How to Find Your Procrastination Style—and Then Stop Procrastinating for Good

Does this sound familiar? You sit down at your desk, ready to knock out a big project for work, only to check your emails, scroll through social media for 10 minutes, watch a video, and respond to a few unanswered text messages. If so, you might be one of the many people who struggle with procrastination. 

What Is Procrastination?

Defined as the act of delaying or putting off tasks until the last minute, or all together, procrastination is normal and in fact, something everyone does to some extent. And it’s not necessarily unhealthy, says Jeff Temple, PhD, licensed psychologist at the University of Texas Medical Branch.

Why We Procrastinate

“Sometimes we just need to put things off for our sanity or to let ideas marinade before we act,” he says. “And we procrastinate for a variety of reasons—some rather benign like you’d rather just be doing something more exciting, and others more nefarious like perfectionism, or fear of success or failure.”

Research has even shown that people tend to prioritize short-term mood over long-term goals, meaning in the moment, you’ll likely put off tasks if it’s easier or more pleasant not to do them, and if they don’t have a quick or satisfying reward. Other research suggests that there are triggers that can make you more adverse to tasks, and the more triggers attached to a task, the more likely you are to procrastinate. The characteristics that make a task procrastination-worthy are: frustrating, difficult, boring, unstructured, ambiguous, not intrinsically rewarding, and lacking in personal meaning. 

Procrastination Types

Interestingly, not all procrastinators are the same, says Alyssa Mairanz, LMHC, CDBT, founder and executive director of Empower Your Mind Therapy. There are six different types of procrastinators, and figuring out which category (or categories) you fall into can help you overcome your specific challenges.

“Someone can be a mix of them all really, so it’s important to understand not only the types of procrastinators, but how you identify with the underlying reasons of your specific procrastinating,” Mairanz says. 

Procrastinators tend to fall into one or a few of the following categories:

1. Perfectionist: has a fear of not doing the task perfectly. They would rather hold off completely if they feel (or fear) they aren’t able to accomplish your work perfectly.
2. Dreamer: thinks “big picture” on ideas, but when it comes to actual tasks or work at hand, they have a hard time completing it and focusing on the steps to get there.
3. Worrier: has a fear of failure and negative emotions around being successful at the task ahead. Better not to do it at all than do it and fail, or have something go wrong.
4. Defier: pushes off tasks because they find it beneath them or feel it’s something they shouldn’t have to work on. Feel frustrated or perhaps resentful at the task under their responsibility.
5. Crisis-Maker: needs to feel pressure or stress of a tight deadline to begin and/or accomplish a task. They wait until the last minute because only this will make them motivated to get something done.
6. Over-Doer: says “yes” to too many tasks and has trouble prioritizing and accomplishing the tasks, so fails to get them done.

Giving yourself grace and acknowledging that you’re not the only one who puts things off is important. But when procrastination gets out of hand and starts to affect your personal and/or professional life negatively, it’s time to do something about it. There are several helpful ways to break long-held patterns and train yourself to stop procrastinating. Whether you’re looking for small, daily changes or actionable behavior tricks, put these expert tips to good use the next time you’re about to procrastinate.

How to Stop Procrastinating

1. Accept it without judgment.

The first real step to working through procrastination is accepting where you are now and not beating yourself up for it. Once you know and acknowledge that you consistently procrastinate, you’ll be able to deal with it more effectively, and can make a plan and start to implement small strategies to work through those struggles each and every day.

“I just had a conversation with a client recently after going through comprehensive dialectical behavior therapy, who returned to therapy because he finds he severely procrastinates his responsibilities and it’s hard for him to get things done,” says Dr. Mairanz. “I assured him, this is human nature. The best way to navigate it is to just accept that this is occurring and remove the judgment. He can then allow himself a few hours to procrastinate and then focus on what needs to be done.”

