procrastination

It is only in cases where procrastination becomes chronic and begins to have a serious impact on a person's daily life that it becomes a more serious issue. In such instances, it's not just a matter of having poor time management skills, it's a major part of their lifestyle.

Perhaps they pay their bills late, don't start work on big projects until the night before the deadline, delay gift shopping until the day before a birthday, and even file their income tax returns late.

Unfortunately, this procrastination can have a serious impact on a number of life areas, including a person's mental health and social, professional, and financial well-being:

• Higher levels of stress and illness
• Increased burden placed on social relationships
• Resentment from friends, family, co-workers, and fellow students
• Consequences of delinquent bills and income tax returns

How to Overcome Procrastination

You might find yourself wondering, How can I stop procrastinating?

Fortunately, there are a number of different things you can do to fight procrastination and start getting things done on time. Consider these your procrastination exercises:

• Make a to-do list : To help keep you on track, consider placing a due date next to each item.
• Take baby steps : Break down the items on your list into small, manageable steps so that your tasks don’t seem so overwhelming.
• Recognize the warning signs : Pay attention to any thoughts of procrastination and do your best to resist the urge. If you begin to think about procrastinating, force yourself to spend a few minutes working on your task.
• Eliminate distraction : Ask yourself what pulls your attention away the most—whether it's Instagram, Facebook updates, or the local news—and turn off those sources of distraction.
• Pat yourself on the back : When you finish an item on your to-do list on time, congratulate yourself and reward yourself by indulging in something you find fun.    

Prem R, Scheel TE, Weigelt O, Hoffmann K, Korunka C. Procrastination in daily working life: A diary study on within-person processes that link work characteristics to workplace procrastination . Front Psychol . 2018;9:1087. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01087

American Psychological Association. The Psychology of Procrastination: Why People Put Off Important Tasks Until the Last Minute . 2010.

Bisin A, Hyndman K. Present-bias, procrastination and deadlines in a field experiment . Games and Economic Behavior. 2020;119:339-357. doi:10.1016/j.geb.2019.11.010

Steel P. The nature of procrastination: A meta-analytic and theoretical review of quintessential self-regulatory failure . Psychol Bull . 2007;133(1):65-94. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.133.1.65 

Ferrari, Joseph & Johnson, Judith & McCown, William. (1995). Procrastination and Task Avoidance - Theory, Research and Treatment . doi: 10.1007/978-1-4899-0227-6

Beutel ME, Klein EM, Aufenanger S, et al. Procrastination, distress and life satisfaction across the age range - A German representative community study .  PLoS One . 2016;11(2):e0148054. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0148054

Limburg K, Watson HJ, Hagger MS, Egan SJ.  The relationship between perfectionism and psychopathology: A meta-analysis .  J Clin Psychol.  2017;73(10):1301-1326. doi:10.1002/jclp.22435

Altgassen M, Scheres A, Edel MA.  Prospective memory (partially) mediates the link between ADHD symptoms and procrastination .  Atten Defic Hyperact Disord . 2019;11(1):59-71. doi:10.1007/s12402-018-0273-x

Tuckman BW, Abry DA, Smith DR. (2008). Learning and Motivation Strategies: Your Guide to Success (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Zohar AH, Shimone LP, Hen M. Active and passive procrastination in terms of temperament and character .  PeerJ . 2019;7:e6988. doi:10.7717/peerj.6988

American Psychological Association. The first step to overcoming procrastination: Know thyself .

Svartdal F, Nemtcan E. Past negative consequences of unnecessary delay as a marker of procrastination . Front Psychol. 2022;13. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.787337

Schrager S, Sadowski E. Getting more done: Strategies to increase scholarly productivity .  J Grad Med Educ . 2016;8(1):10-13. doi:10.4300/JGME-D-15-00165.1

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

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How to Do Your Homework on Time if You're a Procrastinator

Last Updated: January 31, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Katie Styzek . Katie Styzek is a Professional School Counselor for Chicago Public Schools. Katie earned a BS in Elementary Education with a Concentration in Mathematics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She served as a middle school mathematics, science, and social studies teacher for three years prior to becoming a counselor. She holds a Master of Education (M.Ed.) in School Counseling from DePaul University and an MA in Educational Leadership from Northeastern Illinois University. Katie holds an Illinois School Counselor Endorsement License (Type 73 Service Personnel), an Illinois Principal License (formerly Type 75), and an Illinois Elementary Education Teaching License (Type 03, K – 9). She is also Nationally Board Certified in School Counseling from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. There are 9 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 552,667 times.

Procrastinating on your homework assignments can make school more stressful and can hurt your grade if you're always finishing homework at the last minute. Once you learn a few techniques to beat procrastination can make homework much easier for you! By keeping organized, setting specific goals, and asking for help, you can transform yourself into an academic star who still has time to watch TV and catch up with friends on Facebook.

Getting Organized

Establishing a Routine

• Set an alarm on your phone to remind you when to get back to work!

Setting Goals

• Very few people can actually work effectively with music playing. If you like to listen to music while you work but find you aren't getting anything done, try going without it for an hour to see if your concentration improves.

Asking for Help

• This doesn't work for everybody. If you find another person distracting, quit working with them.

How Can I Stop Procrastinating?

Community Q&A

• Good health can improve your study habits and can help you retain what you learn. Exercise, eat well, get plenty of sleep, and skip the alcohol and caffeine. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Ask your parents or a friend to keep your smartphone so you don't get distracted. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Try to set an alarm or a task reminder in your phone. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

• Even the best students know that they can't work all of the time. Allow some relaxation time for yourself, particularly on the weekends. Good study habits make you work smarter, not harder. Thanks Helpful 120 Not Helpful 9

You Might Also Like

• ↑ Katie Styzek. Professional School Counselor. Expert Interview. 26 March 2021.
• ↑ https://www.grammarly.com/blog/how-to-stop-procrastinating/
• ↑ https://kidshealth.org/en/teens/focused.html
• ↑ https://kidshealth.org/en/teens/homework.html
• ↑ https://childmind.org/article/strategies-to-make-homework-go-more-smoothly/
• ↑ https://learningcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/take-charge-of-distractions/
• ↑ Ted Coopersmith, MBA. Academic Tutor. Expert Interview. 10 July 2020.
• ↑ https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/school-help-teens.html
• ↑ https://blogs.iu.edu/dbauman/2018/12/18/homework-writing-tips-for-college-students/

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Procrastination and Homework

A Little Procrastination is Okay, But Too Much Can Hurt!

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Do you procrastinate? Most of us put things off from time to time, like when we're supposed to be studying for a test or starting our lengthy research paper assignments. But giving in to diversions can really hurt us in the long run.

Recognizing Procrastination

Procrastination is like a little white lie we tell ourselves. We think we’ll feel better if we do something fun, like watch a TV show, instead of studying or reading.

But when we give in to the urge to put off our responsibilities, we always feel worse in the long run, not better. And what's worse, we end up doing a poor job when we finally get started on the task at hand!

Those who procrastinate the most are usually performing below their potential.

Do you spend too much time on things that don’t matter? You may be a procrastinator if you:

• Feel the impulse to clean your room before you get started on a project.
• Rewrite the first sentence or paragraph of a paper several times, repeatedly.
• Crave a snack as soon as you sit down to study.
• Spend too much time (days) to decide on a topic.
• Carry books around all the time, but never open them to study.
• Get angry if a parent asks “Have you started yet?”
• Always seem to find an excuse to avoid going to the library to start on the research.

You probably did relate to at least one of those situations. But don’t be hard on yourself! That means you are perfectly normal. The key to success is this: it is important that you don’t allow these diversion tactics to affect your grades in a bad way. A little procrastination is normal, but too much is self-defeating.

Avoiding Procrastination

How can you battle the urge to put things off? Try the following tips.

• Recognize that a feisty little voice lives inside every one of us. He tells us it would be rewarding to play a game, eat, or watch TV when we know better. Don’t fall for it!
• Think about the rewards of accomplishments, and put reminders around your study room. Is there a specific college you want to attend? Put the poster right over your desk. That will serve as a reminder to be your best.
• Work out a reward system with your parent. There may be a concert you're dying to go to, or a new coat you've spotted in the mall. Make a deal with your parents way ahead of time— make an agreement that you can receive the reward only if you reach your goals. And stick to the deal!
• Start with small goals if you’re facing a big assignment. Don’t get overwhelmed by the big picture. Accomplishment feels great, so set small goals first, and take it day by day. Set new goals as you go.
• Finally, give yourself time to play! Set aside a special time to do whatever you want. Afterward, you’ll be ready to get to work!
• Find a study partner who will help you stay on track. Meet regularly to discuss your commitments and deadlines. It's a strange thing about human nature: we might be willing to let ourselves down easily enough, but we hesitate to disappoint a friend.
• Give yourself ten minutes or so to clean your space before you get started. The urge to clean as a procrastination tactic is common and it is based on the fact that our brains desire the feeling of "starting with a clean slate." Go ahead and organize your space--but don't take too much time.

Still find yourself putting off those important projects? Discover More Procrastination Tips to help you manage your time effectively.

• How to Stop Overthinking Tests and Projects
• Stop Procrastinating to Complete Your Dissertation
• Time Management Exercise
• How to Overcome Math Anxiety
• Study Habits That Can Improve Grades and Performance
• Top 10 Healthy Homework Habits
• 6 Steps for Self-Discipline When You Study
• 20 Tips for Success in High School
• Motivation Tips for Students
• 11 Genius Productivity Tips You Haven't Tried
• How to Stay Organized in College
• What Is a Senior Thesis?
• What Is the Zeigarnik Effect? Definition and Examples
• How to Tell Your Parents You're Failing a College Class
• How to Clean a Dorm Room in Under 20 Minutes
• How to Write a Paper at the Last Minute

Daniel Wong

30 Tips to Stop Procrastinating and Find Motivation to Do Homework

Updated on June 6, 2023 By Daniel Wong 44 Comments

To stop procrastinating on homework, you need to find motivation to do the homework in the first place.

But first, you have to overcome feeling too overwhelmed to even start.

You know what it feels like when everything hits you at once, right?

You have three tests to study for and a math assignment due tomorrow.

And you’ve got a history report due the day after.

You tell yourself to get down to work. But with so much to do, you feel overwhelmed.

So you procrastinate.

You check your social media feed, watch a few videos, and get yourself a drink. But you know that none of this is bringing you closer to getting the work done.

Does this sound familiar?

Don’t worry – you are not alone. Procrastination is a problem that everyone faces, but there are ways around it.

By following the tips in this article, you’ll be able to overcome procrastination and consistently find the motivation to do the homework .

So read on to discover 30 powerful tips to help you stop procrastinating on your homework.

Enter your email below to download a PDF summary of this article. The PDF contains all the tips found here, plus  3 exclusive bonus tips that you’ll only find in the PDF.

How to stop procrastinating and motivate yourself to do your homework.

Procrastination when it comes to homework isn’t just an issue of laziness or a lack of motivation .

The following tips will help you to first address the root cause of your procrastination and then implement strategies to keep your motivation levels high.

1. Take a quiz to see how much you procrastinate.

The first step to changing your behavior is to become more self-aware.

How often do you procrastinate? What kinds of tasks do you tend to put off? Is procrastination a small or big problem for you?

To answer these questions, I suggest that you take this online quiz designed by Psychology Today .

2. Figure out why you’re procrastinating.

Procrastination is a complex issue that involves multiple factors.

Stop thinking of excuses for not doing your homework , and figure out what’s keeping you from getting started.

Are you procrastinating because:

• You’re not sure you’ll be able to solve all the homework problems?
• You’re subconsciously rebelling against your teachers or parents?
• You’re not interested in the subject or topic?
• You’re physically or mentally tired?
• You’re waiting for the perfect time to start?
• You don’t know where to start?

Once you’ve identified exactly why you’re procrastinating, you can pick out the tips in this article that will get to the root of the problem.

3. Write down what you’re procrastinating on.

Students tend to procrastinate when they’re feeling stressed and overwhelmed.

But you might be surprised to discover that simply by writing down the specific tasks you’re putting off, the situation will feel more manageable.

It’s a quick solution, and it makes a real difference.

Give it a try and you’ll be less likely to procrastinate.

4. Put your homework on your desk.

Here’s an even simpler idea.

Many times, the hardest part of getting your homework done is getting started.

It doesn’t require a lot of willpower to take out your homework and put it on your desk.

But once it’s sitting there in front of you, you’ll be much closer to actually getting down to work.

5. Break down the task into smaller steps.

This one trick will make any task seem more manageable.

