Volume 37 Number 1 | February 2023
Ali Nussbaum, MA, MLS(ASCP)CM
Procrastination is a recognizable trait in most people. It is so easy to do. Just put off some task until you absolutely must do it. Procrastination is instilled in us from a very young age, and it is a hard behavior to overcome. This behavior becomes more ingrained and burdensome as we progress through our teenage years and move into adulthood. Now, whether we like it or not, procrastination is a normal ritual in our lives.
Procrastination is a learned, constantly reinforced behavior that is so widespread in our society that it is nearly impossible to find someone who does not procrastinate to some degree. As children, we hear our parents and other adults talk about procrastinating. Parents are tired, and the last thing they may want to do after a long day is take their kids to the park. So, they assure their children that they will go on another day. Without even knowing what it is called, we experience the procrastination of others and have learned to mimic the behavior.
Sadly though, procrastination is reinforced regularly as a self-protection tool. Every person has an innate desire to feel worthy and positive about themselves and the work they have accomplished. When that feeling is threatened, people will go to great lengths to avoid negative emotions. Instead of potential failure, one can set oneself up for success by procrastinating.
“Procrastination is a vicious cycle that begins early in life, which we use to unconsciously protect our self-esteem. To truly overcome the behavior, we must exert the necessary effort to do well and to accept the consequences if the outcome is not what we desire.”
Let’s imagine you have an assignment due in three weeks. You put in a ton of effort and are very proud of what you accomplished. Any grade lower than an “A” would be a disappointment. That grade reflects your intelligence, competence, and abilities, and thus when it does not match your perceived effort, it can hurt your self-esteem. Self-worth is greatly impacted by what we believe our peers think of our intelligence, competence, and abilities. We perceive any threat to those characteristics as a major problem, for which we will do anything to prevent.
Procrastinators, on the other hand, will wait until a night or two before the due date to start the assignment, giving themselves a diminished timeframe. The quality of the work is “as good as it’ll get,” given the time crunch. The procrastinator will tell themselves that if they had started earlier, it would have been better. However, the rush job prevented a true application of their intelligence, competence, and abilities on this assignment.
Let’s say you get an “A.” This directly reflects your self-worth because you are intelligent, competent, and able, which is reinforced by the good grade, regardless of effort level. You are naturally gifted and thus did not need the whole three weeks to accomplish a great result.
What if you get a “C”? The procrastinator may feel they deserve a “C” because they put in minimal effort. They knew they could have done better, and it was their own fault they waited so long to begin working on it. Therefore, this does not reflect their true skill level, knowledge, or ability, and thus it doesn’t impact their self-worth. On the other hand, imagine how you would feel if you started working on the assignment early and put in your best effort and still ended up with a “C” grade.
Even if a procrastinator receives an “F,” they can justify it as a result of not having time to put full effort into the paper. They can convince themselves that bad grades are not really their fault, and thus it is not a reflection of their intelligence, competence, or ability.
Procrastination is a tool to reduce internal disappointment. There are other emotions that go along with procrastination, like guilt, anxiety, and fear. Managing these other emotions requires us to be open to the mental and emotional strain that can come with not receiving accolades proportionate to our effort and to recognize our vulnerability to self-esteem dips when we perceive our peers as not seeing us the way we desire.
Procrastination is a vicious cycle that begins early in life, which we use to unconsciously protect our self-esteem. To truly overcome the behavior, we must exert the necessary effort to do well and to accept the consequences if the outcome is not what we desire. We cannot always prove that we are intelligent and capable, but to overcome the tendency to procrastinate, we need to be comfortable feeling the emotional downswing of waning self-esteem.
Ali Nussbaum is a Lead Technologist at NorthPoint Health and Wellness in Minneapolis, Minnesota.