Why do I delay important tasks?

Has it ever happened to you that at the end of a working day, you realize some of the tasks you had planned to do have been postponed? You may ask yourself Why do I delay important tasks? Like many people, you probably tell yourself that you’ll do it tomorrow, and because you don’t have enough time to do it until the end of work today, you might blame yourself for not doing it.

why do i delay important tasks


At the very beginning, we must tell you that you are not alone in this situation. You should know that all people may have postponed some of their work at one time. Meanwhile, some people may not care about this phenomena. However, many people may ask the question: Why do I always postpone things?

In this case, blaming yourself may seem like the easiest and fastest possible way. However, sometimes the postponement of work is not our fault and this problem should be rooted out. If you want to find the answer to the questions, “Why do I delay important tasks or Why do I never get anything done on time? Read the rest of the article.

Why do I never
get anything done
on time


What is procrastination?

When we ask ourselves Why do I delay important tasks, in some terms, we ask this question because we are procrastinating those tasks. Procrastination occurs when we postpone the necessary actions or activities. There are so many definitions and misconceptions about procrastination. For example, researchers define procrastination as a self-defeating behavior.

Many people define this behavior as not doing important tasks that we need to get done. This manner may have short-term benefits. But in the long term, it would be costly for us. This behavior is connected to negative functions like high levels of anxiety as well as physical illnesses.

What is procrastination

The important fact about procrastinating is that it’s not equal to relaxation. They are different Because when you relax, your mental and physical energy can be recharged and give you more energy to get back to the job. But, when we procrastinate, there would be no energy to do any task. In this situation, we put them further ahead, but we know that those tasks should be done one day, Which can make us upset and sad about ourselves.

There are some important statistics about procrastination and people who always ask themselves “Why do I delay important tasks”. For example, procrastination in students is very Common. About 50% of students are classified as chronic procrastinators in their studying period. Procrastinating at the workplace is common too. A study in 2014 showed that about 20 to 25% of adults Worldwide procrastinate in their activities from time to time.

why do i always postpone things


Why do we procrastinate?

To find the right answer to some questions like Why do I delay important tasks? Why do I always postpone things? Why do I never get anything done on time? Or Why do I always do things last minute? We should answer the more important question above, why do we procrastinate?

  1. There should be so many reasons for any person to procrastinate. One of the most important reasons for procrastination could be our fear and anxiety. We may postpone our essential tasks because we fear dealing with problems and failure. If anyone lacks faith in his/her abilities, he/she is less likely to start the task at the right time.
  2. Another reason for procrastination could be feeling bored with doing an activity. If someone perceives an activity as boring, he/she will be less inclined to do it.
  3. The other reason that somebody chooses to postpone a task, could be his/her sense of perfectionism. Sometimes these people believe that they cannot get a task done perfectly. In this situation, they put off their tasks and postpone them to another time.

Distraction of the environment could be another reason for procrastination of tasks. Some people may not want to do an activity in busy areas or in front of other people. So that they postpone their activities to another time.

How procrastination affects our life


What are dangers of procrastination?

Many people who are usually procrastinating in their everyday lives, may ask such questions: How procrastination affects our life? Or Why shouldn’t we procrastinate? So that they tend to know about Procrastination and Its Effect on Relationships. Some of the most dangerous effects of procrastinating in our everyday lives are as follows:

  • Procrastinating can blow opportunities:

One of the most dangerous effects of procrastinating could be in its effect on losing serious opportunities. There could be so many examples in our everyday lives in which we lost some opportunities because of our delay. In those situations, people may think that there should be a second chance as soon as possible. But there is no guarantee for that and some of those opportunities could be missed forever. Such opportunities can change our whole life but we miss them because of our procrastinating behaviors.

  • Procrastinating can make us have Poor Decisions:

When somebody procrastinates, he/she could be pressured to make some decisions due to the lack of time. In this situation, people may ask themselves “Why do I delay important tasks and don’t have enough time?”. Decisions that you may not have when you don’t procrastinate. So that your decisions could not be those you want.

  • Risking our mental and physical house:

When we ask How procrastination affects our life? The answer is that our physical or mental health could be risked by procrastinating. This negative behavior leads to anxiety and stress. This stress and anxiety can seriously damage our mental health. A research shows that procrastinating usually leads to stress, fatigue, and lower satisfaction. These types of mental issues can also affect our physical health, which can be dangerous and affect the different aspects of our lives.