For example, if you have a history report to write, you could break it down into the following steps:

• Read the history textbook
• Do online research
• Organize the information
• Create an outline
• Write the introduction
• Write the body paragraphs
• Write the conclusion
• Edit and proofread the report

Focus on just one step at a time. This way, you won’t need to motivate yourself to write the whole report at one go.

This is an important technique to use if you want to study smart and get more done .

6. Create a detailed timeline with specific deadlines.

As a follow-up to Point #5, you can further combat procrastination by creating a timeline with specific deadlines.

Using the same example above, I’ve added deadlines to each of the steps:

• Jan 30 th : Read the history textbook
• Feb 2 nd : Do online research
• Feb 3 rd : Organize the information
• Feb 5 th : Create an outline
• Feb 8 th : Write the introduction
• Feb 12 th : Write the body paragraphs
• Feb 14 th : Write the conclusion
• Feb 16 th : Edit and proofread the report

Assigning specific dates creates a sense of urgency, which makes it more likely that you’ll keep to the deadlines.

7. Spend time with people who are focused and hardworking.

Jim Rohn famously said that you’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with.

If you hang out with people who are motivated and hardworking, you’ll become more like them.

Likewise, if you hang out with people who continually procrastinate, you’ll become more like them too.

Motivation to do homework naturally increases when you surround yourself with the right people.

So choose your friends wisely. Find homework buddies who will influence you positively to become a straight-A student who leads a balanced life.

That doesn’t mean you can’t have any fun! It just means that you and your friends know when it’s time to get down to work and when it’s time to enjoy yourselves.

8. Tell at least two or three people about the tasks you plan to complete.

When you tell others about the tasks you intend to finish, you’ll be more likely to follow through with your plans.

This is called “accountability,” and it kicks in because you want to be seen as someone who keeps your word.

So if you know about this principle, why not use it to your advantage?

You could even ask a friend to be your accountability buddy. At the beginning of each day, you could text each other what you plan to work on that day.

Then at the end of the day, you could check in with each other to see if things went according to plan.

9. Change your environment .

Maybe it’s your environment that’s making you feel sluggish.

When you’re doing your homework, is your super-comfortable bed just two steps away? Or is your distracting computer within easy reach?

If your environment is part of your procrastination problem, then change it.

Sometimes all you need is a simple change of scenery. Bring your work to the dining room table and get it done there. Or head to a nearby café to complete your report.

10. Talk to people who have overcome their procrastination problem.

If you have friends who consistently win the battle with procrastination, learn from their experience.

What was the turning point for them? What tips and strategies do they use? What keeps them motivated?

Find all this out, and then apply the information to your own situation.

11. Decide on a reward to give yourself after you complete your task.

“Planned” rewards are a great way to motivate yourself to do your homework.

The reward doesn’t have to be something huge.

For instance, you might decide that after you finish 10 questions of your math homework, you get to watch your favorite TV show.

Or you might decide that after reading one chapter of your history textbook, you get to spend 10 minutes on Facebook.

By giving yourself a reward, you’ll feel more motivated to get through the task at hand.

12. Decide on a consequence you’ll impose on yourself if you don’t meet the deadline.

It’s important that you decide on what the consequence will be before you start working toward your goal.

As an example, you could tell your younger brother that you’ll give him $1 for every deadline you don’t meet (see Point #6).

Or you could decide that you’ll delete one game from your phone for every late homework submission.

Those consequences would probably be painful enough to help you get down to work, right?

13. Visualize success.

Take 30 seconds and imagine how you’ll feel when you finish your work.

What positive emotions will you experience?

Will you feel a sense of satisfaction from getting all your work done?

Will you relish the extra time on your hands when you get your homework done fast and ahead of time?

This simple exercise of visualizing success may be enough to inspire you to start doing your assignment.

14. Visualize the process it will take to achieve that success.

Even more important than visualizing the outcome is visualizing the process it will take to achieve that outcome.

Research shows that focusing on the process is critical to success. If you’re procrastinating on a task, take a few moments to think about what you’ll need to do to complete it.

Visualize the following:

• What resources you’ll need
• Who you can turn to for help
• How long the task will take
• Where you’ll work on the task
• The joy you’ll experience as you make progress

This kind of visualization is like practice for your mind.

Once you understand what’s necessary to achieve your goal, you’ll find that it’s much easier to get down to work with real focus. This is key to doing well in school .

15. Write down why you want to complete the task.

You’ll be more motivated when you’re clear about why you want to accomplish something.

To motivate yourself to do your homework, think about all the ways in which it’s a meaningful task.

So take a couple of minutes to write down the reasons. Here are some possible ones:

• Learn useful information
• Master the topic
• Enjoy a sense of accomplishment when you’ve completed the task
• Become a more focused student
• Learn to embrace challenges
• Fulfill your responsibility as a student
• Get a good grade on the assignment

16. Write down the negative feelings you’ll have if you don’t complete the task.

If you don’t complete the assignment, you might feel disappointed or discouraged. You might even feel as if you’ve let your parents or your teacher – or even yourself – down.

It isn’t wise to dwell on these negative emotions for too long. But by imagining how you’ll feel if you don’t finish the task, you’ll realize how important it is that you get to work.

17. Do the hardest task first.

Most students will choose to do the easiest task first, rather than the hardest one. But this approach isn’t effective because it leaves the worst for last.

It’s more difficult to find motivation to do homework in less enjoyable subjects.

As Brian Tracy says , “Eat that frog!” By this, he means that you should always get your most difficult task out of the way at the beginning of the day.

If math is your least favorite subject, force yourself to complete your math homework first.

After doing so, you’ll feel a surge of motivation from knowing it’s finished. And you won’t procrastinate on your other homework because it will seem easier in comparison.

(On a separate note, check out these tips on how to get better at math if you’re struggling.)

18. Set a timer when doing your homework.

I recommend that you use a stopwatch for every homework session. (If you prefer, you could also use this online stopwatch or the Tomato Timer .)

Start the timer at the beginning of the session, and work in 30- to 45-minute blocks.

Using a timer creates a sense of urgency, which will help you fight off your urge to procrastinate.

When you know you only have to work for a short session, it will be easier to find motivation to complete your homework.

Tell yourself that you need to work hard until the timer goes off, and then you can take a break. (And then be sure to take that break!)

19. Eliminate distractions.

Here are some suggestions on how you can do this:

• Delete all the games and social media apps on your phone
• Turn off all notifications on your phone
• Mute your group chats
• Archive your inactive chats
• Turn off your phone, or put it on airplane mode
• Put your phone at least 10 feet away from you
• Turn off the Internet access on your computer
• Use an app like Freedom to restrict your Internet usage
• Put any other distractions (like food, magazines and books unrelated to your homework) at the other end of the room
• Unplug the TV
• Use earplugs if your surroundings are noisy

20. At the start of each day, write down the two to three Most Important Tasks (MITs) you want to accomplish.

This will enable you to prioritize your tasks. As Josh Kaufman explains , a Most Important Task (MIT) is a critical task that will help you to get significant results down the road.

Not all tasks are equally important. That’s why it’s vital that you identify your MITs, so that you can complete those as early in the day as possible.

What do you most need to get done today? That’s an MIT.

Get to work on it, then feel the satisfaction that comes from knowing it’s out of the way.

21. Focus on progress instead of perfection.

Perfectionism can destroy your motivation to do homework and keep you from starting important assignments.

Some students procrastinate because they’re waiting for the perfect time to start.

Others do so because they want to get their homework done perfectly. But they know this isn’t really possible – so they put off even getting started.

What’s the solution?

To focus on progress instead of perfection.

There’s never a perfect time for anything. Nor will you ever be able to complete your homework perfectly. But you can do your best, and that’s enough.

So concentrate on learning and improving, and turn this into a habit that you implement whenever you study .

22. Get organized.

Procrastination is common among students who are disorganized.

When you can’t remember which assignment is due when or which tests you have coming up, you’ll naturally feel confused. You’ll experience school- and test-related stress .

This, in turn, will lead to procrastination.

That’s why it’s crucial that you get organized. Here are some tips for doing this:

• Don’t rely on your memory ; write everything down
• Keep a to-do list
• Use a student planner
• Use a calendar and take note of important dates like exams, project due dates, school holidays , birthdays, and family events
• At the end of each day, plan for the following day
• Use one binder or folder for each subject or course
• Do weekly filing of your loose papers, notes, and old homework
• Throw away all the papers and notes you no longer need

23. Stop saying “I have to” and start saying “I choose to.”

When you say things like “I have to write my essay” or “I have to finish my science assignment,” you’ll probably feel annoyed. You might be tempted to complain about your teachers or your school .

What’s the alternative?

To use the phrase “I choose to.”

The truth is, you don’t “have” to do anything.

You can choose not to write your essay; you’ll just run the risk of failing the class.

You can choose not to do your science assignment; you’ll just need to deal with your angry teacher.

When you say “I choose to do my homework,” you’ll feel empowered. This means you’ll be more motivated to study and to do what you ought to.

24. Clear your desk once a week.

Clutter can be demotivating. It also causes stress , which is often at the root of procrastination.

Hard to believe? Give it a try and see for yourself.

By clearing your desk, you’ll reduce stress and make your workspace more organized.

So set a recurring appointment to organize your workspace once a week for just 10 minutes. You’ll receive huge benefits in the long run!

25. If a task takes two minutes or less to complete, do it now.

This is a principle from David Allen’s bestselling book, Getting Things Done .

You may notice that you tend to procrastinate when many tasks pile up. The way to prevent this from happening is to take care of the small but important tasks as soon as you have time.

Here are some examples of small two-minute tasks that you should do once you have a chance:

• Replying to your project group member’s email
• Picking up anything on the floor that doesn’t belong there
• Asking your parents to sign a consent form
• Filing a graded assignment
• Making a quick phone call
• Writing a checklist
• Sending a text to schedule a meeting
• Making an online purchase that doesn’t require further research

26. Finish one task before starting on the next.

You aren’t being productive when you switch between working on your literature essay, social studies report, and physics problem set – while also intermittently checking your phone.

Research shows that multitasking is less effective than doing one thing at a time. Multitasking may even damage your brain !

When it comes to overcoming procrastination, it’s better to stick with one task all the way through before starting on the next one.

You’ll get a sense of accomplishment when you finish the first assignment, which will give you a boost of inspiration as you move on to the next one.

27. Build your focus gradually.

You can’t win the battle against procrastination overnight; it takes time. This means that you need to build your focus progressively.

If you can only focus for 10 minutes at once, that’s fine. Start with three sessions of 10 minutes a day. After a week, increase it to three sessions of 15 minutes a day, and so on.

As the weeks go by, you’ll become far more focused than when you first started. And you’ll soon see how great that makes you feel.

28. Before you start work, write down three things you’re thankful for.

Gratitude improves your psychological health and increases your mental strength .

These factors are linked to motivation. The more you practice gratitude, the easier it will be to find motivation to do your homework. As such, it’s less likely that you’ll be a serial procrastinator.

Before you get down to work for the day, write down three things you’re thankful for. These could be simple things like good health, fine weather, or a loving family.

You could even do this in a “gratitude journal,” which you can then look back on whenever you need a shot of fresh appreciation for the good things in your life.

Either way, this short exercise will get you in the right mindset to be productive.

29. Get enough sleep.

For most people, this means getting 7 to 9 hours of sleep every night. And teenagers need 8 to 10 hours of sleep a night to function optimally.

What does sleep have to do with procrastination?

More than you might realize.

It’s almost impossible to feel motivated when you’re tired. And when you’re low on energy, your willpower is depleted too.

That’s why you give in to the temptation of Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube videos more easily when you’re sleep-deprived.

Here are ways to get more sleep , and sleep better too:

• Create a bedtime routine
• Go to sleep at around the same time every night
• Set a daily alarm as a reminder to go to bed
• Exercise regularly (but not within a few hours of bedtime)
• Make your bedroom as dark as possible
• Remove or switch off all electronic devices before bedtime
• Avoid caffeine at least six hours before bedtime
• Use an eye mask and earplugs

30. Schedule appointments with yourself to complete your homework.

These appointments are specific blocks of time reserved for working on a report, assignment, or project. Scheduling appointments is effective because it makes the task more “official,” so you’re more likely to keep the appointment.

For example, you could schedule appointments such as:

• Jan 25 th , 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm: Math assignment
• Jan 27 th , 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm: Online research for social studies project
• Jan 28 th , 4:30 pm – 5:00 pm: Write introduction for English essay

Transform homework procrastination into homework motivation

Procrastination is a problem we all face.

