Procrastinate

We explain what procrastination is, why it occurs and examples. Also, how to stop procrastinating and how to spell the term.

What is procrastination?

When we talk about procrastinating, we mean the postponement or deferral of an important matter replacing it instead with others of less relevance, easier to face or more pleasant. This is not a form of laziness or laziness, but rather a difficulty in facing the emotional requirements that the complex task demands.

The verb procrastinate was not widely used until the beginning of the 21st century, when it has gained currency in light of the distracting effect that social networks have. The term comes from Latin I will procrastinatemade up of the prefix pro– (“forward”) and crastinus (“tomorrow”), that is, leaving things for tomorrow, something totally contrary to what the popular saying suggests: “do not leave for tomorrow what you can do today.”

Contrary to what is often believed, procrastination is an emotional issue. It is a distracting behavior that postpones the moment of facing an activity perceived as painful, uncomfortable, distressing, disturbing, difficult or frustrating, all of which justifies its deferral to an uncertain and idealized future in which the possibilities are given. conditions to do so.

Many psychologists consider procrastination as a symptom of larger problems, such as depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or also as a feature of the hyperstimulation to which we are subjected in contemporary times.

Examples of procrastination

Procrastination can occur in very different forms, for example:

• Eternally having “preparations” to face what needs to be done: pour a cup of coffee, then adjust the chair, then change pencils, then do maintenance on the computer, then go to the bathroom, and so on infinitely.
• Attend to minor and unimportant tasks of the office, such as sending an email, sharpening pencils or solving non-urgent problems, so as not to face the main and most relevant task.
• Getting caught up in multiple distractions while the important work is “started,” so that more time and attention is devoted to the former than the latter, for example, opening windows on social networks, starting chat conversations, etc.

How to stop procrastinating?

There is no simple answer to how to stop procrastinating, in part because it has no single or easy-to-identify cause. However, a significant change in the way you think about or approach the task in question can almost always be part of the solution to the problem, understanding that it is not so much a lack of desire or lack of will, but rather an emotional configuration that complicates the task more than necessary.

Thus, to stop procrastinating an activity, certain changes in attitude may be useful, such as:

• Split the pending task into a set of smaller tasks and manageable, that can be done with less effort and less anxiety, and begin to tackle them one by one.
• be encouraged to draft or a previous and imperfect version of the task, on which to later work on a definitive version. This allows you to reduce the pressure for perfection and move forward with the task without the feeling of having to do things right the first time.
• Accept your own decisions one's own desires and one's own needs, as a way to take pressure off what they will say and the need for external validation, in order to be able to undertake postponed tasks with less fear.
• Build a distraction-free work environment free: put the phone aside, uninstall computer games, minimize interruptions, log out of social networks, etc., during the period in which we want to do that important work. We must reduce the number and availability of excuses.
• If we realize that we are avoiding important work, do not blame ourselves and add frustration and discomfort to the experience, but rather take it with some humor and try to redirect our attention in positive ways.
• Apply interrupted work techniques such as the “pomodoro method”, which generally segment work into small periods using intermittent breaks to make it lighter.

Procrastinate or procrastinate?

The correct writing of the verb It is procrastinating and not “procrastinating” that is, it is written with two interconsonant “r”s, even though it is difficult to pronounce. This is because it comes from Latin I will procrastinateas we have already seen.

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References

• “Procrastination” on Wikipedia.
• “Procrastinate” in the Language Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy.
• “What is procrastination and how to stop doing it” in Aesthesis Psychological Therapy.
• “Procrastination is not a matter of laziness, but of managing emotions” by Charlotte Lieberman in The New York Times en Español.
• “Procrastinate or procrastinate?” in The Vanguard.