Understanding the Causes of Procrastination

Procrastination can be a major problem to any individual that is attempting to manage his or her time effectively, so it is essential for an individual to be able to find ways of preventing his or her tendency to procrastinate. However, for an individual to be able to prevent him- or herself from procrastinating, it is important for an individual to understand the various factors that cause an individual to procrastinate in the first place. These factors include confusion regarding the task, distractions surrounding the task, difficulty prioritizing, fear of failure, lack of motivation, and unrealistic expectations. All of these factors can cause an individual to procrastinate, but each factor influences the individual's decision to avoid the task at hand in a different way.

Individuals that are confused about how to complete a particular task or are not even sure how to approach a task will often procrastinate in order to avoid having to figure out material that they do not understand. Individuals that are surrounded by distractions while completing a particular task, will often procrastinate by taking advantage of the distractions because they are more interested in the distractions and less interested in the task that they need to complete. Individuals that are afraid that they may not be able to understand the material or that they may not be able to complete the task will often attempt to avoid the task altogether in order to avoid failing at that particular task. In other words an individual that procrastinates due to a fear of failure can usually be described as an individual that believes it is better to be believed a fool than to make a mistake and remove all doubt. Individuals that procrastinate due to a lack of motivation avoid performing tasks because they are not interested in the task, they do not understand the point of the task, or they do not like the task or the actions they would need to take to complete the task. Finally, individuals that procrastinate due to unrealistic expectations avoid performing tasks because they do not believe that they can meet the high standards that they have set for themselves or meet the high standards that they believe another individual expects from them. It is also important to note that the factors that are causing an individual to procrastinate in a particular situation may vary from situation to situation.