But given that you’ve read all the way to here, I know you’re committed to overcoming this problem.

And now that you’re armed with these tips, you have all the tools you need to become more disciplined and focused .

By the way, please don’t feel as if you need to implement all the tips at once, because that would be too overwhelming.

Instead, I recommend that you focus on just a couple of tips a week, and make gradual progress. No rush!

Over time, you’ll realize that your habit of procrastination has been replaced by the habit of getting things done.

Now’s the time to get started on that process of transformation. 🙂

Like this article? Please share it with your friends.

Images: Student and books , Homework , Group of students , Consequences , Why , Writing a list , Organized desk , Gratitude

January 19, 2016 at 11:53 am

Ur tips are rlly helpful. Thnkyou ! 🙂

January 19, 2016 at 1:43 pm

You’re welcome 🙂

August 29, 2018 at 11:21 am

Thanks very much

February 19, 2019 at 1:38 pm

The funny thing is while I was reading the first few steps of this article I was procrastinating on my homework….

November 12, 2019 at 12:44 pm

same here! but now I actually want to get my stuff done… huh

December 4, 2022 at 11:35 pm

May 30, 2023 at 6:26 am

October 25, 2023 at 11:35 am

fr tho i totally was but now I’m actually going to get started haha

June 6, 2020 at 6:04 am

I love your articles

January 21, 2016 at 7:07 pm

Thanks soo much. It’s almost like you could read my mind- when I felt so overwhelmed with the workload heap I had created for myself by procrastination, I know feel very motivated to tackle it out completely and replace that bad habit with the wonderful tips mentioned here! 🙂

January 21, 2016 at 8:04 pm

I’m glad to help 🙂

January 25, 2016 at 3:09 pm

You have shared great tips here. I especially like the point “Write down why you want to complete the task” because it is helpful to make us more motivated when we are clear about our goals

January 25, 2016 at 4:51 pm

Glad that you found the tips useful, John!

January 29, 2016 at 1:22 am

Thank you very much for your wonderful tips!!! ☺☺☺

January 29, 2016 at 10:41 am

It’s my joy to help, Kabir 🙂

February 3, 2016 at 12:57 pm

Always love your articles. Keep them up 🙂

February 3, 2016 at 1:21 pm

Thanks, Matthew 🙂

February 4, 2016 at 1:40 pm

There are quite a lot of things that you need to do in order to come out with flying colors while studying in a university away from your homeland. Procrastinating on homework is one of the major mistakes committed by students and these tips will help you to avoid them all and make yourself more efficient during your student life.

February 4, 2016 at 1:58 pm

Completely agreed, Leong Siew.

October 5, 2018 at 12:52 am

Wow! thank you very much, I love it .

November 2, 2018 at 10:45 am

You are helping me a lot.. thank you very much….😊

November 6, 2018 at 5:19 pm

I’m procrastinating by reading this

November 29, 2018 at 10:21 am

January 8, 2021 at 3:38 am

March 3, 2019 at 9:12 am

Daniel, your amazing information and advice, has been very useful! Please keep up your excellent work!

April 12, 2019 at 11:12 am

We should stop procrastinating.

September 28, 2019 at 5:19 pm

Thank you so much for the tips:) i’ve been procrastinating since i started high schools and my grades were really bad “F” but the tips have made me a straight A student again.

January 23, 2020 at 7:43 pm

Thanks for the tips, Daniel! They’re really useful! 😁

April 10, 2020 at 2:15 pm

I have always stood first in my class. But procrastination has always been a very bad habit of mine which is why I lost marks for late submission .As an excuse for finding motivation for studying I would spend hours on the phone and I would eventually procrastinate. So I tried your tips and tricks today and they really worked.i am so glad and thankful for your help. 🇮🇳Love from India🇮🇳

April 15, 2020 at 11:16 am

Well I’m gonna give this a shot it looks and sounds very helpful thank you guys I really needed this

April 16, 2020 at 9:48 pm

Daniel, your amazing information and advice, has been very useful! keep up your excellent work! May you give more useful content to us.

May 6, 2020 at 5:03 pm

nice article thanks for your sharing.

May 20, 2020 at 4:49 am

Thank you so much this helped me so much but I was wondering about like what if you just like being lazy and stuff and don’t feel like doing anything and you don’t want to tell anyone because you might annoy them and you just don’t want to add your problems and put another burden on theirs

July 12, 2020 at 1:55 am

I’ve read many short procrastination tip articles and always thought they were stupid or overlooking the actual problem. ‘do this and this’ or that and that, and I sit there thinking I CAN’T. This article had some nice original tips that I actually followed and really did make me feel a bit better. Cheers, diving into what will probably be a 3 hour case study.

August 22, 2020 at 10:14 pm

Nicely explain each tips and those are practical thanks for sharing. Dr.Achyut More

November 11, 2020 at 12:34 pm

Thanks a lot! It was very helpful!

November 15, 2020 at 9:11 am

I keep catching myself procrastinating today. I started reading this yesterday, but then I realized I was procrastinating, so I stopped to finish it today. Thank you for all the great tips.

November 30, 2020 at 5:15 pm

Woow this is so great. Thanks so much Daniel

December 3, 2020 at 3:13 am

These tips were very helpful!

December 18, 2020 at 11:54 am

Procrastination is a major problem of mine, and this, this is very helpful. It is very motivational, now I think I can complete my work.

December 28, 2020 at 2:44 pm

Daniel Wong: When you’re doing your homework, is your super-comfortable bed just two steps away? Me: Nope, my super-comfortable bed is one step away. (But I seriously can’t study anywhere else. If I go to the dining table, my mum would be right in front of me talking loudly on the phone with colleagues and other rooms is an absolute no. My mum doesn’t allow me to go outside. Please give me some suggestions. )

September 19, 2022 at 12:14 pm

I would try and find some noise cancelling headphones to play some classical music or get some earbuds to ignore you mum lol

March 1, 2021 at 5:46 pm

Thank you very much. I highly appreciate it.

May 12, 2023 at 3:38 am

This is great advice. My little niece is now six years old and I like to use those nice cheap child friendly workbooks with her. This is done in order to help her to learn things completely on her own. I however prefer to test her on her own knowledge however. After a rather quick demonstration in the lesson I then tend to give her two simple questions to start off with. And it works a treat. Seriously. I love it. She loves it. The exam questions are for her to answer on her own on a notepad. If she can, she will receive a gold medal and a box of sweets. If not she only gets a plastic toy. We do this all the time to help her understand. Once a week we spend up to thirty minutes in a math lesson on this technique for recalling the basic facts. I have had a lot of great success with this new age technique. So I’m going to carry on with it for now.

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Why You Procrastinate (It Has Nothing to Do With Self-Control)

If procrastination isn’t about laziness, then what is it about.

By Charlotte Lieberman

If you’ve ever put off an important task by, say, alphabetizing your spice drawer, you know it wouldn’t be fair to describe yourself as lazy.

After all, alphabetizing requires focus and effort — and hey, maybe you even went the extra mile to wipe down each bottle before putting it back. And it’s not like you’re hanging out with friends or watching Netflix. You’re cleaning — something your parents would be proud of! This isn’t laziness or bad time management. This is procrastination.

Etymologically, “procrastination” is derived from the Latin verb procrastinare — to put off until tomorrow. But it’s more than just voluntarily delaying. Procrastination is also derived from the ancient Greek word akrasia — doing something against our better judgment.

“It’s self-harm,” said Dr. Piers Steel, a professor of motivational psychology at the University of Calgary and the author of “The Procrastination Equation: How to Stop Putting Things Off and Start Getting Stuff Done . ”

That self-awareness is a key part of why procrastinating makes us feel so rotten. When we procrastinate, we’re not only aware that we’re avoiding the task in question, but also that doing so is probably a bad idea. And yet, we do it anyway.

“This is why we say that procrastination is essentially irrational,” said Dr. Fuschia Sirois, professor of psychology at the University of Sheffield. “It doesn’t make sense to do something you know is going to have negative consequences.”

She added: “People engage in this irrational cycle of chronic procrastination because of an inability to manage negative moods around a task.”

Wait. We procrastinate because of bad moods?

In short: yes.

Procrastination isn’t a unique character flaw or a mysterious curse on your ability to manage time, but a way of coping with challenging emotions and negative moods induced by certain tasks — boredom, anxiety, insecurity, frustration, resentment, self-doubt and beyond.

“Procrastination is an emotion regulation problem, not a time management problem,” said Dr. Tim Pychyl, professor of psychology and member of the Procrastination Research Group at Carleton University in Ottawa.

In a 2013 study , Dr. Pychyl and Dr. Sirois found that procrastination can be understood as “the primacy of short-term mood repair … over the longer-term pursuit of intended actions.” Put simply, procrastination is about being more focused on “the immediate urgency of managing negative moods” than getting on with the task, Dr. Sirois said.

The particular nature of our aversion depends on the given task or situation. It may be due to something inherently unpleasant about the task itself — having to clean a dirty bathroom or organizing a long, boring spreadsheet for your boss. But it might also result from deeper feelings related to the task, such as self-doubt, low self-esteem, anxiety or insecurity. Staring at a blank document, you might be thinking, I’m not smart enough to write this. Even if I am, what will people think of it? Writing is so hard. What if I do a bad job?

All of this can lead us to think that putting the document aside and cleaning that spice drawer instead is a pretty good idea.

[Like what you’re reading? Sign up here for the Smarter Living newsletter to get stories like this (and much more!) delivered straight to your inbox every Monday morning.]

But, of course, this only compounds the negative associations we have with the task, and those feelings will still be there whenever we come back to it, along with increased stress and anxiety , feelings of low self-esteem and self-blame .

In fact, there’s an entire body of research dedicated to the ruminative, self-blaming thoughts many of us tend to have in the wake of procrastination, which are known as “ procrastinatory cognitions .” The thoughts we have about procrastination typically exacerbate our distress and stress, which contribute to further procrastination, Dr. Sirois said.

But the momentary relief we feel when procrastinating is actually what makes the cycle especially vicious. In the immediate present, putting off a task provides relief — “you’ve been rewarded for procrastinating,” Dr. Sirois said. And we know from basic behaviorism that when we’re rewarded for something, we tend to do it again. This is precisely why procrastination tends not to be a one-off behavior, but a cycle, one that easily becomes a chronic habit.

Over time, chronic procrastination has not only productivity costs, but measurably destructive effects on our mental and physical health, including chronic stress , general psychological distress and low life satisfaction , symptoms of depression and anxiety , poor health behaviors , chronic illness and even hypertension and cardiovascular disease.

But I thought we procrastinate to feel better?

If it seems ironic that we procrastinate to avoid negative feelings, but end up feeling even worse, that’s because it is. And once again, we have evolution to thank.

Procrastination is a perfect example of present bias , our hard-wired tendency to prioritize short-term needs ahead of long-term ones.

“We really weren’t designed to think ahead into the further future because we needed to focus on providing for ourselves in the here and now,” said psychologist Dr. Hal Hershfield, a professor of marketing at the U.C.L.A. Anderson School of Management.

Dr. Hershfield’s research has shown that, on a neural level, we perceive our “future selves” more like strangers than as parts of ourselves. When we procrastinate, parts of our brains actually think that the tasks we’re putting off — and the accompanying negative feelings that await us on the other side — are somebody else’s problem.

To make things worse, we’re even less able to make thoughtful, future-oriented decisions in the midst of stress. When faced with a task that makes us feel anxious or insecure, the amygdala — the “threat detector” part of the brain — perceives that task as a genuine threat, in this case to our self-esteem or well-being. Even if we intellectually recognize that putting off the task will create more stress for ourselves in the future, our brains are still wired to be more concerned with removing the threat in the present. Researchers call this “amygdala hijack.”

Unfortunately, we can’t just tell ourselves to stop procrastinating. And despite the prevalence of “productivity hacks,” focusing on the question of how to get more work done doesn’t address the root cause of procrastination.

O.K. How do we get to the root cause of procrastination?

We must realize that, at its core, procrastination is about emotions, not productivity. The solution doesn’t involve downloading a time management app or learning new strategies for self-control. It has to do with managing our emotions in a new way.

“Our brains are always looking for relative rewards. If we have a habit loop around procrastination but we haven’t found a better reward, our brain is just going to keep doing it over and over until we give it something better to do,” said psychiatrist and neuroscientist Dr. Judson Brewer, Director of Research and Innovation at Brown University’s Mindfulness Center.

To rewire any habit, we have to give our brains what Dr. Brewer called the “Bigger Better Offer” or “B.B.O.”

