Psychologists Explain Why You Procrastinate— And How to Stop

If timing is the issue
Many people are inherently more 
productive at certain times of day. 
Ballard recommends working around 
these natural productivity ebbs and 
flows when you schedule your days. 
“If you know you work better in the 
mornings on certain kinds of tasks, 
schedule it for then,” he says. “Don’t 
try to do it at a time when you’re tired 
and it’s harder for you to do.”
If you get overwhelmed
by big tasks
Many people procrastinate because 
they’re anxious about the outcome of 
a project, don’t think they can com-
plete it well or fear failure, Rozental 
says. If that’s the case, it may help to 
break it into smaller sub-tasks.
“If you don’t believe in yourself 
enough to actually conduct a par-
ticular task, you can try to do it in 
smaller and more manageable parts
to increase your self-efficacy,” Rozen-
tal recommends.
If you struggle with
delayed gratification
Some people have a hard time think-
ing of a project as important or 
rewarding unless they’re squeezing it 
in just before a deadline. In this case, 
too, breaking a long-term assignment
into multiple smaller ones may help, 
Ballard says. “Find ways to reward 
yourself along the way,” he recom-
mends. You can even schedule your 
most frequent diversions—think 
checking social media or complet-
ing non-urgent chores and errands—
for the gaps between these smaller 
chunks to get a quick hit of an enjoy-
able activity, Ballard adds. “You get 
those activities done, you get a break 
and you can shift your mindset for a 
few minutes,” he says.
It may also help to pause long enough 
to really think about why you’re doing 
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TIME FOR HEALTH 

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a certain task, Rozental says. “Clar-
ify why this task or commitment is 
important to you,” he says. “Ask, ‘Why 
am I doing this?’”