Procrastination Syndrome | What are the Causes and Symptoms?

We all procrastinate from time to time. In fact, delaying certain tasks can sometimes be necessary for maintaining our psychological and physical well-being. However, when we make a habit of procrastinating, it can harm us instead of helping. The negative effects of procrastination have led to the popular term "procrastination syndrome". Is there really such a thing as procrastination syndrome? What are the psychological mechanisms underlying procrastination? How can we recognize when we are constantly procrastinating? And how can we break free from procrastination? In this article, we delve into the answers to all these questions.

Is Procrastination a Disease?

Although procrastination behavior can have destructive effects on our lives occasionally, we may find it challenging to abandon procrastination. This persistent pattern of procrastination is referred to as procrastination syndrome in popular terms. But is there a mental health problem called procrastination syndrome?

Currently, there is no recognized mental health issue called procrastination syndrome in clinical literature. However, chronic procrastination is observed to be associated with some mental health issues. To understand this relationship better, we need to examine what chronic procrastination entails.

What sets chronic procrastination apart from normal procrastination behavior is that it spreads across a significant portion of our lives, occurs frequently, and leaves negative impacts on our lives. As mentioned earlier, procrastination can sometimes be an action we need to take to allow our body and mind to rest and rejuvenate, especially when feeling exhausted, emotionally overwhelmed, or unwell. However, when procrastination behavior becomes persistent, it is defined as chronic procrastination, also known as procrastination syndrome.

According to research, around 20% of the population struggles with procrastination syndrome. Procrastination syndrome harms individuals in their personal lives, professional careers, and academic processes. Procrastination is defined as an avoidance behavior. When individuals struggle to manage certain emotional processes healthily, they resort to avoidance, that is, procrastination, to cope with them. However, this behavior, instead of providing relief in the long run, weakens well-being and adds new problems brought by procrastination onto existing ones. While delaying a task may bring momentary relief, it subsequently leads to negative feelings and symptoms such as headaches, increased blood pressure, stress, guilt, and shame.

When answering the question, "Is there such a thing as procrastination syndrome?", we mentioned that procrastination itself is not a disease, but can be associated with other mental health issues. We approach this relationship in two ways:

• Firstly, procrastination brings about negative emotions such as stress, anxiety, shame, guilt, and low self-esteem, making the individual vulnerable to mental health issues and becoming a risk factor for psychological health.
• Secondly, procrastination is viewed as a symptom of a mental health issue. For instance, procrastination behavior is often observed when individuals have psychological problems such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), depression, or anxiety disorders.  

The Psychology of Procrastination

We stated that there is no mental health issue called procrastination syndrome in clinical literature. However, while procrastination is not a disease, it is defined as a psychological process. Let's explore the psychology of procrastination and the underlying mechanisms of procrastination behavior.

The fundamental psychological mechanism underlying procrastination is our emotion regulation skills. When we cannot healthily cope with our current emotions, we resort to procrastination. We usually do not procrastinate when a task evokes positive feelings in us. However, when a task we need to do triggers negative emotions we cannot cope with, we turn to procrastination to avoid them. For example, tidying up a messy room or studying for an exam that we do not consider ourselves successful in can evoke negative feelings in us. In the case of tidying up a room, the task itself becomes the source of negative feelings. However, in the example of studying for an exam where we do not consider ourselves successful, our negative feelings about ourselves also come into play. In other words, procrastination occurs when we cannot manage both the negative feelings we have towards the task and ourselves.

As in the examples above, when we engage in procrastination, we experience momentary relief from the negative emotions at that moment. However, in reality, we are merely sweeping those emotions under the rug, not solving the problem. We feel more guilt and anxiety, and become angrier and more insecure about ourselves because we did not do what we were supposed to do. Therefore, avoiding the negative emotions by procrastinating leads to a stronger return of these emotions. When accumulated, these feelings return more intensely, causing us to avoid them even more, and procrastination becomes chronic.