In the case of procrastination, we have to find a better reward than avoidance — one that can relieve our challenging feelings in the present moment without causing harm to our future selves. The difficulty with breaking the addiction to procrastination in particular is that there is an infinite number of potential substitute actions that would still be forms of procrastination, Dr. Brewer said. That’s why the solution must therefore be internal, and not dependent on anything but ourselves.

One option is to forgive yourself in the moments you procrastinate. In a 2010 study , researchers found that students who were able to forgive themselves for procrastinating when studying for a first exam ended up procrastinating less when studying for their next exam. They concluded that self-forgiveness supported productivity by allowing “the individual to move past their maladaptive behavior and focus on the upcoming examination without the burden of past acts.”

Another tactic is the related practice of self-compassion , which is treating ourselves with kindness and understanding in the face of our mistakes and failures. In a 2012 study examining the relationship between stress, self-compassion and procrastination, Dr. Sirois found that procrastinators tend to have high stress and low self-compassion, suggesting that self-compassion provides “a buffer against negative reactions to self-relevant events.”

In fact, several studies show that self-compassion supports motivation and personal growth. Not only does it decrease psychological distress , which we now know is a primary culprit for procrastination, it also actively boosts motivation , enhances feelings of self-worth and fosters positive emotions like optimism, wisdom, curiosity and personal initiative. Best of all, self-compassion doesn’t require anything external — just a commitment to meeting your challenges with greater acceptance and kindness rather than rumination and regret.

That may be easier said than done, but try to reframe the task by considering a positive aspect of it. Perhaps you remind yourself of a time you did something similar and it turned out O.K. Or maybe you think about the beneficial outcome of completing the task. What might your boss or partner say when you show them your finished work? How will you feel about yourself?

What are some other, healthier ways to manage the feelings that typically trigger procrastination?

Cultivate curiosity: If you’re feeling tempted to procrastinate, bring your attention to the sensations arising in your mind and body. What feelings are eliciting your temptation? Where do you feel them in your body? What do they remind you of? What happens to the thought of procrastinating as you observe it? Does it intensify? Dissipate? Cause other emotions to arise? How are the sensations in your body shifting as you continue to rest your awareness on them?

Consider the next action: This is different than the age-old advice to break up a task you’re tempted to avoid into bite-sized chunks. According to Dr. Pychyl, focusing only on the “next action” helps calm our nerves, and it allows for what Dr. Pychyl called “a layer of self-deception.” At the start of a given task, you can consider the next action as a mere possibility, as if you were method acting: “What’s the next action I’d take on this if I were going to do it, even though I’m not?” Maybe you would open your email. Or perhaps you would put the date at the top of your document. Don’t wait to be in the mood to do a certain task. “Motivation follows action. Get started, and you’ll find your motivation follows,” Dr. Pychyl said.

Make your temptations more inconvenient: It’s still easier to change our circumstances than ourselves, said Gretchen Rubin, author of “Better Than Before: What I Learned About Making and Breaking Habits.” According to Ms. Rubin, we can take what we know about procrastination and “use it to our advantage” by placing obstacles between ourselves and our temptations to induce a certain degree of frustration or anxiety. If you compulsively check social media, delete those apps from your phone or “give yourself a really complicated password with not just five digits, but 12,” Ms. Rubin said. By doing this, you’re adding friction to the procrastination cycle and making the reward value of your temptation less immediate.

On the other side of the coin, Ms. Rubin also suggested that we make the things we want to do as easy as possible for ourselves. If you want to go to the gym before work but you’re not a morning person, sleep in your exercise clothes. “Try to remove every, every, every roadblock,” Ms. Rubin said.

Still, procrastination is deeply existential, as it raises questions about individual agency and how we want to spend our time as opposed to how we actually do. But it’s also a reminder of our commonality — we’re all vulnerable to painful feelings, and most of us just want to be happy with the choices we make.

Now go finish up alphabetizing that spice drawer before it becomes your next procrastination albatross.

An earlier version of this article incorrectly referred to the university at which Judson Brewer is employed.

How we handle corrections

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These simple and proven strategies will help you manage stress , support your mental health and find meaning in the new year.

First, bring calm and clarity into your life with these 10 tips . Next, identify what you are dealing with: Is it worry, anxiety or stress ?

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Psychology of Procrastination: 10 Worksheets & Games (PDF)

Perceptions of procrastination range from being the topic of jokes to being associated with mental illness (Svartdal, Granmo, & Farevaag, 2018). But what is the truth about this ubiquitous behavior?

As a college instructor, I deal with student procrastination every semester, often resulting in end-of-term complications.

I’ve been guilty of it myself. Although I’m much better than I used to be, I’m still curious about procrastination.

How does it affect wellbeing and physiology?

More importantly, how can we overcome this tendency? Is there an app for that?

To get these answers, let’s explore procrastination, beginning with the psychology of procrastination.

Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our three Productivity Exercises for free . These detailed, science-based exercises will help you or your clients become more productive and efficient.

This Article Contains:

What is procrastination according to psychology, 6 causes according to research, 2 real-life examples of procrastination, how to overcome procrastination: 3 techniques, procrastination coaching and therapy: 2 tips, using cbt to overcome procrastination, 5 helpful worksheets, apps, & games, 12 questions, tests, & questionnaires for clients, top 2 books on the topic, positivepsychology.com’s helpful resources, a take-home message.

Procrastination has existed throughout history and across cultures, appearing in folk tales and songs. In 44 BC, the Roman politician Cicero denounced Antonius’s chronic slowness and procrastination as “hateful” (Steel, 2007).

Is procrastination merely slowness? According to Klassen, Krawchuk, and Rajani (2008, p. 916), “procrastination consists of the intentional delay of an intended course of action, in spite of an awareness of negative outcomes.”

Reviewing the history of procrastination, Steel (2007) stated that although it has existed throughout history, it increasingly assumed negative connotations with the start of the industrial revolution.

We know that technologically advanced societies mandate various commitments and deadlines, whereas agrarian and undeveloped societies do not (Steel, 2007).

Bearing in mind the connotation of procrastination as negative, we can assume there are associated consequences.

Physiological consequences of procrastination

Procrastination is linked to higher levels of stress and lower wellbeing (Jaffe, 2013; Stead, Shanahan, & Neufeld, 2010; Hairston & Shpitalni, 2016). Specifically, “[a]nxiety and depression are positively correlated with self-report and behavioral measures of procrastination” (Stead et al., 2010, p. 175).

Hairston and Shpitalni (2016) link procrastination to negative affect and self-reported sleep disturbances.

Other adverse effects of procrastination include “increased stress, lower task performance, reduced wellbeing, regret and suffering, and risk of mental and physical illness” (Svartdal et al., 2018, p. 2).

Considering the overall cultural condition of time poverty, why do people avoid tasks, preferring to peruse the internet or occupy themselves with Candy Crush?

The following is not a comprehensive list of the causes of procrastination; however, it reflects common correlations.

1. Neuroticism

Neuroticism is similar to worrying, trait anxiety, or negative affect (Steel, 2007). Subcategories of note include irrational beliefs, cognitions, or thoughts; low self-efficacy and self-esteem; self-handicapping; impulsivity, sensation seeking; and depression.

Steel’s (2007, p. 81) research shows that the correlation between procrastination and neuroticism “appears to be due almost entirely to impulsiveness.”

2. Impulsivity

Impulsive people procrastinate, preferring to focus on desires of the moment (Steel, 2007; Svartdal et al., 2018) rather than the drudgery of tasks. This form of procrastination stems from pursuit of “ immediate gratification , neglecting or ignoring longer term responsibilities” (Steel, 2007, p. 70).

3. Conscientiousness

Conscientiousness includes variables such as distractibility (self-control), poor organization (structuring and planning life), low achievement motivation (goal setting, enjoyment of performance), and a gap between intention and action (Steel, 2007).

According to Steel (2007, p. 81), “procrastination does appear to be representative of low conscientiousness and self-regulatory failure.”

4. Lack of self-confidence or low self-efficacy

Stemming from a fear of failure, both low self-efficacy and low self-esteem are associated with procrastination (Steel, 2007). Low self-efficacy is seen as irrational doubts in our ability to do well. Low self-esteem is the belief that “any failure to perform to standard suggests inadequacy as a person” (Steel, 2007, p. 69).

5. Discomfort dodging (task aversion)

Discomfort dodging includes putting off a task “because some parts of it are associated with uncomfortable and, possibly anxious, feelings” (Knaus, 1979, p. 5). The goal of discomfort dodging is to avoid bad feelings.

6. Perfectionism

In his 1979 book Do It Now , William J. Knaus included a chapter on the association between perfectionism and procrastination. He states that perfectionism is unrealistic and linked to fear of failure. Others (Dexter, 2020; Phillips, 2019) also cite perfectionism as a source of procrastination.

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Procrastination is not new and does not discriminate.

Hannah Lamarque (2017) describes some famous procrastinators that few would expect.

1. Bill Clinton

This former president was notorious for failing to follow through and being cursed by distraction. So notorious was his latent reputation that in 1994, Time Magazine published an article about it. Further, his own vice president, Al Gore, characterized him as “punctually challenged” (Lamarque, 2017).

2. Leonardo Da Vinci

One of the greatest and most well-known artists of all time also contended with procrastination. It’s hard to conceive, considering his body of work, but Da Vinci struggled with focus. The Mona Lisa, one of his most notable masterpieces, took 16 years to complete.

Other works such as the Virgin of the Rocks took 13 years. So intense was Da Vinci’s proclivity for procrastination that his own benefactor threatened bankruptcy to motivate him.

It’s reassuring to know that procrastination is an equal opportunity malady. To offer a hand to those who struggle with it, let’s review some expert advice.

1. The 5-minute rule

When the brain is overwhelmed by a task, it can result in anxiety and avoidance. Bariso (2021) suggests a simple technique he calls the five-minute rule.

He advises committing to the task for five minutes with the stipulation that you can quit after that time if the task is overwhelming. Also known as chunking, this method breaks tasks into feasible portions.

Because task initiation often creates the roadblock, this method helps procrastinators clear the first hurdle. Thank you, Mary Poppins.

2. Visualization (mental rehearsal)

Visualization is an ongoing process that can be productively directed (Peper, Harvey, Lin, & Duvvuri, 2014). Imagining successful completion of a task makes the realization more likely. This process is familiar to athletes and artists.

These five steps can guide the process.

• Think of a past behavior or conflict that ended in disappointment.
• Understand that under the circumstances, you handled it the only way you could.
• Consider, “How could I have handled this with the wisdom I have now?”
• Now, think back to that same situation. Immerse yourself in it as if it is recurring, using all of your senses. Be as specific as possible. This time, imagine yourself behaving masterfully.
• Congratulate yourself for programming your own future.

3. Mindfulness

In Unwinding Anxiety , Judson Brewer (2021) discusses both procrastination and the worry loop that leads to it.

Brewer describes the standard habit loop as trigger, behavior, result. Avoiding a project can feel better in the moment than starting it. He suggests using mindfulness to build awareness of feelings associated with procrastination.

In the future, try doing a task early or on time, noticing what that feels like. The positive feelings associated with timely task completion can be used to build a new habit loop.

This video , created for medical students, introduces a useful equation for understanding procrastination and suggests seven remedies.

Knowing that there are ways to overcome procrastination, here are two tips for the therapist who has to deal with this phenomenon.

1. Appreciative inquiry

Appreciative inquiry was developed by Cooperrider and Srivastva (1987), with the help of graduate students at Case Western University in the 1980s. The concept is based on “powerful assumptions about human change that are positive and life generating by nature” (Binkert & Clancy, 2011, p. 287).

This strengths-based and solution-focused paradigm is premised on human potential and social constructionism. Adherents believe that clients can reinvent themselves through language, using three fundamental principles:

• “what people focus on becomes their reality;
• the language people use creates their reality; and
• in every individual, something works” (Orem, Binkert, & Clancy, 2007, p. 40).

The application to coaching is realized through asking life-enhancing appreciative inquiry questions , watching for pivotal moments as clients begin to view themselves in a new light, and helping the client move forward, taking parts of their past that are positive and comforting (Binkert & Clancy, 2011).

2. Motivational interviewing

Motivational interviewing (MI) is an optimistic approach to change based on research, experience, and the belief that clients are more likely to change when they believe they can (Souders, 2019).

Drawing on the strength of self-talk, MI techniques encourage change talk. Grounded in self-determination theory, MI attends to three basic psychological needs:

• Relatedness

Self-determination theory techniques are also used by professional sports coaches, such as Pete Carroll (Stetka, 2016).

