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Attempt to remember a time when you postponed getting going on one job regardless of understanding there would be repercussions afterward. While hurrying to complete the job, you most likely felt stressed, guilty, and powerless, however you ‘d assure to work much better in the future. However, the next time you had to do work, home tasks, or other tasks, you probably found yourself catching procrastination yet again. Although it’s easy to get stuck in this damaging cycle, procrastinators don’t need to live like this permanently.
In this guide, we’ll teach you our finest techniques on how to beat procrastination once and for all.
About Procrastination
Procrastination is the act of purposefully delaying decisions, jobs, or actions till the very last minute. People who procrastinate understand they require to get things done, however because of different reasons, they start really late– often, so late that finishing the job on time becomes difficult.
Now, while some individuals procrastinate just in certain circumstances, others can be chronic procrastinators. When this practice ends up being widespread in your every day life, it can hinder your goals and even your psychological wellness.
The Psychology of Procrastination
We’re all acquainted with the act of procrastination. Some more than others. And it’s clear we have actually all procrastinated and continue to do so until this day.
It is said that a procrastinator frequently delays a job for absence of much better time management and interest or laziness.
But is that all there is to it? What are our inspirations for procrastinating? Why do we continuously do it in spite of knowing the repercussions that feature it?
Procrastination 101: Lessons From Joseph Ferrari, PhD
Joseph Ferrari, Ph.D. is a teacher of psychology at DePaul University.
An acknowledged contributor to the psychology of procrastination, his research study and work are greatly credited by the American Psychological Association (APA) as well.
The American Psychological Association is a group of highly certified expert psychologists, trainees, educators, consultants, and clinicians based in the United States. The main pupose of APA is to more advance research on psychology. Moreover, APA believes that psychology, more than a science, is a means of elevating well-being and health.
Apart from that, he has actually released a number of books and posts on procrastination, supplying proficiency to those who struggle with it. APA reached out to Ferrari in an effort to even more understand the psychology behind why individuals put things off.
The exchange dived into underlying conditions, contributions of technology, society’s role, and easy solutions to the issue.
Chronic Procrastinators Versus Non-Procrastinators
It’s clear we all postponed a job every so often.
However, that does not always define us as procrastinators. In fact, procrastinating every once in a while is considered regular amongst people.
Feeling eased? We do too.
But what if not getting things done becomes a lifestyle?
That’s when persistent procrastination is available in. As soon as the habit of putting things off is nurtured by a person, it rollovers into all elements of their life. And this leads to much more loss of motivation, failure to achieve tasks, and more procrastination.
Individuals who hesitate typically obtain a ” maladaptive way of life”. Though procrastination is not considered a major condition, it does result in a number of personality changes such as:.
- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
- Passive-aggressive Propensities
- Vengeance
- Obsessive-Compulsive Condition (OCD)
On the other hand, what makes a non-procrastinator?
An individual who does not procrastinate usually has a strong sense of personal identity. Non-procrastinators do not fret themselves with “social esteem”, a term utilized by psychologists to explain how other people like us.
This type of individual may still put things off from time to time, but unlike a procrastinator, they do not make a practice out of it. These individuals are quite knowledgeable about the jobs that they have, and make the choice of acting on them consistently.
Why Are You Still Procrastinating?
Everyone is somewhat knowledgeable about their procrastinating propensities, and yet, everyone still continues to hesitate.
As with anything, there is a psychology behind this reality.
Lack of Interest
Individuals typically put jobs off when they have no interest in them. It’s rather simple psychology.
An uninteresting task will not instigate motivation for the doer of the job.
Procrastinators would rather do something they delight in rather than something that tires them. People tend to puzzle focusing on lovable jobs as just prioritizing what makes them pleased.
The underlying reality is that they are disguising their procrastination as such.
Tension
It is unavoidable for some jobs to bring us stress. Whether it may be related to work or school, the sensation of stress rises when a job feels all too essential to screw up. Instead of getting it done to eliminate the tension, procrastinators permit their low self-confidence get the best of them. Ultimately, the task is postponed through a mindful decision to prioritize other things.
One example of this is when trainees with bad grades feel prevented to perform tasks well. Their low self-esteem wires their brain into thinking that they are incapable of doing things well, thus the inactiveness to prevent the obligation.
Innovation
Unsurprisingly, technology affects lots of aspects of our lives, procrastination included. Research shows that innovation can help get things done and conquered procrastination. At the same time, innovation can be the reason for procrastination when not utilized correctly.
Individuals do not have to mindlessly scroll through the internet for hours on end. However since innovation is so accessible, these tendencies happen. There are technological systems we can utilize to prevent such meaningless scrolling too, which is why proper use is vital to prevent procrastination.
Practice
One reason that you can’t appear to stop hesitating is you have actually currently formed the practice of procrastination. The thing with routines is they develop with time and for that reason can be unlearned over time too.
