Why Can’t I Procrastinate? Spoiler Alert…You Can!

Writers’ Club member Molly talks about the benefits of taking a break…

Procrastination! For many of us, myself included, procrastination is a fearsome enemy that is often difficult to overcome. I quite easily find myself putting off starting the things I need to do by telling myself “just five more minutes – and then end up feeling even worse when I am scrolling through endless self-help TikToks that advertise all the ‘top tips’ to stop procrastinating and start being productive. But does procrastination always have to be a bad thing? According to good old Wikipedia, the definition of procrastination is “the action of unnecessarily and voluntarily delaying or postponing something despite knowing that there will be negative consequences for doing so”. As a self-diagnosed procrastinator, when I first read this definition, I felt a definite slug to the gut. But after pausing and re-reading it, I thought to myself that yes, there are negative consequences – but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it can’t be beneficial to sometimes put off the work for a day too! 

The same Wikipedia page that talks about the negative consequences of procrastination also says that “it can also be considered a wise response to certain demands that could present risky or negative outcomes or require waiting for new information to arrive”. So what does this mean? For myself, like many other young people my age, procrastination is often associated with academic work, whether that be revision for exams or writing an essay. By waiting before making a start, studies have shown that people can be up to 28% more creative! This is because procrastination allows time for “divergent thinking”, which means you have time to consider different solutions to one problem.

There are actually two different types of procrastination – active procrastination and passive procrastination. Active procrastination is known as a form of “positive procrastination” because it is controlled – an example is putting off doing a particular assignment until closer to the deadline, because the limited time frame then gives a healthy amount of pressure and motivation. Passive procrastination is the unhealthy version. This is when you procrastinate because a piece of work is stressing you out, or you are worried that you won’t do well.

Sometimes, starting a chunk of work can fill you with such an overwhelming sense of dread that your brain shuts down and decides for you that nothing is being accomplished today. In some instances, pushing yourself to make a start can give you a much needed boost. In other instances, it only succeeds in making you feel as if you are a step further back than you were before. This is when active procrastination can become your friend. If you are so wrapped up in the thing you are trying to work through, it can be much more useful to take a step back and leave the problem for a few hours, or even days! This will let your subconscious work through the problem on its own, and give you some sense of clarity when you come back to it.

Procrastination doesn’t always have to be about avoiding academic work.  It can simply be not doing a load of washing, or ordering a take out meal instead of cooking from scratch. And sometimes, even if you have done all the small things, if everything isn’t ticked off the to-do list for the day then it can look - or feel - like a waste. However, this isn’t necessarily true. Procrastination isn’t avoiding every responsibility we have – rather we are just putting off a particular bullet point or two on the to-do list that we don’t want to do. How can this be useful? Well, you may find that it actually helps with motivation – by doing other things on your to-do list first, you can start to feel more accomplished, and build motivation for the unwanted tasks later in the week. Procrastination also doesn’t mean you aren’t doing nothing – you might be spending time with friends, reading a book, even doing the washing! Just because you aren’t doing the original task you set out to do, it doesn’t mean that you haven’t had a good or productive day.

But it is important to remember that procrastination isn’t always the right, or best, option. When procrastination is causing a build up of stress and anxiety, then it isn’t healthy. But if your body is simply not letting you do anything other than procrastinate, then it may be a sign that you need to put a foot on the breaks and slow down. The main thing to note is that procrastination is normal, it is human, and you are not alone!

For more information on how procrastination can be positive, check out the book Soon: An Overdue History of Procrastination, from Leonardo and Darwin to You and Me’ by Andrew Santella. It looks at the benefits of procrastinating, and past famous figures that were also famous procrastinators. This Very Well Article looks at the links between procrastination and different mental health issues, and this Article looks at reasons why procrastination can be a good thing, and how to help with procrastination.