Blogpost 2: WHY do we Procrastinate?

Procrastination; we humans procrastinate in everything we do even in the littlest ways possible, it's inevitable but why? Regarding the word 'Why' I've looked up, searched high and low for the possible answers. I included my experience and a bit of my knowledge to answer this question. People procrastinate we know that but are there specific reasons to why people tend to procrastinate in any way imaginable?

I came across an article entitled "Putting it off: Why do we procrastinate?", which was written by Amy Reichelt. Where she says that procrastination is just the practice of carrying out less urgent tasks in preference to urgent ones or doing things you enjoy first instead of working right on the task; thus results on the delay of the impending jobs. Now the article states that and I quote, "When deadlines loom, mundane tasks suddenly become more appealing – tidying your office area as opposed to writing a report, or cleaning the car instead of revising for an exam."

Which is quite true for most of us because as my previous blog: "What is procrastination?" has stated; our limbic system is in charge of our pleasure zone which automatically activates when you feel bored or out of it when doing tasks that are not enjoyable which isn't really out of the norm now is it?

We procrastinate because we think we're incompetent and that we lack skills in a specific field that will require us to finish a task. But that's just it, those are just excuses we give ourselves to put off the things we need to do. What will come out of that? You'd just have a ton load of work to do later on.

People procrastinate, yes I know but isn't it just a state of mind to procrastinate and to not procrastinate? I guess it all comes down to how you feel and see about the task that is in front of you.

Procrastination as we know it is part of our daily lives and there are quite a few reasons why we procrastinate. According to an article by Halvor Gregusson called, "7 Surprising Reasons You Procrastinate", procrastination might have had come from our childhood, where it functioned as a sort of rebellion against strict parents or as a way to disobey our responsibilities even for a moment's notice. Procrastinators are trained from birth… to some extent.  That’s the gist of psychological research into the art of stalling. Are we programmed for postponement and delay?

• Lack of motivation
• Lack of time
• Fear
• Laziness

Some of the symptoms of procrastination that always occurs on a daily basis. People face these symptoms everyday in their lives, wherever or whenever it's inevitable. The article says that being overwhelmed is also a reason to why we procrastinate so we should really organize our thoughts and things before doing anything that'll lead to stress and eventually lead to procrastinating a task.

The article states that and I quote; "According to an article in Psychology Today, 20 percent of people chronically avoid putting their nose to the grindstone and actively look for distractions!  That seems incredible in a society that values efficiency and “multitasking” ."

Now I may be one of the people that make up that 20 percent but I don't really give a damn. That's how I am and will probably still will be in the coming years. Multitasking is only efficient if you know how to handle your priorities well and if you haven't got time left to individually work on a task but multitasking always leads to procrastination one way or another.

You have to be in the mood before doing anything and that applies to everyone. Every one of us has a specific preference on how their work should be done and how fast; in other words it depends on the person's personality and how they put the task in front of them as a priority or just a measly thing that they need to finish.