When you put off one thing after another, tasks only accumulate and offer procrastinators much more factor to continue the habits.
Beating Procrastination
The American Psychological Association (APA) dives further into their exchange with Joseph Ferrari regarding procrastinators.
Ferrari mentions that hesitating is like a phenomenon of inaction.
A task is delayed consciously by replacing it with another less meaningful task. In some situations, individuals might go beyond the resources that are currently available to them in an effort to postpone.
One Method to Prevent Procrastinating is by Formulating a Reward System for Yourself
Procrastinators will put the satisfaction initially without putting in the effort. Turn this around by using the reward as inspiration to get things done. When you do this constantly, it will ultimately end up being a way of life, therefore getting rid of chronic procrastination.
It’s typically a mental battle to continue developing much healthier habits, specifically when you have ended up being so accustomed to the bad ones. The reward can be as easy for as long as it provides you a sense of satisfaction and self-confidence to do more.
One example is keeping a correct exercise regimen. Motivate yourself to not put it off by satisfying yourself with a balanced yet tasty meal after. The result will leave you satisfied and more positive to handle another exercise the next day,.
Another Method to Conquer It is by Getting the Aid You Required
Feeling stuck is entirely regular, however it is a completely different situation when you feel it constantly and discover it challenging to leave. This is why asking for aid is necessary. Nobody ought to ever feel ashamed of it.
Assist might be in the type of therapy or simply handing over the action to another person when you feel incapable. The faster you are able to address your need for help, the more time you will have for concerns.
Lead a Life of Action
The contributions of APA should serve as a motivation for individuals who procrastinate to become more self-aware of the results it has on their lives. When we view psychology as a means to enhance our well-being, we form more mindful efforts to sustain a better life.
The next time you think about delaying a job, think about the repercussions it might impose not just on that day however on your life as a whole. To learn more on the subject, refer to Dr. Ferrari’s extensive conversation in the book entitled ” Still Hesitating: The No Remorse Guide to Getting It Done”.
Kinds of Procrastination
Although there are lots of types of procrastination, the majority of people fall under two broad classifications: Active procrastinators and passive procrastinators.
Active Procrastinators
Active procrastinators are those who think they work best under pressure. These people intentionally hold off tasks since they believe doing something about it at the last minute will increase inspiration, effort, and quality of work.
The Problem
Nevertheless, in the long term, this can actually result in a lot of added tension and higher circumstances of health problem. When you have actually restricted time on your hands to resolve prospective issues, your work performance likewise suffers as a result.
Passive Procrastinators
On the other hand, passive procrastinators postpone jobs since they have difficulty starting.
The Issue
Whether it is because of a lack of inspiration, a fear of failure, poor time management abilities, or something else entirely, what these kinds of procrastinators need is strong self-discipline to break free from the routine. Although this quality might be hard to internalize, it’s absolutely possible if you pick the ideal tool to resolve your particular procrastination problem.
Effects of Procrastination
Now, while some procrastinators know they require to alter, others might see no factor to do so, particularly if this practice is already a big part of their life.
Nevertheless, procrastination comes with really real consequences. Let’s discuss this thoroughly.
Short-Term Outcome
In the short-term, procrastination may eliminate pressure, however this FADES rapidly as your deadline approaches. As a result, procrastinators typically end up feeling extremely stressed, guilty, and powerless. Their productivity goes down, which negatively impacts their work efficiency.
In fact, usually, university student who routinely hesitate get lower grades, while employees who continuously postpone tasks produce lower-quality output.
Ultimately, procrastinators have a much harder time reaching their objectives.
Long-Term Consequences
With persistent procrastinators, procrastination is frequently currently a huge part of their lifestyle. Besides the repercussions pointed out above, these people are also more likely to experience a lower lifestyle.
Some of these repercussions include:
- When you typically stop working to get things done, you put your individual and expert relationships at risk.
- Individuals who can’t depend on you are less likely to trust you, whether it be at work or in the house. In time, this can adversely impact your psychological and social wellness.
- People who put things off are likewise more susceptible to more health conditions, in some cases in the form of insomnia or weak body immune systems. Since they put so much pressure on their bodies to complete tasks in a brief amount of time, their physical well-being can suffer too.
- Lastly, procrastination can impact your mental health. Due to the fact that procrastinators are caught up in a vicious cycle, they often seem like there is no way out of it.
Feelings of remorse and guilt can quickly translate into stress and anxiety, depression, and other psychological disorders– elements that just exacerbate the concern at the end of the day.
Causes of Procrastination
Knowing these harms, why do individuals put things off? Is it simply a lack of self-control that separates procrastinators from non-procrastinators? Well, as it turns out, it’s not that easy.
Absence of Focus
One possible cause is an absence of focus. People who don’t have particular and well-defined objectives are a lot more most likely to hesitate since it is tough for them to choose a course of action.
