The first step in addressing procrastination: Identify which type of procrastinator you are

In this article, I discuss four types of procrastinators who avoid tasks for markedly different reasons.

Procrastination is an issue for many people, including myself, at times. Among those who procrastinate regularly, the reasons for doing so are often rooted in unhelpful beliefs which interfere with starting, continuing and completing tasks. Identifying and gradually changing these beliefs is fundamental for these people to address their procrastination issue.

In A teen’s guide to getting stuff done, Jennifer Shannon discusses four types of procrastinators who differ in their reasons for not getting things done. I will focus on them in the following sections.

The perfectionist

The perfectionist procrastinates because of the belief, ‘I must not make mistakes’. The perfectionist strives for excellence. Unfortunately, their belief that they must not make mistakes interferes with their achieving this goal. The reason is that making mistakes and addressing them is the route to excellence in most endeavours.

Not only do the perfectionist’s beliefs interfere with achieving excellence in their activities, they also deprive them of the opportunity to try out new activities which they may find enjoyable and at which they may excel. The reason is that the perfectionist sticks to activities in which they are experienced and in which they are therefore less likely to make mistakes. They lack such confidence in new activities so they tend to avoid them.

The warrior

The warrior procrastinates because of the belief, ‘I must feel motivated’. The warrior is notable for not procrastinating on tasks which they find interesting and for which they are therefore motivated to act. In contrast, if they do not find the task interesting and do not feel motivated they conclude that they cannot act.

The warrior’s beliefs cause them problems in two ways. One is that there are many tasks which people must perform which they are less likely to find interesting. Secondly, even interesting pursuits for which it is easy to be motivated will have tasks which the person must perform as part of the activity. For example, a person may find hiking in the mountains enjoyable but they find training and preparing their hiking gear to be boring.

The pleaser

The pleaser procrastinates because of the belief, ‘I must not displease others’. This belief leads the person to procrastinate on their own important tasks in favour of doing what others ask them to do. Because they fear that their relationships will be jeopardized if they disappoint others by saying no, they have a hard time starting and sticking to their own important tasks.

The rebel

The rebel procrastinates because of the belief, ‘I must not give in to others’. This belief leads the rebel to procrastinate when they are assigned tasks rather than when they are working on tasks which they have chosen. They are especially likely to procrastinate when tasks are assigned which they find boring or pointless.

The rebel’s procrastination causes them problems in settings such as school or work in which tasks are often assigned which are not interesting and/or may not seem to have a useful purpose but which lead to negative consequences if the person does not complete them.

The second step in addressing procrastination: Target for change the beliefs driving it

In this article, I have discussed the first step in addressing procrastination. This entails identifying the type of procrastinator you are and the beliefs of that type which lead you to procrastinate.

The second step is to target for change the beliefs of your type which drive your procrastination. I will discuss how you can do this in my next article.

May you identify which type of procrastinator you are,

-Dr. Pat