This interdisciplinary method helps clients reduce ambivalence often associated with change. Its application is common in psychology and fields such as medicine and criminal justice.

This SlideShare was originally developed to help criminal justice practitioners implement MI. It explains concepts such as change talk, rolling with resistance, and using the acronym OARS.

In CBT, the relationship between thoughts, emotions, and feelings is explored and discussed. Research shows that anxiety and avoidance may explain procrastination. As reviewed earlier, procrastination is a behavior used to avoid uncomfortable feelings (Dexter, 2020).

This therapeutic approach focuses on the present and is goal oriented. It utilizes cognition to treat emotional and behavioral disorders and operates with the premise that changes in thoughts can be highly effective for treating deep-seated issues (Orem et al., 2007).

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy has been proven effective as a tool to improve self-esteem and self-worth (McKay & Fanning, 2016), sometimes associated with procrastination. Using the power of self-talk to recognize and tame the inner critic, this method ignites the client’s rational, healthy voice (Sutton, 2021).

Below are three worksheets to help clients work through issues related to procrastination as well as a collection of apps and therapy games .

1. Reward Replacement Worksheet

Using procrastination as their behavior change goal, clients can use the Reward Replacement Worksheet to analyze the costs and rewards of procrastination and consider behavior change.

2. Problem Solving Worksheet for Adults

This Problem Solving Worksheet helps clients identify a problem, break it into smaller steps, and set a course of action, listing the pros and cons of each option.

3. Building New Habits

Building New Habits walks clients through the habit loop, including reward implementation, creating motivation for positive action.

4. HabitHub App

HabitHub, a habit and goal tracker app , motivates clients to complete to-do lists with easy-to-understand color schemes for daily, weekly, and monthly tasks.

Task reminder options range from many to few. I have incorporated this app for health and wellness routines as well as work-related tasks. Yes, there’s an app for that.

Available for Android . Available for iOS (coming soon).

5. Triskelion eLearning game

Triskelion from Gamelearn is a role-playing simulation course for overcoming procrastination and maximizing personal productivity and time management skills.

Students learn to plan and prioritize projects and discover techniques that can be used daily to manage tasks, improve efficiency, and achieve goals.

Request a demo .

As we have seen through motivational interviewing, powerful questions can lead clients to revelations, evoking new thoughts about their own potential. Below are six examples from Catherine Moore, author of 100 Most Powerful Life Coaching Questions (2019):

• What will success look like?
• How will you know you’ve achieved your goal?
• How might you turn these steps into a plan?
• How will you prepare for each step?
• How do you plan to motivate yourself when obstacles arise?
• What are some ways to motivate yourself to get started?

I’ve added four questions of my own:

• What one word describes how you feel during or after procrastination? Explain.
• What type of tasks do you tend to procrastinate on the most?
• If your self-talk is negative, do you know where that voice comes from?
• Think of a time you felt amazing about the work you do. How did it feel? Why?

These questions allow the client to reflect on emotions that when overlooked, create non-productive habit loops, keeping in mind that what gets rewarded, gets repeated.

Procrastination can be prevalent among students. This questionnaire from the Oregon State University’s Academic Success Center website, cleverly named Procrasti-Not, is geared toward students and holistic in nature. The questions seek to identify which life domains are more prone to procrastination.

Thoroughly getting on top of a topic means extending your knowledge, and reading our recommended books are just what you need.

1. Eat That Frog! 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastination and Get More Done in Less Time – Brian Tracy

Eat That Frog is touted as one of the most popular time management books in history and is available in 42 languages.

The author embraces the premise that hitting your most undesirable task first thing in the morning means you start the day having accomplished a great thing.

Further, Tracy addresses perseveration that leads to procrastination.

Find the book on Amazon .

2. Unwinding Anxiety: New Science Shows How to Break the Cycles of Worry and Fear to Heal Your Mind – Judson Brewer

This book reviews the state of anxiety in current times and how anxiety drives bad habits (procrastination being one) and addictive behaviors.

Brewer presents a solution-focused program for overcoming anxiety.

We have a selection of resources that can aid mental healthcare practitioners with procrastinating clients.

The article 100 Most Powerful Life Coaching Questions [+PDF] by Catherine Moore (2019) provides helpful questions and resources for therapists, coaches, and anyone else looking to uncover issues. Moore also explains the GROW model and provides specific questions for coaching managers and leaders.

A series of simple worksheets are helpful for walking clients through individual steps toward their goal, using the acronym GROW. The worksheets include the following step-by-step process.

• G Stands for Goal helps clients identify goals.
• R Stands For REALITY allows clients to identify where they are with their goal and identify obstacles.
• O Stands for Options helps clients identify options and their energy resources for reaching their goals.
• W Stands For WAY FORWARD aids clients in setting up steps and sub-steps for reaching their goal. One of the strengths of this worksheet is the accountability piece and establishing a reward system for the accomplished goal.

If you’re looking for more science-based ways to help others become more productive and efficient, this collection contains 17 validated productivity and work efficiency exercises . Use them to help others prioritize better, eliminate time wasters, maximize their personal energy, and more.

17 Science-Based Productivity & Efficiency Exercises

Arm yourself with these 17 Productivity & Work Efficiency Exercises [PDF] and use positive psychology to increase flow, engagement, and goal achievement in the workplace.

Created by Experts. 100% Science-based.

Surprisingly, it has been my pleasure to explore procrastination. I’ve discovered apps, worksheets, questions, books, and other valuable resources that I’ve already implemented to improve work hygiene.

In 1979, Knaus described distractions such as “chain-smoking, overeating, sleeping, playing solitaire, doing pushups” (1979, p. 21). Forty-two years later, technological advancements have situated the temptation to procrastinate in the palm of our hands – no pushups necessary.

Students have been the target of many procrastination studies, but they’re not alone.

We are all different, and when addressing the gap between intention and action, it’s vital to create a plan that suits your personality type.

This article was completed on time, and it felt like an accomplishment because for me, procrastination is no joke.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our three Productivity Exercises for free .

• Bariso, J. (2021, June 13). Emotionally intelligent people embrace the 5-minute rule . www.inc.com. Retrieved July 5, 2021, from https://www.inc.com/justin-bariso/emotionally-intelligent-people-embrace-5-minute-rule.html
• Binkert, J., & Clancy, A. L. (2011). Appreciative inquiry. In L. Wildflower & D. Brennan (Eds.), The handbook of knowledge-based coaching: From theory to practice . Jossey-Bass.
• Brewer, J. A. (2021). Unwinding anxiety: New science shows how to break the cycles of worry and fear to heal your mind . Avery.
• Cooperrider, D. L., & Srivastva, S. (1987). Appreciative inquiry in organizational life.  Research in Organizational Change and Development ,  1 (1), 129–169.
• Dexter, M. (2020, March 28). Social anxiety and procrastination: What “I can’t” might really mean . National Social Anxiety Center. Retrieved July 17, 2021, from https://nationalsocialanxietycenter.com/2020/03/28/social-anxiety-and-procrastination-what-i-cant-might-really-mean/
• Hairston, I. S., & Shpitalni, R. (2016). Procrastination is linked with insomnia symptoms: The moderating role of morningness-eveningness. Personality and Individual Differences , 101 , 50–56.
• Jaffe, E. (2013, March 29). Why wait? The science behind procrastination. Association for Psychological Science. Retrieved July 5, 2021, from https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/why-wait-the-science-behind-procrastination
• Klassen, R. M., Krawchuk, L. L., & Rajani, S. (2008). Academic procrastination of undergraduates: Low self-efficacy to self-regulate predicts higher levels of procrastination. Contemporary Educational Psychology , 33 (4), 915–931.
• Knaus, W. J. (1979). Do it now . Prentice-Hall.
• Lamarque, H. (2017, January 12). Top 10 most famous procrastinators in the world . Career Addict. Retrieved July 21, 2021, from https://www.careeraddict.com/top-10-most-famous-procrastinators-in-the-world
• McKay, M., & Fanning, P. (2016).  Self-esteem . New Harbinger.
• Moore, C. (2019, October 22). 100 Most powerful life coaching questions [+PDF] . PositivePsychology.com. Retrieved August 4, 2021, from https://positivepsychology.com/life-coaching-questions/
• Orem, S. L., Binkert, J., & Clancy, A. L. (2007). Appreciative coaching: A positive process for change . Jossey-Bass.
• Peper, E., Harvey, R., Lin, I. M., & Duvvuri, P. (2014). Increase productivity, decrease procrastination, and increase energy. Biofeedback , 42 (2), 82–87.
• Phillips, L. (2019, October 24). Procrastination: An emotional struggle. Counseling Today. Retrieved July 22, 2021, from https://ct.counseling.org/2019/10/procrastination-an-emotional-struggle/#
• Souders, B. (2019, November 5). 17 Motivational interviewing questions and skills . PositivePsychology.com. Retrieved August 2, 2021, from https://positivepsychology.com/motivational-interviewing/
• Stead, R., Shanahan, M. J., & Neufeld, R. W. (2010). “I’ll go to therapy, eventually”: Procrastination, stress, and mental health. Personality and Individual Differences , 49 , 175–180.
• Steel, P. (2007). The nature of procrastination: A meta-analytic and theoretical review of quintessential self-regulatory failure. Psychological Bulletin , 133 (1), 65–94.
• Stetka, B. (2016). How to coach like an Olympian. Scientific American Mind , 27 (4), 45–49.
• Sutton, J. (2021, July 24). How to boost self-esteem: 12 Simple exercises & CBT tools . PositivePsychology.com. Retrieved August 2, 2021, from https://positivepsychology.com/self-esteem-boost-exercises/
• Svartdal, F., Granmo, S., & Farevaag, F. S. (2018). On the behavioral side of procrastination: Exploring behavioral delay in real-life Settings. Frontiers in Psychology , 9 .
• Tracy, B. (2017).  Eat that frog! 21 Great ways to stop procrastinating and get more done in less time.  Berrett-Koehler.

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What our readers think.

Brilliant article. I see aspects of myself in all the 6 causes of procrastination listed, nice to see them listed like this, where one can examine why they think the way they do… complete with references for further reading and tools for therapy. Procrastination can become a severe, career/lifestyle destroying problem left unchecked, negative beliefs formed over a lifetime. Guilt, shame and disappointment become unbearable by midlife. I am still procrastinating my social life more than a year after covid lockdowns, and struggles with productivity when working from home resulted in me forming rigid beliefs such as I am simply not capable of working in the afternoon, at all, even after returning to the office. When it gets this far, really need therapy not just an ADHD diagnosis and throw some meds at it. (meds not helpful in my case, I tried). There are so many “how to beat procrastination 10 tips” type articles that are basic, patronising and really just cover how to set goals followed by “just start it, go on!”. I’d also add one potential cause: Demand avoidance, which we all do to some degree. But when its pathological demand avoidance it can be associated with autism

A highly informative article that must be read by all people who wants to deal with mind strongholds of procrastination which are obstacles to our Divine Predestined success and prosperity.

Well researched and informative article.

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3 Reasons Students Procrastinate—and How to Help Them Stop

Psychologists have uncovered reasons why students put off important work. But there are a few simple things teachers can do to keep students on track.

Leonardo da Vinci spent nearly 16 years painting the Mona Lisa —and never completed it . The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy author Douglas Adams famously wrote , “I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.” And Frank Lloyd Wright spent a mere two hours designing Fallingwater —after delaying for nine months.

“Procrastination is extremely prevalent,” Piers Steel, a business professor at the University of Calgary, noted in a 2007 study . “Estimates indicate that 80 to 95 percent of college students engage in procrastination, approximately 75 percent consider themselves procrastinators, and almost 50 percent procrastinate consistently and problematically.”

If you’re a middle or high school teacher, it’s likely that you have procrastinators in your class—students who consistently wait until the last minute to turn in their assignments, or put off studying until the night before a test. This delaying has a cost: A 2015 study found that the longer business school students waited to turn in an assignment, the worse their grades were, with last-minute hand-ins costing them five percentage points on average, or half a grade. And a 2015 meta-analysis confirmed this result, finding that procrastination was associated with lower grades across 33 studies that included over 38,000 students (most of whom were in college). Even worse, medical research has linked procrastination to higher levels of stress, depression, anxiety, and fatigue.

It’s a common perception that students who procrastinate do so because they don’t care about the assignment—and that’s usually wrong, argued Devon Price, a social psychology professor at Loyola University, in 2018. More often than not, the underlying reasons for procrastination fall under two categories: fear of failure or confusion about the first steps of an assignment.