Let’s check out an example:
Imagine two students. The very first one has an objective to graduate initially in her class, while the 2nd one wishes to reserve an additional hour each day to study for her most difficult class.
Which of the two students is most likely to procrastinate?
- Since the first trainee has a wider objective, he will discover it harder to put off jobs related to it, such as studying beforehand and sending research early.
- On the other hand, the second student has a clear job that’s more reasonable and simpler to commit to.
Hence, an absence of vision, direction, or purpose can result in procrastination.
Absence of Motivation
Another reason why individuals put things off is absence of motivation. This might be due to the fact that:.
- They aren’t thinking about the job
- They view no benefit to doing it
- They just lack the willpower to begin
Unless you’re very self-disciplined, some form of motivation is essential for you to act. However, the issue likewise depends on the primary kind of motivation you have. If you’re extrinsically motivated, that is, pressed to finish a job by other people or external aspects, you’re most likely to hesitate compared to someone that’s inherently inspired.
After all, if you do not see implying in the jobs you do and are driven by social pressure or the promise of a reward instead, you will definitely discover it challenging to work on these tasks immediately and actively.
Low Energy
Now, what if your brain and your body just can not deal with jobs that require to be done? If you feel like you could drop with fatigue at any point during the day, you’re most likely doing not have a lot of much-needed rest and shut-eye.
Something hectic individuals often do not realize is that burnout is really genuine.
Handling more than what you can handle can inadvertently make you a procrastinator, as your brain signals YOU NEED TO SLOOOW DOWN.
In this circumstance, procrastination can be an unconscious defense reaction against excessive physical and psychological stress. Unless you fix the root of the problem, however, you’ll never ever break devoid of the hazardous cycle.
Fear of Failure
Other people succumb to procrastination because they have a worry of failure. Although it’s typical to feel by doing this often, it can greatly affect your personal development and development once it hinders you from even starting something.
How does procrastination address this fear, though?
Well, for some people, not attempting means never ever experiencing failure. Nevertheless, if you never give anything a shot, then there’s no chance at all that you’ll succeed. Plainly, in this case, procrastination results in a great deal of missed chances in life.
Low Self-Efficacy
Something carefully related to fear of failure is low self-efficacy. If you have the propensity to insecurity, it can be tough for you to experiment with something NEW, scary, or different, especially if it’s for an especially crucial task.
Now that social media and online ad posts are so widespread, people are ending up being a growing number of worried with the concept of excellence. When an ad wrongly provides a perfect as truth, we get pressured to live up to those difficult requirements, which negatively impacts our self-respect.
Due to the fact that we feel like we’re inadequate, we turn to procrastination to prevent handling jobs that raise these problems. Unfortunately, because we need to address them at some time, we never actually feel better later.
Low Self-discipline
Usually, low self-discipline also results in procrastination.
Have you ever delayed dealing with a task by going through your phone, watching a Netflix program, or browsing social media? Although these interruptions are rather tempting, non-procrastinators who have more self-discipline can neglect this until after they have actually finished their tasks.
This self-regulation failure can also intensify any of the issues on this list, that makes it twice as challenging to beat procrastination. According to some researchers like Joseph Ferrari of DePaul University, this concern can be connected to bad mood regulation, as individuals hesitate when they can’t keep their emotions in check.
People think that by hesitating, they’re removing the discomfort and negative sensations associated with the task. In reality, however, they’re only delaying the unavoidable.
Focusing On Present Benefits
Similarly, some people likewise tend to prioritize present benefits and discount far-off ones. This is likewise called temporal discounting or hold-up discounting.
For instance, if you were provided $50 now or $100 in 4 months, which would you pick?
People who put greater value on present benefits (or punishments) would most likely select option one, and this decision-making equates into how they total jobs too.
Imagine it like this: The ‘reward’ of getting an excellent grade on your test a week away may pale in contrast to the ‘benefit’ of going out with your buddies now. However, when your test is just a day away, its worth becomes far more essential to you.
Now, listen to this:
According to a post written in the Psychological Publication by University of Calgary teacher Piers Steel, a procrastinator chooses to do activities that provide instant benefits instead of work on a task that would generate a considerably bigger reward in the long term. Plainly, it’s extremely easy to fall into the trap of procrastination.
Dissociation From Future Self
Another intriguing phenomenon is temporal self-discontinuity or temporal disjunction, which is when people view their future self as different from their present self.
This is something Fuschia Sirois of Bishop’s University observed while studying procrastination a few years earlier. Have you ever put aside a task for your ‘future self’ to deal with?
In some cases, we may view laborious things as a future issue, when, in fact, it is still YOU who requires to tackle them later. In the same way, we might not be able to totally comprehend the effect of future benefits and penalties on our present selves, even if their consequences are extremely, very genuine.
