Here’s How Procrastination Affects Your Happiness

. We are all prone to pushing tasks further into the future, thinking that somehow we will be able to deal with them as soon as we get more time on our hands. However, sooner than we’ve expected, that future becomes our present and we still haven’t managed to tackle our tasks. We talk about it a lot, but the idea of procrastination can seem like a total abstraction. Let’s first define the term. According to Wikipedia, “procrastination” refers to the action of postponing a task or avoiding performing it. This is the practice of choosing more pleasurable things over those tasks that are less pleasurable. Procrastination can appear in any area of life and can wreak havoc in our lives. For instance, repairing a leaky roof, submitting a job report, seeing a dentist, or dealing with a stressing issue with your spouse might seem minor at first, but once they pile up, you might find yourself dealing with feelings of depression, self-doubt, guilt, and inadequacy. Experts agree, and I can attest, the decision to postpone important tasks has a big impact on our level of happiness. As it turns out, watching cat videos instead of doing your homework leads to feelings of guilt and regret. Procrastination is nothing new, especially for students. A study conducted in September 2014 by two British professors proved that over 86% of students weren’t able to submit their end-of-term papers on time until there were 24 hours or less left until the deadline. Another similar study conducted in 1984 at the University of Vermont proved that 46% of students were procrastinators when it came to writing their academic papers.

The surprise came as the deadline loomed closer. The professors involved in the study noticed a disturbing trend — the closer the students were to the deadline, the worse their marks were. It was as if their scores were dropping by the minute. The reason for this disturbing trend is simple — procrastination has affected their level of happiness and therefore their skill for writing good papers. And, of course, procrastination does not allow time for the revision necessary to produce quality work. According to a study conducted by the Procrastination Research Group, 94% of people believe that procrastination can have a negative impact on their happiness, and many other studies have proven this theory to be true. Habitual procrastination can lead to dissatisfaction in the workplace, problems in relationships, loss of reputation, decrease of self-esteem, and the list goes on. Procrastinators have been found to resort to lies in order to reason out their unexpected delays. This leads to regret, guilt, and shame.

The cycle of procrastination is quite predictable — it all starts with hope, which then transforms into anxiety, self-criticism, and guilt, and then moves towards regret. Another project or task comes by, and the cycle repeats itself. Here are the ways procrastination eats away at your well-being: – Damages relationships: Being late to dates or postponing that important talk with your spouse could damage your relationship in the long run. – Wastes opportunities: Just think of how many opportunities you’ve missed by falling into the trap of procrastination. One thing is sure — missed opportunities never come back. If seized, some of these opportunities might have made your life happier. – Kills time: Losing time is obviously something that will affect your happiness. If you put a huge emphasis on time, then your level of happiness will decrease exponentially by wasting it procrastinating. – Lowers self-esteem: According to numerous studies, people who are not able to complete tasks on time tend to experience a decreased level of self-esteem and confidence in themselves, which will automatically lead to a lower level of happiness. Procrastination usually affects us in three main areas of our lives: education, career, and health. Procrastination can be either decisional, which means putting off taking decisions, or avoidant, which means putting off doing certain things. Procrastination never comes alone. Procrastination is typically triggered by environmental cues. Research shows that the main reasons we procrastinate are as follows: The good news is that procrastination is not an insurmountable enemy. You can actually overcome this limitation with ease. Here’s how: .

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References:

• http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563215004343
• http://www.wbs.ac.uk/news/leaving-essays-to-the-last-minute-can-ruin-your-grades/
• http://rothblum.sdsu.edu/doc_pdf/procrastination/AcademicProcrastinationFrequency.pdf
• http://http-server.carleton.ca/~tpychyl/
• http://waitbutwhy.com/2015/03/procrastination-matrix.html