“Procrastination is more likely when the task is meaningful and the individual cares about doing it well,” Price explained. Procrastinators can stare at a screen or book for hours, paralyzed by fear. At that point, the best solution is to take a short break and engage in a relaxing activity.

Joseph Ferrari, a professor of psychology at DePaul University and leading expert on procrastination, has performed several studies on why students put off important work. In a groundbreaking 1989 study , Ferrari found that college students often procrastinated because of indecision: They spent too much time worrying about whether they were doing an assignment correctly, prolonging the time they spent on even simple tasks. For these students, procrastination was a coping mechanism to avoid stressful experiences.

“It is very helpful and useful to gather information to make an informed decision, but when one simply continues to gather beyond the point of adequate resources, then they are being indecisive and the waiting is counterproductive,” Ferrari told an interviewer in 2010 .

In a follow-up study , Ferrari found another reason why some students procrastinate: fear of criticism. He discovered that many college students engaged in self-sabotage because they could then blame low grades on the deadlines rather than their own abilities. These students preferred to “choose situations in which their public image would not be damaged by poor performance.” Once again, procrastination was a coping mechanism—in this case, to protect the students’ self-esteem and perceptions of their identity.

Ferrari discovered yet another, very different, motive for procrastination in a 1992 study . Some college students delayed starting on an assignment because they enjoyed the perceived thrill of working against a deadline. Putting assignments off until the last minute was a way of “adding drama to life,” giving these students a rush of adrenaline.

Indecisiveness, avoidance, and thrill-seeking are thus more likely explanations for procrastination than laziness or lack of motivation. So what can teachers do? Here are some suggestions.

5 Ways to Encourage Students Not to Procrastinate

1. Spread deadlines out. Researchers have investigated the impact of three types of deadlines for a series of tasks: evenly spaced, self-imposed, or a single, final deadline. In the first experiment, students were assigned three papers and were asked to either turn one in at the end of each month, choose their own deadlines, or submit all three papers by the end of the course. In the second experiment, students were given a task—to proofread three passages—and submitted their assignments weekly, at their own self-chosen pace, or all at once. In both experiments, evenly spaced deadlines not only yielded better student work but also decreased the chances that students would miss their deadlines.

The takeaway for teachers? Instead of giving students a big project with a single deadline, break it into smaller tasks with evenly spaced out deadlines. Ask for multiple drafts of a paper, for example. In a project-based learning unit, have students present their progress at specified checkpoints. This can be especially helpful for students who are paralyzed by large projects—by making each part more manageable, you can reduce the anxiety associated with intimidating deadlines.

2. Provide supportive feedback. Students with low self-esteem may be reluctant to put forth their best work if they’re worried about criticism or afraid of failing. Avoid giving highly critical or negative feedback, which may have the unintended consequence of making students feel nervous or self-conscious. Students may also respond poorly to feedback that feels controlling, so avoid being too explicit about what needs to be corrected. Finally, be cautious about giving feedback to students in front of their peers—they may feel uncomfortable and become disengaged.

3. Teach time management and study skills. A 2017 study found that many students lack the metacognitive skills they need to be able to study effectively, such as the ability to schedule ample time for studying or knowing when to ask for help. Many study participants were surprised when their initial scores were lower than they had expected—they did not have an accurate sense of how well prepared they were. They were then encouraged to plan ahead for an upcoming test, and were shown examples of how they could prepare. The results were significant: Compared to their peers, the students who participated in the metacognitive activities scored a third of a letter grade higher, on average.

4. Be mindful of workload. According to a 2015 study , the likelihood that students will turn in late work increases when deadlines for different projects coincide—something that can easily happen in middle and high school, when students have multiple teachers. Students also experience higher stress levels if they can’t manage multiple assignments that are due at the same time. Consider coordinating with other teachers to spread out major deadlines.

And when students face adversity that impacts their ability to finish assignments on time, such as taking care of a family member or having to financially support their family, being flexible about deadlines can help them stay on track.

5. Have clear instructions and examples. Students are more likely to put off a project if they don’t understand how to start. Ensure that all students know your expectations and the requirements of the assignment—it’s best to put instructions in writing so that students can refer to them as needed. You can also use exemplars , such as examples of past student work, to help them better understand what the assignment is.

Solving Procrastination

Student Procrastination: Why Students Procrastinate and How to Stop It

Student procrastination is a common problem, which occurs when students unnecessarily postpone working on school tasks, like studying or writing. It affects students at all levels, and can cause serious issues, like worse grades and lower wellbeing. It’s also a complicated problem, since different students procrastinate for different reasons, and can therefore benefit from different solutions when it comes to overcoming their procrastination.

The following article provides a comprehensive and practical guide to the problem of student procrastination. Its goals are to first help you understand why students procrastinate, and then show you what students can do in order to stop procrastinating and start studying. This will be beneficial whether you’re a student yourself, or someone like a parent or a teacher, who wants to help students overcome their procrastination.

Examples of student procrastination

An example of student procrastination is a student who needs to sit down and finish their homework, but instead wastes time on the internet all day and only starts working late at night, even though they wish they could have gotten started earlier.

In addition, other examples of student procrastination are the following:

• A high-school student who puts off studying for a test for several hours, by browsing social media instead.
• An undergraduate university student who postpones writing a class paper for weeks until right before the deadline , by watching TV, playing games, and going out instead.
• A graduate student who postpones working on a large research project or dissertation for an entire semester, by continually putting it off to a later date, while working on small and unimportant tasks instead.

Finally, although the concept of student procrastination is mainly associated with procrastination on academic tasks, students can also procrastinate on other types of tasks , like exercising or cleaning their room.

Prevalence of student procrastination

Procrastination is very common among students. For example, studies show that approximately 50% of college students say that they procrastinate in a consistent and problematic manner, approximately 75% consider themselves to be procrastinators, and approximately 80%–95% procrastinate to some degree.

Furthermore, research shows that procrastination is common among other student populations , including students in elementary school , middle school , high school , and graduate school . In fact, it’s so common among students that the tendency to procrastinate on tasks until right before they’re due is sometimes called the student syndrome .

Dangers of student procrastination

Procrastination can cause various issues for students, by negatively affecting their time management, academic performance, emotional wellbeing, and mental and physical health:

• In terms of time management , procrastination can take up a considerable amount of time, and students often report that procrastination occupies over a third of their daily activities, usually in the form of behaviors such as sleeping, watching TV, or playing games. It can also cause them to experience other time-management issues, such as missing important deadlines, or rushing to complete assignments without enough time.
• In terms of  academic performance , procrastination can lead to various issues , including worse exam scores, worse grades, more course failures, and more course withdrawals. Many of these issues can be attributed to issues that procrastination causes in terms of time management. For example, if students fail to manage their time by continually putting off studying for an important test, they will likely end up unprepared, and therefore earn a worse grade than they could have earned if they didn’t procrastinate.
• In terms of  emotional wellbeing and mental/physical health , procrastination can cause  issues like increased stress  and increased rates of illness . Many of these issues are associated with the issues that students experience in terms of their time management and academic performance. For example, if a student submits an assignment late due to procrastination and ends up receiving a bad grade, then they might feel anxiety, guilt, and stress over their behavior.

Given this, and given how common procrastination is, it’s unsurprising that many students say that procrastination is always or nearly always a problem for them when it comes to various academic tasks (e.g., writing papers and studying for exams), and that they want to reduce their procrastination on those tasks.

In addition, procrastination can also cause serious issues for students once they leave academia and enter the job market, since many of the above issues extend to adults outside academia, and since procrastination is associated with further issues, such as lower salaries, shorter periods of employment, a higher likelihood of unemployment, and lower financial success in general.

Why students procrastinate

Students procrastinate because issues like exhaustion and anxiety outweigh their self-control and motivation. These issues include personal factors, like fear and perfectionism, and situational factors, like distractions and unclear instructions.

Specifically, when students need to study or work on assignments, they rely primarily on their self-control in order to get themselves to do it. Furthermore, their self-control is sometimes supported by their motivation, which helps them do things in a timely manner.

However, in some cases, students suffer from various issues that interfere with or oppose their self-control and motivation, such as exhaustion and anxiety . When these issues are stronger than their self-control and motivation, they end up procrastinating, until they reach a point where the balance between these factors shifts in the students’ favor, or until it becomes too late.

This explains why many students procrastinate in a chronic manner even when they have the necessary motivation and truly want to study and get their work done. This also explains why many students always procrastinate on academic work until right before the deadline, at which point the increased motivation, often in the form of stressful pressure, finally pushes them to start studying or to start working on their assignments.

Accordingly, common reasons why students procrastinate include the following :

• Abstract goals , generally in terms of being vague about when and how the students intend to study or do their work.
• Feeling overwhelmed , often while being unsure of how to deal with the academic task at hand.
• Perfectionism , generally in the form of refusing to create work that has any flaws.
• Fear of failure , often due to concerns over how failure might reflect on the student’s abilities and skills, either in their eyes or in the eyes of others.
• Anxiety , often in light of potential negative feedback.
• Task aversion , especially in cases where the students find an assignment boring or unpleasant.
• Lack of motivation , often as a result of not caring about academic performance, feeling disconnected from their future self, or having rewards that are too far in the future.
• Physical or mental exhaustion , often due to a combination of reasons, such as a high academic workload together with lack of sleep.
• Resentment , generally toward the studying or assignments directly, toward their source, or toward something related, such as a parent pushing the student to do well in a subject that they’re not interested in.
• Sensation seeking , generally in the form of enjoying working on things right before the deadline, when there’s intense time pressure that can make otherwise boring assignments more challenging and exciting.
• Problematic work environment , generally as a result of having many distractions or temptations around.
• Lack of sufficient communication from instructors, for example when it comes to not having clear directions and due dates for a certain class project.

Other common causes of student procrastination include behaviors such as self-handicapping , which involves procrastinating so that if the student fails then they can blame their failure on procrastination rather than on their abilities, and self-sabotaging , which involves procrastinating as a result of a tendency to hinder one’s progress.

Furthermore, certain personality traits , such as distractibility and impulsivity , are associated with the tendency to procrastinate, meaning that people who are naturally high in these traits are more likely to procrastinate.

Finally, there are also some underlying issues that can lead to procrastination, like ADHD , depression , and lack of sleep .

Overall, students procrastinate because issues such as exhaustion and anxiety outweigh their self-control and motivation. Common issues that lead to student procrastination include abstract goals, feeling overwhelmed, perfectionism, fear of failure, task aversion, resentment, a problematic work environment, and sensation seeking.

How to stop procrastinating on studying

To stop procrastinating on your studying or schoolwork right now , you should identify the smallest possible thing you can do to make progress on it, and then modify your environment to make it as likely as possible that you will do it.

For example, if you need to study for an exam, the smallest possible step that you can take toward doing this might be to open your notes and go over just the first paragraph that you have written down. Once you realize that this is all you need to do, you can start modifying your study environment to help yourself achieve this, for example by going to a room with no distractions and leaving your phone outside.

There are many other anti-procrastination techniques you can use as a student. Start by trying a few of them that seem relevant based on factors like your circumstances and the specific causes of your procrastination. Over time, you can modify which techniques you use and how you use them, based on how they work for you.

Improve your planning:

• Set concrete goals for yourself. For example, instead of a vague goal, such as “study for my upcoming exam”, set a concrete goal, such as “on the week of my upcoming exam, go to the library every day after I finish my last class for the day, and spend at least 2 hours studying”.
• Break your tasks into small and manageable steps. For example, if you need to write an essay, you can start with steps such as figuring out the title, creating a rough outline, and finding five appropriate academic sources. Note that if the project in question is large, then you generally shouldn’t worry about figuring out all the steps to it from the start. Instead, start by identifying only the first few steps that you need to take, and then identify new steps as you make progress, to avoid feeling overwhelmed or getting stuck.
• Set intermediate milestones and deadlines for yourself. If your instructor hasn’t done this already, or if they’ve only set a single major deadline at the end, setting scaffolded intermediate milestones and deadlines for yourself will help you plan ahead, be accountable, and feel more motivated to make continuous progress.
• Identify your productivity cycles. Students vary in terms of when they’re most productive; for example, some work best in the morning, while others are more focused at night. You should take this into account, and schedule your study and work to times of day when you’re least likely to procrastinate.