We mistakenly believe that a various (maybe better) version of ourselves will be able to achieve what we pick not to do today, even if, reasonably speaking, nothing will truly change in between now and the future.
Medical Conditions
Sometimes, a procrastinator will have hidden medical problems that need more serious treatment.
Individuals with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), depression, and other psychological disorders might find it tough to do certain tasks and activities, which is why they procrastinate.
For instance, those with ADHD can not sit still and concentrate on a single task for a long period of time, and they may keep switching tasks without completing any of them.
- Procrastination (and other associated behaviors) is one of the typical symptoms of ADHD.
- On the other hand, those with depression lack interest and inspiration in many aspects of daily life.
They normally don’t have the energy to do work or perhaps simply basic things around your house, depending on how extreme their conditions are. As a result, they typically catch procrastination too.
How to Stop Procrastinating
Now that you understand the elements that impact procrastination, how do you get rid of these concerns and proceed with life?
Well, depending upon your situations, there are certain actions you can take to stop being a procrastinator.
If Your Concern Is: Absence of Focus
If you do not have focus, it’s important that you clearly define your goals and utilize time management methods. In some cases, it’s tough to imagine the goal, so it assists to specify what exactly you wish to attain.
When setting goals, ensure you follow SMART criteria. The word wise represent Specific, Quantifiable, Obtainable, Relevant, and Time-Bound.
For instance, if you wish to work towards improving health and wellness, one goal might look like this:
” I wish to get much healthier, so on January 1, I will buy a fitness center subscription and work out 3 times a week. I aim to lose one pound of fat every 2 weeks. After two months, I should lose at least four pounds of fat.”
Due to the fact that all your preferred actions and deadlines are outlined above, you’re not as most likely to give in to procrastination. It’s also an excellent idea to use time management techniques.
There are heaps to pick from: The Eisenhower Matrix, Kanban Board, and The Pomodoro Method, to name a few. By envisioning and prioritizing the different jobs you have to perform in a day, it is much easier to avoid procrastination.
In time, as you get used to these methods, you might find yourself putting things off less and less. As soon as you have settled into a regular routine or practice, efficiency will definitely come a lot more naturally!
If Your Concern Is: Fear of Failure or Low Self-confidence
Now, if you have a worry of failure, it may assist to break down your objective into a number of, smaller sized subgoals.
Looking at the bigger photo can be a challenging thing. Nevertheless, if you concentrate on ONE EASY job first before moving on to the next, you can build up your self-confidence and prevent procrastination.
Remember to commemorate your little victories too, as there are still great achievements!
Another thing you must do is remind yourself that it’s human to make errors. Try recalling times when you have actually succeeded after several failures or when you found out something after slipping up. These show you can certainly bounce back from the negative things in life.
Keep in mind, self-forgiveness, self-compassion, and approval of failure are crucial since they allow you to move on and beat procrastination.
Doing something is constantly much better than doing nothing at all!
If you’re having trouble controlling your thoughts and emotions, it can be wise to remain off the web as well. Some online characters really perpetuate difficult standards of excellence, even though the reality is far from it offline.
If Your Concern Is: Lack of Motivation or Low Self-Control
To address this, it’s essential to do 2 things: Reduce distractions and discover your purpose. Did you know that a meta-analysis by Mental Bulletin exposed that 80-95% of students regularly put things off? This might be due to the presence of multiple distractions in students’ environments in addition to their lack of interest in their studies.
To prevent temptation and prevent procrastination, get rid of all prospective distractions from your workspace:.
- Switch off your phone
- Log out of Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter
- Lock away your television remote
As soon as these things are less available, you’ll discover it much easier to focus on the task at hand.
It likewise helps to recognize when you’re most productive during the day. Do you carry out much better at a job early in the day, throughout the afternoon, or late in the evening? If so, then:.
- Schedule work during those times and establish a regular so that it’s easier to enter it every day.
- Next, attempt to minimize the variety of decisions you have to make in a day. When you have too many alternatives to choose from, you might experience mental tiredness and succumb to procrastination to prevent decision-making.
For instance, if your objective is to exercise at 7 AM every day, consider using your workout clothes to bed, filling up your container of water the night previously, and putting your vehicle keys on your night table.
Due to the fact that everything’s well-prepared for the next day, you’re already a couple of actions even more towards your objective.
Are you still lacking motivation?
Maybe you don’t understand why you’re doing the job in the first place. To prosper at anything, you must discover meaning and function in the work you do.
Once you’re inherently encouraged, you no longer need to depend on external elements to press you forward.
Likewise, bear in mind that almost anything can be a chance to improve on yourself as an individual– isn’t that motivation enough?
If Your Issue Is: Focusing On Present Rewards or Dissociation From Future Self
To prevent procrastination, it’s best to produce a comprehensive action strategy with several checkpoints, order of business, and small benefits after finishing them.
