Procrastination: What It Is, Why You Do It and How to Stop

What is procrastination?

Procrastination is an avoidance behavior: unnecessarily delaying or postponing something even though you know there could be negative consequences. The psychologist Piers Steel, who reviewed earlier definitions in a 2007 meta-analysis, put it this way: to voluntarily delay an intended course of action despite expecting to be worse off for the delay.

Two parts of that definition matter. It is voluntary, meaning nobody is stopping you, and it is costly, meaning you expect to pay for it later. That separates procrastination from deliberate, strategic delay, such as waiting for better information before deciding.

Why do you procrastinate?

Research points to several causes that often work together:

• Avoiding feelings. Procrastination is often a way to escape uncomfortable emotions about a task, such as anxiety about starting or fear of getting it wrong.
• The task itself. People delay more on tasks that feel unpleasant or imposed than on tasks they like.
• Impulsiveness. Steel’s model treats impulsiveness as a key predictor: the pull of something enjoyable now beats a payoff later.
• Stress. When you are stretched, you have fewer resources to face a hard task, so avoiding it feels easier.

A 2023 review by Fuschia Sirois of Durham University, published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, describes procrastination as a low-resource way of avoiding aversive and difficult task-related emotions, and finds it moderately associated with perceived stress across students, working adults and people with health conditions. The review also notes that the tendency is moderately heritable, and that context can change how strongly it shows. In other words, procrastination is partly about circumstances and feelings, not only willpower.

How common is procrastination?

Very. A 1984 University of Vermont study found that 46% of people said they always or nearly always procrastinated on writing papers, and about 30% did so on studying for exams and weekly reading. In a 2004 study, 70% of university students described themselves as procrastinators. If you do it, you are in good company.

What are the types of procrastination?

Researchers distinguish passive procrastination, where delay comes from indecision or avoidance, from active procrastination, where some people deliberately delay and then work well under the pressure of a deadline. The second kind is sometimes called productive procrastination, and it works for some tasks, but it is risky when the stakes are high or the deadline is not fixed.

How do you stop procrastinating? Nine strategies

1. Name the feeling. Ask what you are avoiding: boredom, fear of failing, or not knowing where to begin? Naming it takes away some of its power.
2. Shrink the first step. Commit to two minutes of the task, not the whole task. Starting is the hardest part, and momentum does the rest.
3. Break the work into small blocks. Work for twenty-five minutes, then pause. Small blocks feel doable, and research recommends them over tackling a whole problem at once.
4. Plan when and where you will start. A plan of the form “When X happens, I will do Y” makes starting automatic, a technique called an implementation intention.
5. Remove one distraction. Put the phone in another room for your work block.
6. Be kind to yourself. Self-compassion is linked to lower procrastination, while harsh self-criticism feeds the avoidance cycle.
7. Practice mindfulness. A few minutes of focused breathing helps you notice the urge to avoid without acting on it.
8. Build a routine. A fixed time each day, ideally in the morning, turns starting into a habit. Our morning routine guide shows how.
9. Tie it to a reason. Write why the task matters to the person you want to become. A purpose is stronger than a deadline.

Cognitive behavioral therapy has shown the largest average effects in intervention studies, and a randomized trial of a two-week emotion regulation skills program significantly reduced procrastination at follow-up. If procrastination is hurting your work, health or relationships, a licensed professional can help.

What is the identity approach to procrastination?

John Assaraf’s NeuroGym looks at procrastination from the inside out. Its premise is that many results follow subconscious patterns, such as the beliefs and habits you do not examine, and that those patterns can be retrained with short, regular practice. NeuroGym’s free NeuroFitness training covers how subconscious patterns shape your results and how to upgrade your identity to match your goals.

The method NeuroGym uses is the innercise: a guided session of visualization, meditation, affirmations or brain training that takes about five to fifteen minutes. If you want to see how it works, the training is a no-cost place to start. Our neuroplasticity guide explains the science behind it.

What is the Winning the Game of Procrastination program?

Winning the Game of Procrastination is one of the programs NeuroGym includes with its Platinum membership, alongside Winning the Game of Fear and Winning the Game of Money, 700+ innercises, 42+ AI coaches and four live trainings a month. Platinum is $97 a month or $497 a year on the official pricing page, and the platform carries a 7-day money-back guarantee. Our NeuroGym Platinum review goes through the plans.

Is procrastination a sign of ADHD or depression?

Procrastination alone is not a diagnosis. It is common, and almost everyone does it sometimes. Some people with ADHD or depression find it especially hard to start tasks, but delaying things does not mean you have either condition. If it is persistent, affects your daily life or comes with low mood, constant worry or trouble focusing, talk to a doctor or licensed professional. In the United States, you can call or text 988 if you are in distress.

Our verdict on how to stop procrastinating

Procrastination is a habit of avoiding feelings, and habits change with small, repeated steps. It is also one of the most common forms of self-sabotage, so that guide is a natural next read. Start with two minutes, plan when you will begin, be kind to yourself and give it a few weeks. If you want to go deeper, John Assaraf’s free NeuroFitness training and the live Brainathon show how subconscious patterns shape your results and how to retrain them.