Improve your environment:

• Change your environment to make it harder for yourself to procrastinate. For example, if you tend to procrastinate on writing essays because you keep browsing social media , turn off your internet connection on your computer before you get to work.
• Change your environment to make it easier for yourself to get started. For example, if you know that you’ll need to study for an exam tomorrow morning, organize all the relevant study material on your desk or in your bag before you go to bed.
• Change your environment to make it easier for you to keep going. For example, if you know that you’re likely to lose concentration if you get distracted while studying, go study in a quiet room and leave your phone outside.

Change your approach:

• Start with a tiny step. For example, if you need to write an essay, help yourself get started by committing to only write a single sentence at first. This can help you push yourself to get started on tasks, and often, once you do so, you’ll find it easy to keep going.
• Start with the best or worst part first. Some students find that starting with the most enjoyable or easiest part of an assignment helps them get going, while others find that getting the worst part out of the way first helps them avoid procrastinating over time. You can use either approach if you find that it works well for you.
• Add a time delay before you procrastinate. If you can’t avoid procrastinating entirely, try committing to having a time delay before you indulge your impulse to do so. For example, this can involve counting to 10 before you’re allowed to open a new tab on the social media website that you usually use to procrastinate.
• Use the Pomodoro technique. This involves alternating between scheduled periods of study and rest. For example, you can study for 25-minute long stretches, with 5-minute breaks in between, and a longer 30-minute break after every 4 study sets that you complete.

Increase your motivation:

• Make studying feel more rewarding. For example, you can gamify your studying, by marking down streaks of days on which you’ve managed to achieve your study goals, and potentially also giving yourself some reward once you reach a sufficiently long streak.
• Make studying feel more enjoyable. For example, if studying in your room is uncomfortable, try going somewhere more pleasant, such as the library.
• Visualize your future self. For example, you can visualize yourself being able to relax after finishing an assignment, visualize yourself being rewarded for getting a good grade, or visualize yourself having to handle the issues associated with not studying enough.
• Focus on your goals instead of on your tasks. For example, if you need to work on an assignment that you find boring, then instead of focusing on the assignment, try thinking about your academic goals and about the reason why you want to do well on that assignment, such as that you want to get a good grade in the class so you can have a stronger college application.

Change your mindset:

• Give yourself permission to make mistakes. For example, if you’re working on an assignment, accept the fact that your work likely won’t be perfect , especially at first. Furthermore, you can decide to start by just getting some initial answers written down, and then go over your work at the end to check if you need to make corrections.
• Address your fears. If you’re procrastinating because you’re afraid of something, try to identify your fears and resolve them. For example, if you’re afraid that your writing won’t be good enough, you can say to yourself that your goal is to just start by getting something written down, and that you can always improve it later.
• Develop self-compassion.   Self-compassion can help reduce your procrastination, as well as various issues that are associated with it, such as stress. It consists of three components that you should promote: self-kindness , which involves being nice to yourself, common humanity , which involves recognizing that everyone experiences challenges, and mindfulness , which involves accepting your emotions in a non-judgmental manner.
• Develop self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is the belief in your ability to perform the actions needed to achieve your goals. It can help you reduce your procrastination, as well as associated issues, such as anxiety. To develop self-efficacy, try to identify the various strategies that you can use to successfully study and complete your assignments, and think about your ability to execute those strategies successfully.

You’ll probably need to use multiple techniques in order to reduce your procrastination, but even just a few should help. Start with just a few techniques initially, to avoid getting overwhelmed, and then you can add more techniques over time, based on your progress.

If you suffer from an underlying issue that causes procrastination, such as ADHD , depression , or lack of sleep , you will likely need to resolve that issue first, using professional help if necessary, in order to successfully overcome your procrastination.

Overall, to stop procrastinating on your schoolwork, you should identify the smallest possible thing you can do to make progress on it, and then modify your environment to make it as likely as possible that you will do it. In the long term, you should also figure out the causes of your procrastination, and use relevant anti-procrastination techniques, like setting concrete goals, breaking tasks into manageable steps, and giving yourself permission to make mistakes.

How to help students stop procrastinating

When it comes to helping students overcome their procrastination, for example if you’re a teacher or a parent, there are three main approaches that you can use:

• An externally led approach. This involves using relevant anti-procrastination techniques to reduce students’ procrastination, without actively involving them in the process. For example, this can involve setting a series of intermediate project deadlines for all students in a course.
• A student-led approach. This involves letting students overcome their procrastination with little to no external guidance. External guidance in this case might include something as minimal as mentioning the problem of procrastination and telling students about a relevant resource such as this article.
• A joint approach. This involves giving students external guidance while also encouraging them to take an active role in their attempts to stop procrastinating. For example, this can involve going over relevant anti-procrastination techniques with students, and helping them choose and implement their preferred ones.

None of these approaches is inherently superior to the others. Accordingly, you should decide which one to use based on factors such as the number of students that you’re trying to help and the type of relationship that you have with them. For example, if you’re a teacher trying to help 200 students in a college course you will likely need to use a different approach than if you’re a parent trying to help just your kid.

Almost any type of relationship can be beneficial when it comes to helping a student overcome their procrastination. For example, if you’re a teacher, you’re likely in a good position in terms of your influence over the student’s academic situation. On the other hand, if you’re a parent, you’re likely in a good position in terms of your influence over the student’s home life.

Furthermore, you can reach out to other stakeholders who can help. For example, if you’re a teacher, and you think that a student’s parents might be able to help them stop procrastinating, you can reach out to them and discuss the situation.

In addition, an important factor to keep in mind is how independent the students in question are. In general, the more independent students are, the more they should be involved in the process of overcoming their procrastination, since this can increase their motivation and make the process more effective, while generally leading to more self-development and growth over time. This also raises the importance of giving students a sense of control, even if you’re the one guiding the process, which can be especially crucial when it comes to avoiding procrastination that’s rooted in issues such as resentment, rebellion, or lack of self-confidence.

Finally, the following is a list of specific things that you can do to help students stop procrastinating:

• Explain to the students what procrastination is and what it looks like, and help them understand that they engage in it themselves.
• Show the students why procrastination can be dangerous, when it comes to factors such as their academic performance, their career prospects, and their mental and physical health.
• Explain to the students what causes procrastination, and help them identify the causes of their own procrastination.
• Point students in the direction of resources that can help them deal with their procrastination, such as this article.
• Tell the student about relevant anti-procrastination techniques —which are listed in the previous section—and help them pick their preferred ones.
• Implement the previously mentioned anti-procrastination techniques on behalf of the students, for example by breaking apart large tasks into manageable steps and setting intermediate deadlines for each.

Overall, you can help students overcome their procrastination in various ways, such as by helping them understand that they’re procrastinating in a problematic manner, helping them identify the causes of their procrastination, and helping them choose and implement relevant anti-procrastination techniques. The specific approach that you should use depends on factors such as how autonomous the students in question are, how many students you’re trying to help, and what kind of relationship you have with them.

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• Sep 28, 2022

6 Tried-and-True Ways to Beat Procrastination and Get Back into Homework

When summer ends and school starts up again , there are probably lots of things that will change in your life. You’ll have a more strict routine to follow. You’ll be spending more time with your peers. You’ll get back into school activities and classes. And you’ll have to deal with homework again.

Getting back into homework is tough when you’ve spent a couple of months not having to do any. It’s easy for students to get caught up in a vicious cycle of procrastination and stress around completing homework on time. Just getting started can be the hardest part.

At Liz Morrison Therapy , our counselors help middle schoolers and high schoolers ease into tough transitions and set healthy habits. Getting back into homework and school mode can be a challenge, but it doesn’t have to ruin your school year. Here are some of our best tips for getting back into the habit quickly – so you can spend more time with your friends instead of worrying about assignments.

How to Overcome Procrastination and Do Your Homework: 6 Tips

Procrastinating on homework is one of the hardest habits to break, and it’s no secret that it poses a huge challenge to students. And it’s not actually about laziness – it’s about a desire to avoid the negative emotions that accompany whatever thing you have to do.

There are a lot of ways to overcome procrastination, and what works for some people won’t work for everyone. The key is to try different emotional management techniques and procrastination-busting methods until you figure out what works for you, and then continue to build on those. As you get better at new time management skills and emotional health habits, completing homework and other tasks will be easier. Ultimately, you’ll be less anxious and distressed about your workload.

Here are 6 ways you can build healthy skillsets around work, break the habit of procrastination, and set yourself up for success at school.

1. Acknowledge the difficulty of transitions

Your schedule is changing as you get back into school. This means your daily activities will change too. This might sound obvious, but many of our clients ignore this important aspect of returning to school. If you’re like most students, you have a lot of feelings about going back to school – you might be nervous, excited, apprehensive, sad, or some mixture of all of the above. And pushing away your difficult feelings can make it much more difficult to transition back to doing homework and attending classes. Maybe you’re someone who has a tough time with classes and schoolwork, or maybe you’re someone who looks forward to new assignments. Either way, you’re not alone. Acknowledging the big changes in your schedule – and how you feel about it all – can make a big difference in making you feel more relaxed and settled. Give yourself grace as you transition. It can help normalize any struggles you’re having and give you some much-needed emotional “wiggle room.”

2. Be realistic about your schedule

One of the biggest reasons students find it hard to get back into homework after the summer break – aside from procrastination – is they’re much busier with extracurriculars, sports, clubs, hanging out with friends, and possibly even working day jobs. There’s simply not a ton of extra time for doing homework, and this can put a lot of stress and pressure on getting everything done. Take a look at your schedule and ask yourself:

Can I realistically get everything done in the time that I have?

Can I feel good while getting everything done? Do I feel balanced and healthy?

Do I have any unnecessary or extra-stressful things in my schedule that I can eliminate?

How can I make sure to spend time on self-care along with all my other obligations?

Working through questions like these in a journal or with a therapist can really help you figure out what’s working and what might benefit from a change.

3. Eliminate distractions

If you’re someone who can focus all your attention on one task at a time without getting distracted, count yourself lucky. But for the rest of you out there, be sure to eliminate distractions when you work. Put your phone on silent and put it somewhere out of sight. Put headphones on with white noise or soothing ocean sounds if that helps you concentrate. Some students like a noisy atmosphere (like a coffee shop or a study group) for getting things done, and others prefer a completely quiet space where they can be alone. Know what you need, and give yourself that.

4. Plan out your homework – and break it up

To properly plan out your homework, it helps to know what’s going to be due and when. Write out a list (or buy a planner) with all your upcoming assignments, and score them on a scale of importance and difficulty. Many students tend to underestimate the time needed to complete their homework, so be realistic about the time different tasks take you. Don’t plan on finishing 4 different projects in one go, because that will just leave you exhausted and braindead. Next, give yourself a time limit for each project or assignment. Finally, work on the hardest thing first so some of the stress about completing difficult tasks is eased. And keep in mind that you don’t have to finish the hardest one first – you just have to get started.

Break up each of your assignments into chunks of time, and make sure to give yourself plenty of time to finish each. For example, say you have a paper due at the end of the week. Instead of trying to write it all the day before it’s due, set aside 30-60 minutes per day all week to work on that paper. Breaking up assignments will give your brain breaks and keep you from feeling super-stressed during and after homework sessions.

5. Set a timer

Setting a timer is a surprisingly useful tool for getting things accomplished. Simply getting started on homework is one of the biggest challenges for many students. Seeing a timer counting down can boost your motivation and help you begin. Setting a timer also is great if you’re easily distracted or have trouble focusing – it gives you an external cue to rely on. It also helps you avoid getting completely sucked in to one task at the expense of everything else you need to do.

Of course, it will likely take some trial and error for you to figure out how much time is actually right for you to work on each of your homework assignments. And this is totally okay. You can always tweak the timer when you need to. But in general, once the timer is up, wrap up what you’re working on. Give yourself a short break, and then move on to the next thing on your list.

6. Ask for help

There’s no shame in asking for extra help. Completing your homework shouldn’t feel like a monumental task. If you feel swamped with assignments and school work and need some support, consider asking your teacher or a tutor to help you. If your school doesn’t have a tutoring service, you can hire one or ask an adult for guidance. And if you are struggling with motivation or with the transition back into school and homework, a therapist can help.

Therapy Can Help You Figure Out How to Get Back Into Homework

If you’re having a hard time getting back into the rhythm of schoolwork and assignments after summer, you’re not alone. And you don’t need to let back-to-school stress get you down. If you’d like support in getting through your anxiety about how to do homework, we’re here for you. We’ll help you learn tools to beat the procrastination cycle, take the stress out of homework, and feel good about completing all your assignments and tasks. You’ll feel more prepared and confident about getting back into the demands of school.

Feel free to contact us for a free 15-minute phone consultation. We can answer any questions you have and see whether we’re a good fit.