2. Reframe your mindset and rephrase your self-talk.

Mindset is everything when it comes to working through any internal struggle, so shift your inner dialogue from negative to positive self-talk. Positive self-talk can help with emotional regulation, and speaking to yourself in ways that remind you of your goals—and not what you haven’t gotten done—can make you more excited about the process. So instead of saying, “I wish I hadn’t put this off,” try, “I will start working on this now.”

And if the task doesn’t have a specific deadline and still gets done at some point, and gets done well, then don’t put undue pressure on yourself to complete it within an unrealistic time frame.

3. Have an accountability buddy.

Having the support of a friend, partner, or colleague can make all the difference when it comes to working towards your goals and not procrastinating. That’s why Mairanz recommends having them check in with you about the status of your work to hold you accountable. Whether it’s daily, weekly, or monthly, when you have someone constantly checking on your progress, you’ll be far more likely to accomplish tasks, and stick to deadlines. 

And if you’re someone who needs an extra incentive to complete a task, have your accountability partner give you a predetermined reward to hold you accountable.

4. Work within your resistance level. 

Large projects and multi-step tasks can be overwhelming. Not knowing where to begin or dreading the amount of work and time they will take, are more than enough to make you avoid them altogether. Instead, think extremely small. 

Try it with time: Find a short window of time that you can easily commit to. If the idea of spending an hour on one task makes you push it off, that’s too much time. Reduce that time until you find a comfortable spot that you’re no longer resistant to—and then commit to it regularly. Sometimes 10 minutes, even just 5 minutes, is all you can say yes to, and that’s a perfectly good starting point.

Or try it with the task steps: Break tasks into the smallest possible, most easily achievable steps. Britt Frank, LSCSW, clinician, educator, and trauma specialist describes in her book Science of Stuck, the concept of breaking tasks down into “micro-yeses”. These are the smallest possible things you can say yes to without triggering your nervous system’s survival responses (a driver of procrastination). A micro-yes is designed to be done today and to keep your nervous system out of survival mode and in a logical and choice-based mode.

There is a misconception that motivation must precede action—but oftentimes action is what leads to motivation. Successfully completing a micro-task, or working within a micro-focus timeframe, will feel good and motivate you to do it again. Humans learn through a rewards-based system, and this can help tap into that.

5. List the potential costs of procrastination. 

Oftentimes people procrastinate because they feel if they can’t commit to completing the task perfectly then they’re a failure. “Perfectionism may be especially taxing—the impossible demands of feeling like you need to be perfect is so daunting that not starting feels like a huge relief,” Temple says.

Instead, try writing a to-do list of what you need to get done and include the specific cost of procrastinating each task, large or small, short- or long-term. Not exercising each day might seem like no big deal, but over time it could have serious consequences to your overall health. Choosing to spend all of your discretionary income each month might feel good in the moment, but not saving for retirement can impact your long-term finances, relationships, and life goals. By seeing what the long-term effects of putting off small to-do’s can help motivate you.

6. Actively eliminate distractions. 

The daily routine of checking emails, calls, text messages, and social media accounts can easily become a self-reinforcing pattern that research has shown can be “pervasive” to your life in more ways than one. It’s also especially difficult to break because these tech-based notifications are literally designed to steal our attention.

When you notice yourself using your device to procrastinate, acknowledge it and then disconnect. “Turn off the TV, put your phone on ‘do not disturb’, and spend time focusing on the task,” Mairanz says. Set a timer and only allow yourself to check emails or take a social media break in that window. If you need an extra layer of reinforcement, try apps like Self Control or Freedom, which allow you to block access to specific sites like social media or streaming channels, and require you to physically restart your computer to regain access to those sites.

7. Work with a professional. 

Sometimes it can feel like you’ve tried everything and you're still stuck. If overcoming procrastination is something that's becoming a severe struggle or issue, it might be time to speak to an expert about executive functioning issues.

“How to stop procrastinating depends largely on what’s driving your tendency to put things off,” Temple says. “If none of these tips works and your procrastination negatively impacts your ability to function, then look to a mental health professional. We can help you work out the root causes, challenge your negative thoughts, and assign homework to get you over this hump.”