While some can concentrate on the big reward at the end of a long journey, others require SMALLER SUBTASKS to feel accomplished and energized. You can separate tasks any way you want to– the type doesn’t matter, as long as it leads up to the very same end goal.
An outline of the action plan can likewise help solidify future jobs and bring them into your present consciousness. It’s harder to pass these off as ‘ future problems’ when they’re all set out on an urgent to-do list, so attempt deceiving your mind into thinking they need to be done right away.
Now, do not forget to place breaks and little benefits in between too, as these encourage you to keep grinding!
When you finish a job, relax and do something enjoyable so that you’re not mentally drained when it’s time to begin working again. In fact, self-care can be a really useful weapon against procrastination. Do not anticipate your habits to alter overnight, but keep in mind, everything counts!
If Your Problem Is: Low Energy or Medical Conditions
Due to the fact that these procrastination issues are related to health and psychological science, it’s important to take care of yourself and look for professional help if necessary.
If your energy is low due to fatigue, stress, and absence of sleep, then focus on your physical health:
- Get at least 6-8 hours of sleep
- Start a workout regular
- Drink lots of water
- Eat a healthy, balanced diet to build up your immunity
Do not forget to take breaks too– operating on low fuel will make you less efficient, more susceptible to error, and it might trigger more serious medical problems later.
With that stated, just handle a sensible amount of work that you can deal with. Trust us, your customer will thank you for it.
Nevertheless, if you can no longer handle your health concerns by yourself, then it may be time to consult a physician or a doctor for expert advice.
He might have the ability to recommend proper medication, start treatment, or suggest other courses of action to help you stop procrastination entirely.
The Best Procrastination Estimates to Help You Stop Procrastinating
Are you a persistent procrastinator? Do you find it difficult to stay on top of things that require to be done by a specific deadline? Are you lacking the drive and self-discipline to move forward?
In some cases, all you need is a bit of motivation to get the ball rolling– in this case, inspiring, inspiring, and humorous procrastination prices estimate!
In this list, we have actually put together the best procrastination quotes from authors, experts, and political leaders, among others, to help you stop putting things off today (not tomorrow). Delight in!
Short Procrastination Quotes
Looking for a quick fix to your procrastination problems? Get encouragement from these short quotes about procrastination and break your bad habit.
Inspiring Procrastination Quotes
- “Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work in hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus.” — Alexander Graham Bell
- “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” — Anne Frank
- “Doing just a little bit during the time we have available puts you that much further ahead than if you took no action at all.” — Byron Pulsifer
- “Your mind is for having ideas, not holding them.” — David Allen
- “I’d be more frightened by not using whatever abilities I’d been given. I’d be more frightened by procrastination and laziness.” — Denzel Washington
- “Neither a wise nor a brave man lies down on the tracks of history to wait for the train of the future to run over him.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower
- “Time wasted is existence; used is life.” — Edward Young
- “Getting an idea should be like sitting on a pin; it should make you jump up and do something.”— E. L. Simpson
- “Begin to weave and God will give you the thread.” — German Proverb
- “Don’t put off for tomorrow what you can do today because if you enjoy it today, you can do it again tomorrow.”— James A. Michener
- “Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced.” — James Baldwin
- “Procrastination is not Laziness”, I tell him. “It is fear. Call it by its right name, and forgive yourself.” — Julia Cameron
- “A year from now you may wish you had started today.” — Karen Lamb
- “Yesterday is a cancelled check. Tomorrow is a promissory note. Today is the only cash you have, so spend it wisely.” — Kim Lyons.
- “Great acts are made up of small deeds.” — Lao Tzu
- “Until you value yourself, you will not value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it.” — M. Scott Peck
- “Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.” — Marthe Troly-Curtin
- “You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.