Another psychological mechanism that causes procrastination is the reward mechanism inherent in all of us. Our brains are programmed to work with a reward mechanism. While we tend to engage in actions that make us feel good, we avoid actions that leave us with negative feelings. When we procrastinate, the momentary feeling of relief serves as a reward, albeit illusory, for our brains, and our brains produce the dopamine hormone associated with pleasure. Since our bodies are inclined to repeat actions that lead to dopamine production, which gives a sense of reward, we repeatedly resort to the act of procrastination. This is because, even if it is an illusion, the comfort we experience during procrastination serves as a reward for our minds.

The evolutionary "fight or flight" mechanism, still strongly present in all of us, also plays a role in the procrastination process. When faced with a task that evokes negative emotions, our brains perceive it as a threat, and our fight or flight mechanism comes into play. If we have the emotional resilience to cope with the current negative feelings, we fight the negativity and complete the task. If the current negative feelings exceed our coping capacity, we engage in flight, meaning we procrastinate. Even if we are aware that delaying the task will cause more stress in the future, our brains are programmed to prioritize solving current dangers, disregarding this awareness, and resorting to procrastination behavior.

Why Do We Procrastinate?

As we answered the questions of "Is there such a thing as procrastination syndrome?" and "What is the psychology of procrastination?", we saw that procrastination is mostly associated with negative emotions. So, where do these negative emotions get their sources? Why do we keep procrastinating? Here are the main reasons:

• High levels of anxiety
• Perfectionism
• Poor emotion regulation skills
• Low internal motivation
• Rumination
• Not knowing what to do
• Not knowing how to do it
• Low self-esteem
• Difficulty in planning
• Believing that we work better under pressure
• Waiting for the "right" time

Signs of Procrastination

When we resort to chronic procrastination behavior, we often do it unconsciously. Therefore, recognizing the signs of procrastination and increasing our awareness about it can help us understand whether we are in a chronic procrastination cycle. After understanding, taking concrete steps in this regard can help us break free from this cycle. Here are the main signs of procrastination:

• Prioritizing less important tasks
• Convincing ourselves that certain tasks are not important
• Constantly distracting our attention with different stimuli when we have work to do
• Believing that completing a small part of a big task is good enough
• Not feeling responsible to complete our work
• Making excuses not to do something

How Can We Overcome Procrastination?

As we emphasized in the section where we answered the question "Is there such a thing as procrastination syndrome?", chronic procrastination behavior can play a destructive role in our daily lives. Many different aspects of our lives can be negatively affected by our constant procrastination. The good news is that it is possible to overcome procrastination syndrome! If the main factor causing procrastination is high levels of anxiety, attention deficit, or intense negative feelings towards ourselves, seeking psychological help can be the healthiest and most effective solution. However, there are also some methods we can apply to ourselves in our daily lives. We have compiled these methods for you:

• Show self-compassion: The negative feelings and beliefs we have about ourselves make us feel inadequate to accomplish a task, leading us to procrastinate. To break free from this cycle, showing ourselves the same compassion and understanding as we do to our friends helps us, in other words, showing self-compassion.
• Use the Relate App: Relate addresses each of the different mechanisms that cause procrastination, helping you get rid of chronic procrastination! You can practice the "wellbeing exercises” to deal with your negative feelings, track when you resort to procrastination the most with the "mood tracker" and start taking steps in overcoming procrastination syndrome by embarking on journeys such as "Time Management 101" and "Stress Management 101".
• Challenge false beliefs: Some of the beliefs you have about yourself and tasks may be unrealistic and distorted. You can start by taking an inventory of your common beliefs and how they affect procrastination. By testing their accuracy, you can replace them with healthier and more realistic thoughts.
• Make goals more achievable: Sometimes the reason why we procrastinate on tasks we need to accomplish is that they seem overwhelmingly big. To overcome this perception, you can break down the task into smaller parts. For example, you can divide the task of "writing an article" into sections such as "research, determine topic headings, start writing, list sources." You can make it easier to start and see the path ahead more clearly. Remember, starting is half the battle!

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