Why do we procrastinate?

You have a thing to do. You know roughly how to do it, you know it will take less time than the worrying, and still you find yourself tidying a drawer, checking a message, reading about the history of the paperclip. Then the guilt arrives, and somehow that makes starting harder still. So, why do we procrastinate? The short answer is feelings, not time.

Why do we procrastinate?

To feel better right now. Researchers Fuschia Sirois and Timothy Pychyl describe procrastination as a form of self-regulation failure driven largely by short-term mood repair. It often happens with tasks people see as aversive, and its costs are typically borne by the future self.^[1] Put plainly: the task makes you feel bad, avoiding it makes the feeling go away, and tomorrow’s you can deal with the consequences.

The biggest review of the evidence points the same way. A 2007 meta-analysis in Psychological Bulletin, based on 691 correlations, found that the strongest and most consistent predictors of procrastination were:

• Task aversiveness: how boring, difficult or unpleasant the task feels.
• Task delay: how far away the deadline or reward is.
• Self-efficacy: low confidence that you can do it well.
• Impulsiveness: how easily you are pulled towards whatever is in front of you.

Conscientiousness, including self-control, distractibility and organisation, was strongly linked too. Neuroticism, rebelliousness and sensation seeking showed only weak connections.^[2] The caveat: these are mostly correlations, so they describe who tends to procrastinate rather than proving what causes it in any one person.

A phone makes all of this easier. When escape is one tap away, a slightly unpleasant task loses to an endlessly pleasant feed. Our piece on why we doomscroll when stressed looks at the same pattern from the other side.

What is procrastination, in simple words?

Putting something off on purpose even though you expect to be worse off for the delay. That is close to the definition in the 2007 review: to voluntarily delay an intended course of action despite expecting the delay to make things worse.^[2]

That last part is the useful bit. Taking a rest is not procrastination. Waiting until you have the information you need is not procrastination. It only counts when you meant to do it, could do it, and suspect the delay will cost you.

Does procrastination mean you are lazy?

No. Laziness is not wanting to do anything; procrastinators usually do want to do the task, and feel bad about not doing it. The research treats procrastination as a problem of managing emotions and impulses.^[1][2] Many chronic procrastinators are busy all day, just not with the thing that matters.

How common is procrastination?

Very. The 2007 review estimated that procrastination chronically affects some 15% to 20% of adults. For students, it reported older estimates that 80% to 95% of college students procrastinate, and that almost half do so consistently and problematically.^[2]

The caveat: those student figures were drawn from studies dating back to the 1970s, 80s and 90s, and some came from sources that would not pass a modern peer review. Treat them as “most students, at least sometimes” rather than as precise numbers.

How does procrastination affect students?

It goes with slightly lower grades and, more clearly, worse well-being.

• Grades. The 2007 meta-analysis found a weak but consistently negative relationship between procrastination and academic performance, an average correlation of -0.19 across 41 studies. Its author summed it up as usually harmful, sometimes harmless, but never helpful.^[2]
• Every assignment. In two studies of students published in 1997, procrastinators received lower grades on all assignments.^[3]
• Health later on. A 2023 study followed 3,525 university students in Sweden. Higher procrastination was associated with more symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress nine months later, along with poorer sleep, less physical activity, loneliness and money worries, after controlling for a large set of other factors.^[4]

The caveat is that all of this is observational. Students who are already struggling may procrastinate more, rather than the other way round, and likely it runs in both directions. If you are a student fighting this right now, how to focus while studying covers the two study techniques with the strongest evidence.

Procrastination also follows students to bed. Staying up late scrolling to claw back the time the day took has its own name, which we explain in what is revenge bedtime procrastination?

Does procrastination help reduce stress?

Only for a while. In the 1997 student studies, procrastinators reported lower stress and less illness than non-procrastinators early in the term. Late in the term they reported higher stress and more illness, and overall they were sicker.^[3] The authors described procrastination as a self-defeating pattern of short-term benefits and long-term costs.

That early relief is not imaginary, and it is the whole engine of the habit. You avoid the task, you feel better, and your brain learns that avoiding works.

Can procrastination cause depression?

The research shows a link, not proof of cause. The 2023 Swedish study found that students with higher procrastination scores had more depression symptoms nine months later, even after accounting for many other factors.^[4] But low mood can also make every task feel heavier and harder to start, so the arrow can point both ways.

This is general information, not medical advice. If procrastination comes with low mood that will not lift, constant worry, or trouble concentrating that has been with you for a long time, talk to your GP. You do not need to work out the label first.

How do you stop procrastinating?

Work on the feeling, not just the timetable. Because procrastination is mostly about avoiding a bad feeling, the strategies that make sense target that feeling. Some are well supported by the research above; others are sensible applications of it.

1. Make the first step tiny. Open the document and write one sentence. A smaller step is a less aversive task.
2. Shorten the distance to a reward. Distant deadlines feed delay, so set your own nearer ones. A 25-minute timer, as in the Pomodoro Technique, creates a finish line you can see.
3. Put the escape route out of reach. Impulsiveness is a strong predictor, so move temptations rather than relying on willpower. How to use your phone less has practical steps.
4. Go easy on yourself afterwards. A 2014 study across four samples found procrastinators tended to have lower self-compassion, and that this helped explain their higher stress. The author suggested that building self-compassion could help.^[5] Beating yourself up just adds another bad feeling to avoid.
5. Finish things cleanly. Half-done tasks keep tugging at your attention, which we explain in what is attention residue?

None of this is a cure. Everyone procrastinates sometimes, and a little delay is human. If short, whole-minded bursts of attention would help you get started, The Four-Minute Cards are designed for exactly that first small step.