- “There are so many things that we wish we had done yesterday, so few that we feel like doing today.” — Mignon McLaughlin
- “Don’t wait. The time will never be just right.” — Napoleon Hill
- “Action will destroy your procrastination” — Og Mandino
- “Nothing is less productive than to make more efficient what should not be done at all.” — Peter Drucker
- “Think of many things; do one.” — Portuguese Proverb
- “I have spent my days stringing and unstringing my instrument, while the song I came to sing remains unsung.” — Rabindranath Tagore
- “If I am not for myself, who is for me? When I am for myself, what am I? If not now, when?” — Rabbi Hillel
- “How to stop procrastinating starts with believing you can overcome procrastination.” ― Robert Moment
- “Procrastination is one of the most common and deadliest of diseases and its toll on success and happiness is heavy.” —Wayne Gretzky
Humorous Procrastination Quotes
- “Procrastination is, hands down, our favorite form of self-sabotage.”— Alyce P. Cornyn-Selby
- “A perfect method for adding drama to life is to wait until the deadline looms large.”— Alyce P. Cornyn-Selby
- “I do my work at the same time each day — the last minute.” — Author Unknown
- “Procrastinator? No. I save all my homework until the last minute because then I’ll be older, and therefore wiser.” — Author Unknown
- “The two rules of procrastination: 1) Do it today. 2) Tomorrow will be today tomorrow.”— Author Unknown
- “You can’t just turn on creativity like a faucet. You have to be in the right mood. What mood is that? Last-minute panic.”— Bill Watterson
- “Procrastination is like a credit card: it’s a lot of fun until you get the bill.” — Christopher Parker
- “Work is the greatest thing in the world, so we should always save some of it for tomorrow!” — Don Herold
- “I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.” — Douglas Adams
- “Do you know what happens when you give a procrastinator a good idea? Nothing!” — Donald Gardner
- “How does a project get to be a year behind schedule? One day at a time.”— Fred Brooks
- “I like work: it fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours.”— Jerome K. Jerome
- “My mother always told me I wouldn’t amount to anything because I procrastinate. I said, ‘just wait.'” — Judy Tenuta
- “If it weren’t for the last minute, nothing would get done.” — Rita Mae Brown
- “Anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn’t the work he is supposed to be doing at that moment.” — Robert Benchley
- “I’m going to stop putting things off, starting tomorrow!” — Sam Levenson
- “The scholar’s greatest weakness: calling procrastination research.” — Stephen King
- “I think of myself as something of a connoisseur of procrastination, creative and dogged in my approach to not getting things done.” — Susan Orlean
- “One of the greatest labor-saving inventions of today is tomorrow.” — Vincent T. Foss
- “The least productive people are usually the ones who are most in favor of holding meetings.” — Thomas Sowell
Procrastination Quotes to Get You Moving
- “You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.” ― Abraham Lincoln
- “Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.” — Abraham Lincoln
- “By what right do I, who have wasted this day, make claims on tomorrow?” ― Alain-Fournier
- “The only difference between success and failure is the ability to take action.”— Alexander Graham Bell
- “The best way to get something done is to begin.” — Author Unknown
- “When there is a hill to climb, don’t think that waiting will make it smaller.” — Author Unknown
- “Tomorrow is often the busiest day of the week.”— Author Unknown
- “You may delay, but time will not.” — Benjamin Franklin
- “A day can really slip by when you’re deliberately avoiding what you’re supposed to do.” — Bill Watterson
- “My advice is to never do tomorrow what you can do today. Procrastination is the thief of time.”— Charles Dickens
- “Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work” ― Chuck Close
- “Do first what you don’t want to do most.” ― Clifford Cohen
- “The man who waits to know everything is the man who never does anything.” ― Craig D. Lounsbrough
- “There is nothing so fatal to character as half finished tasks.” — David Lloyd George
- “You may not be punished for your procrastination, but for sure you will be punished by your procrastination.”― Debasish Mridha
- “Procrastination is the thief of time.” — Edward Young
- “Don’t wait for someone to take you under their wing. Find a good wing and climb up underneath it.”— Frank C. Bucaro
- “If you take too long in deciding what to do with your life, you’ll find you’ve done it.” ― George Bernard Shaw
- “Putting off an easy thing makes it hard, and putting off a hard one makes it impossible.”— George H. Lorimer
- “Following-through is the only thing that separates dreamers from people that accomplish great things.”— Gene Hayden
- “Often greater risk is involved in postponement than in making a wrong decision.”— Harry A. Hopf
- “Someday is not a day of the week.” ― Janet Dailey
- “Never put things off…you will wake up and find them gone.” ― James Jones
- “If you want to get ahead in life, I’ve found that perhaps the most useless word in the world is “tomorrow.” ― José N. Harris
- “Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.”— Jim Rohn
- “A year from now you may wish you had started today.” ― Karen Lamb
- “It is easier to resist at the beginning than at the end.” ― Leonardo da Vinci
- “Stop talking. Start walking.” — L.M. Heroux
- “Never put off till tomorrow what may be done day after tomorrow just as well.” ― Mark Twain
- “How soon ‘not now’ becomes ‘never’.” — Martin Luther
- “Whatever you want to do, do it now! There are only so many tomorrows.”— Michael Landon
- “Take time to deliberate; but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and go in.”— Napoleon Bonaparte
- “Don’t wait. The time will never be just right.” — Napoleon Hill
- “Procrastination is the lazy cousin of fear. When we feel anxiety around an activity, we postpone it.” — Noelle Hancock
- “If you put off everything till you’re sure of it, you’ll never get anything done.” — Norman Vincent Peale
- “If you want to make an easy job seem mighty hard, just keep putting off doing it.” — Olin Miller
- “Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone” ― Pablo Picasso
- “Do something instead of killing time. Because time is killing you.” ― Paulo Coelho
- “I don’t wait for moods. You accomplish nothing if you do that. Your mind must know it has got to get down to work.” — Pearl S. Buck
- “If you procrastinate when faced with a big difficult problem… break the problem into parts, and handle one part at a time.”— Robert Collier
- “Procrastination has robbed us of too many opportunities.” — Sarah Ban Breathnach
- “What is deferred is not avoided.” ― Thomas More
- “If you have goals and procrastination you have nothing. If you have goals and you take action, you will have anything you want.”— Thomas J. Vilord
- “Procrastination is opportunity’s natural assassin.”— Victor Kiam
- “Begin while others are procrastinating. Work while others are wishing.”— William Arthur Ward
Long Procrastination Quotes
If you need something more, check out these longer quotes to help you beat procrastination. These quotes will definitely inspire and motivate you to stop thinking and start doing!
