Skip to main content

Procrastination? Challenge your Irrational Thoughts


Procrastination is putting off tasks for another day or doing unproductive things as an excuse for not doing what is essential. While some procrastinate in certain situations, it becomes a habit for others. They leave dishes in the sink, don’t respond to e-mails, don’t pay bills, put off completing paperwork, finish assignments just before the deadline, or ask for extensions. In the latter group, procrastination becomes a form of avoidance. Psychologists consider avoidance as a maladaptive coping style that relieves one from the mental and/or physical effort of doing a task, reinforcing this behavior. Procrastination can be driven by irrational thought patterns, and sometimes, these are associated with depression and anxiety. The common irrational thoughts that foster procrastination include:
  • “Nothing works.”
  • “This is boring.”
  • “I don’t know where to start.”
  • “I can’t do this.”
  • “This is too hard.”
  • "I am not cut out for this."
  • “I don’t have the time to do this.”
  • “I don’t have the energy to do this.”
  • "I will never be able to get this done. Why bother?"
  • “This may work, but…”
  • “I have to get this perfect, or…”
These thoughts are cognitive distortions, mostly from helplessness, hopelessness, self-doubt, inadequacy, fear of failure or rejection, or perfectionism. You can challenge these irrational thoughts using the following questions and techniques (Duggal, 2016).
  • What evidence do I have that supports the notion that “I can’t do this, or I am not cut out for this, or nothing works?”
  • How helpful is the thought, “I have no energy, or I am always tired,” to me? What will happen if I continue to believe this?
  • Is my fear of failing to hold me back from doing this activity?
  • Do I have enough evidence to say, “If I fail at this activity, then I am a total failure?”
  • What is the worst thing that could happen if I did what I am putting off right now?
  • Who says I must complete the whole task, and only then can I feel happy?
  • Am I defeating myself before I start?
  • Can I do this task if I am not feeling depressed?
  • What have I got to lose by trying?
  • Can I challenge myself beyond my comfort zone?
  • Am I self-sabotaging by giving myself irrational justifications? Am I using the “Yes, but…” excuse to avoid performing a task?
  • Replace “I can’t” with “It is impossible for me.” For example, “I can’t start walking again” will become “It is impossible for me to start walking.” This highlights the irrationality of your thinking in asking yourself whether this task is really impossible.
  • Substitute beliefs starting with “I wish,” “I hope,” or “Maybe” with “I will.” For example, “I wish I had time to start exercising again” becomes “I will find time to start exercising again.” Words like “hope,” “wish,” and “maybe” are harbingers of procrastination.
These questions and techniques will help you overcome the inertia of starting the tasks on your daily schedule. If you are still struggling with procrastination, then it would help to seek guidance from a mental health professional to see if underlying depression, anxiety, or ADHD may be contributing to this.

Check out Dr. Duggal’s Author Page to learn more about evidence-based self-management techniques that promote mental health and well-being.

HARPREET S. DUGGAL, MD, FAPA

REFERENCES

Duggal, H. S. (2016). The Complete guide to self-management of depression. Bloomington, IN: Archway Publishing.







Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

7 Questions That Will Help You Overcome Anxiety, Fear and Panic

Anxiety, fear, and panic are associated with irrational thoughts involving themes of threat or danger. These irrational thoughts take the form of “if” or “what if” beliefs. For example, a person who is afraid of heights may think, “If I am on the elevator alone and it gets stuck, no one will be able to save me,” or a person with panic disorder may believe, “If my heart beats too fast, it means that I am probably having a heart attack.” The “if” and “what if” thinking in anxiety disorders is a byproduct of your irrational thought patterns, including magnification, catastrophizing, overgeneralizing, and “should” and “must statements.” Sometimes, anxiety is a result of genuine problems or situations that have no solutions. How does one then decide to challenge one's irrational thinking or problem-solve, or try acceptance strategies? The seven questions that will help you guide your decision to choose one path over another to overcome anxiety are as follows:  What is the likelihoo...
2 comments
Read more

3 Ways to Express Gratitude

Gratitude is one of the most commonly used and proven positive psychology interventions. It enhances well-being and is an effective way of self-managing depression. Grateful people experience higher positive emotions such as joy, enthusiasm, love, happiness, and optimism. Gratitude buffers you from hurtful feelings of envy, resentment, greed, and bitterness. In addition, grateful people can cope more effectively with everyday stress and show increased resilience in the face of trauma-induced stress (Emmons, 2013). Whether or not you have a grateful disposition, the good news is that it is possible to cultivate gratitude intentionally. You can choose one of the following three methods to express gratitude, but most beginners start with a gratitude list as it is a simple yet effective strategy. Gratitude lists This is the “classic” and the most studied method of expressing gratitude. It involves regularly making written lists of several things for which you are grateful. T...
1 comment
Read more

Eight Ways to Master the Art of Small Talk

There are some social rituals that we cannot avoid, especially when interacting with people we don’t know, and nothing is more universally disliked than the ritual of small talk. Small talk is a fine art that balances the use of some better questions to open the conversation and then navigate the talk without lingering on obligatory foundational topics about how one’s weekend was or discussing the weather. If you find yourself avoiding social interactions because you're uncomfortable and embarrassed about small talk, here are eight ways to improve at it and avoid making it awkward or superficial (Duhigg, 2024; Haupt, 2023; Lee, 2025). 1. Ask better questions. To facilitate conversation, avoid conversational dead-end questions that can be responded to in a single word, such as "How was your weekend?" or "How are you?" Also, avoid fact-based questions like "Where do you live?" Instead, ask questions that invite people to elaborate on their experience...
Post a Comment
Read more