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THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO AVOIDING PROCRASTINATION AND GETTING YOUR HOMEWORK DONE

Procrastination is more common in students than one realizes. The habit of unnecessarily delaying actions often causes unwanted stress, missed opportunities, reduced well-being, and other concerns. Several candidates make up their minds to pull an all-nighter for their pending assignments (including yourself). However, when you sit down (with the TV playing in the background), you find those preposterous late-night commercials or soap operas too captivating to skip. Hence, you decide to finish watching them before you begin writing. Eventually, by that time, it's too late, and your eyes and head want nothing else but to hit the sack and call it a night. The situation does seem familiar, doesn't it? For many, it's like a typical weeknight, and strangely, they keep finding and indulging something or the other that causes further work delays. Right up till when students realize there's little time left for submission, they get down to writing the assignment in haste and resultantly fail to meet the professor's required expectations.

Furthermore, the Psychology Today Report points out that procrastination is one of the chief causes of reduced grades in many pupils. Regardless of whether the cause of delay is 'Netflixing,' napping, cleaning, or lack of interest in the subject itself, you must look to overcome this habit and manage time wisely for doing homework properly. Of course, old habits die hard, and that makes overcoming procrastination more difficult than one expects. Some pupils opt for the easier option- hiring an assignment expert online and requesting them to ' do my homework for me.'  The decision proves beneficial. Top-rated assignment writing websites (like MyAssignmenthelp.com and similar) have exceptional writers for 100+ subjects to help students. They accept orders 24/7.

So, those who struggle to finish their homework on time can  Visit at Myassignmenthelp , fill up the order form, and secure a writer to guide and mentor them for their pending task. If you succumb to procrastination, you can use the option too to finish homework quickly and make it submission ready before the due date. 

Now that you have a last-minute reliable option to turn to during emergencies let's focus on the primary issue at hand – OVERCOMING PROCRASTINATION so you can finish your homework without needing help from online experts! Below are some practical tips to follow!

Admit You Procrastinate and Figure Out The Main Cause 

The foremost step to overcoming this habit is admitting you have this issue. Once you admit that you're deliberately delaying things when you aren't supposed to, you take the first step to rectifying the problem. 

The next step is figuring out the chief cause of your procrastination. The reasons could be plenty: lack of subject interest, fear of failing, or even due to some psychological reasons like –

Low self-esteem

Overwhelming anxiety

Lack of support structure

Inability to self-motivate

Or some other emotional turmoil.

Some field experts also explain procrastination could result due to rumination -fixating on negative thoughts and allowing them to control you (when it should be it the opposite)! Once you determine the cause(s) of your procrastination, it is possible to diagnose it over time. The key to it is developing an optimistic mindset and establishing your daily study goals and productivity benchmarks. Let's emphasize more on this in the next point.

Establishing a Realistic Study Plan and Daily Work Target

We pointed out above that reasons like inability to self-motivate, low self-esteem, and emotional turmoil are key causes of procrastination. Well, good news: There is a surefire way to get into the right mindset. Give yourself some meaningful purpose or goal, or set a daily target to accomplish. Working on pending homework is as good as any. So, look to establish a realistic study goal and daily work target. 

Take for Instance:

You typically study for 3-4 hours every day. So, how about dividing the study time into two sessions? One for studying your course lessons. The other, for working the ignored homework paper. Next, you assess the amount of work to be done and divide them into manageable parts. 

So, if the paper is 4000 words and due in 4 days, set a goal of writing 1800-2000 words per day for 2 days. Reserve the 3rd day for editing, proofreading, checking for plagiarism, correcting citations and references, and adding the finishing touches.

Once finished, you can also use the remaining time to request someone trustworthy to review your final work and suggest honest feedback and improvement suggestions. Refer to the shared feedback and make changes whenever applicable.

Creating a solid study goal and daily work target helps reduce the workload and prevents you from procrastinating. With a sense of purpose and target, you will have reason to motivate yourself and maintain the positive working momentum to finish the pending work appropriately before schedule. So, try this technique out. It's simple and has yielded success for several who similarly have suffered from this ill-habit. 

However, your study location also plays a crucial role in sustaining your productivity and working momentum. Find out more on that below.

Find A Suitable Study Location

It may be tempting to curl up in bed under a cozy blanket with your laptop and do your homework while watching Stranger Things. Nevertheless don't do it. It's not the right spot for working on your assignment. Instead, you must find a suitable study spot with proper lighting, a neat surface, and plenty of space to spread out all useful writing materials and your laptop. You can also name-tag the spot, like no napping or watching shows. With time, your mind will catch on and adjust whenever you sit down at that spot to focus on what’s important – like your assigned homework!

If you have a good spot in your room, make the arrangements. Clear out the clutter, add proper lighting and motivational wallpapers, and keep all resources, like lecture notes, textbooks, dictionaries, marker pens, etc., at arm's reach. Then, sit down and focus only on one thing – doing your homework properly according to your set daily target. You will realize how much of a difference having a quality study spot makes in eliminating procrastination and augmenting your productivity. 

Keep Distractions at Bay

Distractions hamper productivity in more ways than one. All it takes is one notification from a close mate, girlfriend, or sibling to disrupt a long and productive study session. So, once you've figured out a proper study spot, remove all distractions. Keep your phone silent, turn off laptop notifications, and even shut the window to keep the outside noise from reaching in. 

If it suits you, turn on some soft classical music or white noise to filter out the distractions and sustain focus for long periods. Additionally, you must also inform your parents or siblings not to disturb you during your study period. If you have a pet, hand it over to your sibling or parent temporarily till you're done. While pets are cute and lovely to play with, their presence during your study session will only distract you and cause more unwanted delays.

Set A Reward System and Be Accountable When You Can't Reach the Daily Target

If procrastination has been a long-standing habit, it will take some time to overcome it. Proper discipline and self-control are necessary to overcome this habit. Moreover, it requires you to motivate yourself constantly to finish an important task before schedule. Setting a reward system works well for such situations.

When you finish a broken-down homework section ahead of schedule, treat yourself to something you enjoy. For example, you could get some ice cream, take a power nap, or go for a walk with your pet. However, when the opposite happens, you must also accept accountability and remind yourself to do better next time. 

By training your brain with such healthy habits and a positive mindset, you will become less prone to procrastination. If anything, you would want to prove yourself right and work harder the next day to succeed where you failed previously. 

Partage in Group Studies 

Some students lack the will and determination to study/do homework alone. Despite their efforts, they can't get into that positive and productive mindset. Eventually, they lose whatever motivation they manage to churn out and succumb to negative feelings and procrastination. 

If you're one of the same, then it's time to change tactics. Collaborate with some of your classroom mates and arrange for group study sessions. Knowing that you have to pull your weight when partaking in group studies will help flush out all negative feelings and make you more proactive. 

Partaking in group learning sessions creates a sense of responsibility towards yourself the group. It creates the right amount of work pressure that compels you to get serious and work on the pending task with purpose and conviction. Moreover, group studies always make things interesting. You can exchange knowledge on the homework topic and discuss ideas and strategies to implement in the paper. Eventually, your activeness and accountability towards the group and your pending task will make you finish it correctly before the specified due date.

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“I’ll do it later”: Type of motivation, self-efficacy and homework procrastination

• Original Paper
• Published: 30 May 2013
• Volume 38 , pages 111–119, ( 2014 )

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• Idit Katz 1 ,
• Keren Eilot 1 &
• Noa Nevo 1  

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The aim of this study is to explore the role of motivation in the relations between self-efficacy and procrastination. One hundred seventy-one-fifth-grade students completed questionnaires that assessed the type of motivation the students have for homework, the level to which they procrastinate on doing homework, and their self-efficacy regarding homework. The results indicated that autonomous motivation both mediates and moderates the relations between self-efficacy and procrastination. These results highlight the importance of students’ type of motivation for homework, suggesting procrastination cannot be reduced simply by addressing students’ self-efficacy; but, they must be supported to adopt a more autonomous type of motivation.

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Katz, I., Eilot, K. & Nevo, N. “I’ll do it later”: Type of motivation, self-efficacy and homework procrastination. Motiv Emot 38 , 111–119 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-013-9366-1

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Procrastination

6 tips for overcoming anxiety-related procrastination, understand the six types of anxiety-related procrastination..

Posted March 13, 2013 | Reviewed by Devon Frye

• What Is Procrastination?
• Find a therapist near me

There are at least six kinds of anxiety -related procrastination . Here's how to understand each one—and start overcoming them.

1. Procrastination due to your working memory being overwhelmed.

For example, you get overwhelmed by all the notices that your child brings home from school. They need their swimming gear on Thursday, something for Show-and-Tell on Monday, $2 for something in two weeks on Wednesday, etc. If you're like my therapy clients, even putting things on the calendar as they come in feels overwhelming or your calendar gets too messy.

The solution to this is to find a way to be reliably reminded only at the time you need to think about something.

Some of my clients have liked an idea that comes from a book called Getting Things Done . How it works: Get 31 cardboard folders, and label them for each day of the month (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc). I like to use "file jackets" for this purpose rather than manila folders (so that things don't fall out).

When something comes in that you need to add to your to-do list, file it in the correct folder based on the day you need to think about it. Reuse the folders the next month. Reducing the need to make decisions about what to do with new information will free up your willpower for other things.

2. Procrastination due to intolerance of uncertainty.

Intolerance of uncertainty is an important cause of anxiety problems. These are some signs intolerance of uncertainty is causing your procrastination:

• You have a general tendency to stay stuck on pause whenever you feel uncertain about doing something (i.e., you avoid situations and tasks that involve feeling unsure).
• You overcomplicate the issue of where to start. You don't know how to do all the steps in a task so you avoid doing the first logical step.
• You like to mentally work through every possible scenario before you take the plunge. You get caught up in thinking about the details rather than the big picture.
• You try to do too much yourself rather than delegate/outsource to others, because you can only be 100 percent confident in yourself.

3. Procrastination due to overestimating the number of tasks you can get done in the time available.

Sometimes people are surprised to realize they're prone to both positive and negative cognitive biases. An example of a positive bias is overestimating how much you can realistically get done in a particular window of available time. Biting off more than you can realistically chew is a common cause of anxiety and avoidance.

Try a self-experiment where you track how much you actually get done from your to-do list each day. Record this each evening for a week. The following week, write a shorter to-do list that reflects the average number of tasks you were able to complete per day.

Overestimating how many tasks you can get done may or not be anxiety-related. When it is anxiety-related, it tends to be because on some level, you're worried that it'll be a catastrophe if you don't get everything done.

4. Procrastination due to all-or-nothing thinking or unrelenting standards.

All-or-nothing thinking is a hallmark of anxiety. Could you save yourself some stress by doing a task you've been avoiding in a more moderate way?

For example, if reading 25 articles for your essay is something you're avoiding doing, would you still feel the need to avoid the task if you set yourself a more moderate goal—say, reading five articles?

Would you procrastinate less about cleaning the shower if you just gave it a quick spray and wipe and pulled the hair out of the drain hole, rather than spending 30 minutes on it?

Try: Identify one task that you'd be less likely to avoid if you reduced your standards (and where you're willing to try this).

5. Procrastination due to predicting a negative outcome.

Often when people drag their heels on a task, it's because they're predicting a negative outcome. For example

• expecting someone will react badly to you raising an issue
• expecting to struggle with a task
• expecting a task to not go smoothly.

Tip: Half the battle is noticing that you're making a negative prediction. Recognize that a negative outcome is only one of the possible outcomes. Try the three questions technique (worst, best, most realistic).

6. Procrastination due to an uneven cognitive profile.

It's possible to be very smart and successful but to still have some difficulties with particular cognitive skills such as initiating, planning, or sequencing (putting together a string of steps in a logical order to complete a complex task).

These difficulties may not show up on familiar tasks. They're likely to be most obvious when a task is new, you have to make decisions about how to go about the task, and the task is in an arena you feel anxious about (such as computers) and your anxiety is sucking up some of your cognitive processing capacity.

If you find initiating, planning, or sequencing difficult compared to your general cognitive capacity, try factoring this in. Find a way to have other people give you a hand up with the things you find difficult (e.g., help you plan the steps) and be kinder to yourself.

Recognize that some of your anxiety about starting or planning complex self-driven tasks may be because you find it difficult on a cognitive level. In other words, don't misattribute your behavior to laziness or poor motivation —it will just make you feel bad about yourself and more likely to procrastinate.

Alice Boyes, Ph.D., translates principles from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and social psychology into tips people can use in their everyday lives.

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