Inspiring Procrastination Quotes
- “We shall never have more time. We have, and have always had, all the time there is. No object is served in waiting until next week or even until tomorrow. Keep going day in and day out. Concentrate on something useful. Having decided to achieve a task, achieve it at all costs.” — Arnold Bennett
- “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” — Author Unknown
- “Nothing in the world can take the place of perseverance. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost legendary. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Perseverance and determination alone are omnipotent.” — Calvin Coolidge
- “The habit of always putting off an experience until you can afford it, or until the time is right, or until you know how to do it is one of the greatest burglars of joy. Be deliberate, but once you’ve made up your mind -jump in.” — Charles R. Swindoll
- “One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon – instead of enjoying the roses blooming outside our windows today.”— Dale Carnegie
- “Indecisiveness and procrastination are the chosen ways of life for most people. They follow the course of least resistance, which is to do nothing. This provides a security blanket of never being wrong, never making mistakes, never being disappointed and never failing. But they will also never succeed.” — David Peoples
- “Time is an equal opportunity employer. Each human being has exactly the same number of hours and minutes every day. Rich people can’t buy more hours. Scientists can’t invent new minutes. And you can’t save time to spend it on another day. Even so, time is amazingly fair and forgiving. No matter how much time you’ve wasted in the past, you still have an entire tomorrow.” ― Denis Waitley
- “This is as true in everyday life as it is in battle: we are given one life and the decision is ours whether to wait for circumstances to make up our mind, or whether to act, and in acting, to live.” — General Omar Bradley
- “Lack of confidence, sometimes alternating with unrealistic dreams of heroic success, often leads to procrastination, and many studies suggest that procrastinators are self-handicappers: rather than risk failure, they prefer to create conditions that make success impossible, a reflex that of course creates a vicious cycle.” — James Surowiecki
- “Somebody should tell us, right at the start of our lives, that we are dying. Then we might live life to the limit, every minute of every day. Do it! I say. Whatever you want to do, do it now! There are only so many tomorrows.”— Michael Landon
- “Delaying gratification is a process of scheduling the pain and pleasure of life in such a way as to enhance the pleasure by meeting and experiencing the pain first and getting it over with. It is the only decent way to live.” — M. Scott Peck
- “The really happy people are those who have broken the chains of procrastination, those who find satisfaction in doing the job at hand. They’re full of eagerness, zest, productivity. You can be, too.”— Norman Vincent Peale
- “It was my fear of failure that first kept me from attempting the master work. Now, I’m beginning what I could have started ten years ago. But I’m happy at least that I didn’t wait twenty years.” — Paulo Coelho
- “By thinking of procrastination as the result of a human tendency to live too much in the moment, we can devise better strategies for overcoming it. If the problem is weighing present versus future costs and benefits, we need to find a way to either bring future benefits closer to the present or to magnify the costs of delayed action.” — Ray Fisman
- “Your Life Is Happening Right Now: Don’t let procrastination take over your life. Be brave and take risks. Your life is happening right now.” — Roy T. Bennett
- “The certainty that life cannot be long, and the probability that it will be much shorter than nature allows, ought to awaken every man to the active prosecution of whatever he is desirous to perform. It is true, that no diligence can ascertain success; death may intercept the swiftest career; but he who is cut off in the execution of an honest undertaking has at least the honour of falling in his rank, and has fought the battle, though he missed the victory.” — Samuel Johnson
- “If we accept and internalize the fact of our own mortality, then, by definition, we have to deal with the essential questions of how we live and spend our allotted time. We have to stop procrastinating, pretending that we have forever to do what we want to do and be what we long to be.” — Surya Das
- “To do anything in this world worth doing, we must not stand back shivering and thinking of the cold and danger, but jump in and scramble through as well as we can.”— Syndey Smith
- “Perhaps the most valuable result of an education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not.”— Thomas Huxley
- “He who every morning plans the transactions of that day and follows that plan carries a thread that will guide him through the labyrinth of the most busy life.”— Victor Hugo
Procrastination Quotes to Inspire & Motivate You
- “Don’t procrastinate. Putting off an unpleasant task until tomorrow simply gives you more time for your imagination to make a mountain out a possible molehill. More time for anxiety to sap your self-confidence. Do it now, brother, do it now.” — Author Unknown
- “Much of the stress that people feel doesn’t come from having too much to do. It comes from not finishing what they started.” — David Allen