Why do I always do things last minute


Types of procrastination:

Not all procrastinators are the same. Every person who asks himself ” Why do I delay important tasks, ” has an individual way of postponing his/ her important tasks. In general, there are six types of procrastination which can be defined as follows:

  1. The Perfectionist Procrastinator:

The Perfectionist Procrastinator is someone who doesn’t start because he/she is afraid of failure. The sense of perfectionism in these people makes them say “If the work I do is not of good quality, this work has failed.” These people usually wait for the ideal conditions to be provided for work so that they can perform properly.

However, this situation causes them to waste a lot of time waiting for the right conditions to arrive. Even if this ideal condition never occurs, these people may never act. This is where they may ask themselves Why do I delay important tasks?

If you think that you are one of these people, you may ask yourself “Why do I always postpone things?” We suggest solutions for you. Instead of being idealistic, we suggest that you decide to be realistic and focus on excellence instead of perfectionism, even if it is not your desired ideal.

To minimize the waste of time, it is better to set a time limit for yourself and try to reach that goal in the shortest possible time. The result could be that we don’t need to ask ourselves “Why do I delay important tasks?

  • The Worrier Procrastinator:

The Worrier Procrastinator is another type of procrastinator who cannot start his/her work due to excessive fear and anxiety. Fear of potential negative outcomes may cause these people to procrastinate in their duties. This fear eventually causes the person to enter a cycle that causes him to refrain from doing anything due to the fear of failure.

It may not matter to them how much time it takes to do something, or how important it is. They waste most of their time fearing that it might lead to undesirable results.

What should we do to not be a worrying procrastinator and ask a question like Why do I delay important tasks? You should always know that not making a decision is a kind of decision. If it is difficult for you to make decisions for different tasks, it is better to implement a decision process for each task. In this way, first set a specific goal and then set steps for this goal.

Do not use negative phrases like “I don’t know” or “I can’t” and use positive phrases instead. We suggest you make a list of your procrastinated tasks and try to finish at least one of them every day. It is better to divide big tasks into smaller tasks so that they are easier to complete. By doing these solutions, there may be no more situations where you ask yourself Why do I delay important tasks?

  • The Crisis-Maker Procrastinator:

The Crisis-Maker Procrastinator is a person who may not be able to complete anything until the deadline. These people may constantly ask themselves “Why do I delay important tasks or Why do I always do things last minute?“. They may know what dangers and unfortunate events will happen to them by not doing something and what opportunities they will lose because of these procrastinations.

An example of these people should be those students who have a big exam ahead. But they delay studying until the day before the exam. To avoid this crisis, it is better to change your thinking style and choose self-motivators other than stress to do your work. When talking about something, it’s better to focus on the positive rather than the negative.

We suggest that you strengthen your time management skills and learn how to manage time. Be responsible and hold yourself accountable for the things you procrastinate on. To get things done faster, set realistic deadlines and try to achieve your goals within the allotted time.

What is the root cause of
Procrastination
  • The Defier Procrastinator:

To understand The Defier Procrastinator, it is better to pay attention to this scenario. Your boss at work asks you to do something that you think is very simple. In this situation, you might ask yourself why I should do this simple thing. You may even find it uncomfortable to think about doing this simple task.

In such a situation, you may procrastinate and start doing things that you think are more important. However, the person who ordered you to do this is your boss and it is not possible to disobey his orders. In such a situation, the person has become a Defier Procrastinator. In this case, if we ask What is the root cause of procrastination? The answer is anger. This situation can be very destructive for your job status and damage your reputation in the workplace.

In order not to be The Defier Procrastinator, there are solutions that we would like to introduce to you. It is better to learn to see the expectations of others as a request instead of looking at them as a demand. It is also better to focus on acting rather than reacting to the request. Instead of working against your colleagues, try to work with them. If doing something annoys you, try to do it your way until you’ve done it right and you’re happy with it.

  • The Overdoer Procrastinator:

There is another type of procrastinator, which is slightly different in terms of behavior. It might even look a little better. Because in this type of Procrastination, people are trying very hard to finish a task. However, their effort is not effective, and they are essentially wasting their time doing useless things the whole time, and they are not doing the main task.

If you ask “What is the root cause of procrastination?” In response, we must say that the inability to focus on the most important task is the most important factor in The Overdoer Procrastinators. If you have such a problem, you should know that the root cause of this behavior is not being able to manage different tasks at once.

To solve this problem, we should try to focus on more important tasks and say “no” to secondary tasks. Don’t depend on the approval of others to do what you do. Try to focus on how you want to take control. Until you don’t have to wait to see how others control you. It is also better to make a list of your daily tasks and try to do them.

The Dreamer Procrastinator
  • The Dreamer Procrastinator:

The Dreamer Procrastinator is one of the most interesting types of procrastinators. These people have a strong imagination and may plan for hours to achieve their goals and set big goals for themselves. However, when this dream meets reality, things can be terrifying.

These people may overthink and feel no urgency to get things done. However, sometimes they are forced to do something quickly because they have reached a deadline.

To stop being The Dreamer Procrastinator, we must learn to distinguish between goals and dreams. Try to set a specific time for each of your goals and say, for example, that you can achieve this goal in a few days. In this way, try to write every project with all the schedules and how to do the work on paper and act based on it. Try to be disciplined to do your work and stick to the set schedules.

Ways to stop procrastinating:

After finding out the answer to such important questions as “Why do I delay important tasks? or What makes people postpone their tasks?” It’s time to find out the best Ways to stop procrastinating. We could tell you that there are too many effective techniques to stop procrastinating. Some of the best ways are:

Breaking tasks into smaller steps:

One of the best Ways to stop procrastinating is to break the task into smaller steps. Larger tasks could be overwhelming and hard to start, which can lead us to procrastinate. By breaking them into smaller and manageable steps, we can make them seem reachable and easier to Start.

Practice positive self-talk and self-compassion:

Many researchers throughout these years told us that procrastination is often linked with negative emotions or feelings like stress, anxiety, or fear. Sometimes we don’t need any other person to motivate us. Instead, we should try to do positive self-talk and self-compassion. These techniques can help us avoid procrastination and not be in the situation of asking ourselves Why do I delay important tasks?

Set goals and deadlines:

when we ask people who have problems with procrastination and always ask themselves “Why do I delay important tasks or Why do I always postpone things?” To answer those questions, you should ask yourself: do I have any deadlines or goals for my tasks? You cannot believe that the answer of many people to this question is “no”.

If we try setting goals and deadlines for our everyday tasks and trying to reach them, we can save time and be more likely to reach our goals. Setting deadlines can create a sense of urgency which makes us work faster and avoid wasting time. For this, we can use calendars, apps, or to-do lists.

What is precrastination?

Till now, we found out what procrastination is and found the answer to questions such as “Why do I delay important tasks?” Now we want to tell you that there is a similar phrase to procrastination, and it is precrastination.
So, what is precrastination? and What is the difference between a procrastinator and a precrastinator?
The best definition of precrastination was introduced by David Rosenbaum, a psychology professor in a study he published in 2014:

“Precrastination is a tendency to work on tasks at the earliest opportunity—even if it means more work or comes with extra costs.”

What is the difference between a procrastinator and a precrastinator?

So, What is the difference between a procrastinator and a precrastinator? As you see, precrastination is the opposite side of procrastination. When you postpone things to do at another time, you are a procrastinator. But when you’re trying to finish your tasks as quickly as possible and don’t care about doing it right, you’re supposed to be a precrastinator.

It seems very impressive when you initially look at precrastination. But you should know that a precrastinator pays too much attention to finish an unimportant task as soon as possible, which is not necessary and results in a loss of time and money.

If there should be an example of precrastination, it should be like shopping for inefficient groceries, having to-do lists that are poorly prioritized, or having interrupting conversations.

If you want to know what is the main cause of precrastination, we should say that the real reason is an elevation of painful emotions in the human body. Which is the same as procrastination.

Final words:

In this article, we talked about procrastination and answered this important question: Why do I delay important tasks? We got information about Procrastination and Its Effect on Relationships. One thing we should know about the real cause of procrastination is the higher level of bad emotions in a person.

There are some benefits of procrastination to students, such as improving decision-making, inspiring creativity, or getting more things done in less time. But we all should remember that besides all the benefits of procrastination for a person, there are too many risks for physical and mental health. So, we should find better ways to improve our decision-making or inspire creativity than being a procrastinator.

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