- “Procrastination is the fear of success. People procrastinate because they are afraid of the success that they know will result if they move ahead now. Because success is heavy, carries a responsibility with it, it is much easier to procrastinate and live on the ‘someday I’ll’ philosophy.”— Denis Waitley
- “Procrastination is the thief of time: Year after year it steals, till all are fled, and to the mercies of a moment leaves the vast concerns of an eternal scene.” — Edward Young
- “Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand—and melting like a snowflake.”— Francis Bacon
- “If you get stuck, get away from your desk. Take a walk, take a bath, go to sleep, make a pie, draw, listen to music, meditate, exercise; whatever you do, don’t just stick there scowling at the problem. But don’t make telephone calls or go to a party; if you do, other people’s words will pour in where your lost words should be. Open a gap for them, create a space. Be patient.” ― Hilary Mantel
- “Procrastination usually results in sorrowful regret. Today’s duties put off until tomorrow give us a double burden to bear; the best way is to do them in their proper time.” — Ida Scott Taylor
- “Success is not obtained overnight. It comes in installments; you get a little bit today, a little bit tomorrow until the whole package is given out. The day you procrastinate, you lose that day’s success.” ― Israelmore Ayivor
- “So what do we do? Anything. Something. So long as we just don’t sit there. If we screw it up, start over. Try something else. If we wait until we’ve satisfied all the uncertainties, it may be too late.” — Lee Iacocca
- “It is only by working the rituals, that any significant degree of understanding can develop. If you wait until you are positive you understand all aspects of the ceremony before beginning to work, you will never begin to work.” ― Lon Milo DuQuette
- “If you believe you can accomplish everything by “cramming” at the eleventh hour, by all means, don’t lift a finger now. But you may think twice about beginning to build your ark once it has already started raining.” — Max Brooks
- “A primary reason people don’t do new things is because they want to do them perfectly – first time. It’s completely irrational, impractical, not workable – and yet, it’s how most people run their lives. It’s called The Perfection Syndrome.”— Peter McWlliams and John-Roger
- “Procrastination is a way for us to be satisfied with second-rate results; we can always tell ourselves we’d have done a better job if only we’d had more time. If you’re good at rationalizing, you can keep yourself feeling rather satisfied this way, but it’s a cheap happy. You’re whittling your expectations of yourself down lower and lower.” — Richard O’Conner
- “Waiting is a trap. There will always be reasons to wait – The truth is, there are only two things in life, reasons and results, and reasons simply don’t count.”— Robert Anthony
- “If you always do what is easy and choose the path of least resistance, you never step outside your comfort zone. Great things don’t come from comfort zones.” ― Roy Bennett
- “Your ideas have legs and just as they run through your head, they could be running through someone else’s head and it’s just a matter of who gets to the finish line first. Nothing is new under the sun so act on your ideas.”― Sanjo Jendayi
- “How often do you find yourself saying, “In a minute”, “I’ll get to it” or “Tomorrow’s good enough” and every other possible excuse in the book? Compare it with how often you decide it’s got to be done, so let’s get on and do it! That should tell you just how serious your procrastinating problem really is.” ― Stephen Richards
- “In a moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing to do, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.”— Theodore Roosevelt
Our Final Piece of Suggestions re. quotes
It can be difficult to stop hesitating, specifically when things start piling up on your plate. Nevertheless, with the ideal state of mind and adequate effort, you can definitely get out of that downturn!
We hope the quotes above inspired you to beat procrastination at last. Do not hesitate to share your thoughts and comments down below, and do not forget to share this post if you enjoyed it!
To Sum It Up
Although procrastination is a challenging practice to break, it’s definitely possible to conquer it completely and boost your productivity!
Simply make sure to follow these actions:.
- Understand why you put things off. Determine what’s impeding you from making progress. Is it your mood/emotions, your physical health, a lack of direction, or something else entirely?
- Know when you put things off. Are you more likely to hesitate at a specific time of day or under particular circumstances? Understanding the scope of the issue will help you develop a more reliable service.
- Produce an action strategy. Now that you know the concern, respond appropriately. Use any of the productivity techniques above that are most ideal for your needs. Bear in mind that this can be changed and improved throughout the entire process.
- Get rid of obstructions. Do your finest to reduce any and all diversions in your environments. This will assist you focus on your objective 100%.
- Celebrate your triumphes. Don’t forget to reward yourself for doing a great task! Changing a habit isn’t simple, so take pride in your progress– no matter how little. Being flexible and forgiving to yourself will make this journey a sustainable one.
Conclusion
Now that you have all the information you require to succeed, proceed and use these techniques in your life. We hope this guide assisted you understand how to overcome procrastination and finally reach your goals. Good luck!