What is procrastination? The science behind why we delay and how to fix It

Is it really because you're lazy? Could there be something about the task that feels uncomfortable, boring, or scary? Well, whatever the case, we delay it… knowing full well we’ll regret it later.

Around 70–75% of university students say they procrastinate regularly, while 15–20% of adults admit to doing it chronically. Psychologists call it a self-regulation failure. It's when your short-term emotions hijack your long-term goals.

But what is procrastination? And more importantly, why do we do it, but really?

This article digs into the past 15 years of research to unpack the real psychological roots of procrastination.

What is procrastination?

Procrastination is the act of delaying or avoiding a task you intend to do, even when you know the delay could lead to negative consequences.

You sit down to write an important email. You open your laptop. You check the weather. Then you remember you haven’t cleaned your keyboard in a while. A letter A turns out to be super dirty. Twenty minutes later, you ask ChatGPT, “How long can a person survive in Antarctica with no socks?” – yes, we've been there. (procrastinating, not Antarctica!)

Procrastination disguises itself as “just five more minutes,” and often walks hand-in-hand with guilt. You want to do the thing. You even plan to do the thing. But when the moment comes, you dodge.

As Janet Daily says, “Someday is not a day of the week” and you’re painfully aware of what’s happening as it happens. If you weren't, you wouldn't google the beast.

Researchers call this a self-regulation failure. Your brain knows what matters, but your emotions are louder in the moment.

So instead of writing that report or folding the laundry, you chase quick relief.

What is chronic procrastination?

Chronic procrastination is the habit of continually and consistently avoiding completing tasks, even though you know there will be a negative result.

It’s not about how long you procrastinate on one specific piece of work. It is the habit of consistently postponing multiple things. 

Do you recognize any of these habits in yourself? Do you: 

• Always start work for an important deadline the night before

• Avoid attempting big life goals even though you have the capacity and want to try them

• Leave major work tasks till the last possible moment

• Delays critical responsibilities, like booking doctor’s appointments

It’s also worth thinking about the severity of the procrastination before labelling yourself or someone else as a chronic procrastinator. 

If you procrastinate occasionally or at certain triggers (explained below), it’s probably not helpful to label yourself a chronic procrastinator. 

Why do we procrastinate?

Mostly, people procrastinate because their brain prioritizes short-term relief over long-term rewards. This often happens when a task feels stressful, boring, or overwhelming. This leads to emotional avoidance. Procrastination is linked to low self-control, impulsivity, fear of failure, and difficulty regulating emotions.

Procrastination isn’t just poor time management. 

Behind that delay is usually a mix of emotion, personality, and how your brain weighs short-term vs. long-term rewards. Researchers, led by Mana Oguchi, call it a breakdown in “self-control.” It’s where your present-focused, impulsive side hijacks the future-focused, rational one.

Here’s why it happens.

Negative emotions and fear

The procrastination habit is mostly emotional. When a task feels boring, overwhelming, or likely to go badly, we avoid it. That avoidance gives us short-term relief, which feels good in the moment.

Procrastination among university students is big, for example. If they fear failing, they delay studying just to avoid the anxiety that comes with trying

Doing nothing feels better than facing the stress of starting.

But that short-term comfort comes at a long-term cost.

Time inconsistency (a.k.a. temporal discounting)

Our brains are wired to care more about now than later. This is called temporal discounting. It’s one of the biggest drivers of procrastination.

Researchers have modeled this using something called Temporal Motivation Theory:
Motivation = (Expectancy × Value) / (Delay × Sensitivity)

Dumbed down, the longer away a reward feels, the less motivated you’ll be.

That’s why you might jump into cleaning your fridge right before a deadline. It offers a clear, fast reward, while your big, important task feels far off and emotionally heavy. So your brain picks the “win” that feels better now.

Personality plays a role, too

Some people are just more prone to procrastination. It shows in their personality traits.

If you’re low on conscientiousness (think: disorganized, easily distracted), you’re more likely to put things off. High impulsivity and low self-discipline are especially strong predictors, as this 2007 meta-analysis found out.

Other traits — like the tendency to worry — have a murkier link. For some, anxiety fuels avoidance. For others, it might actually push them to act. But overall, the most consistent pattern is this: 

People who struggle with self-control tend to procrastinate more.

Cognitive patterns

Doubt and low confidence are big triggers too. 

If you don’t believe you can succeed or if the task feels pointless, it’s way easier to avoid it.

And then there’s the classic trap: “I’ll work better under pressure.” This often turns into a planning fallacy—overestimating what future-you will magically pull off.

ADHD and executive function

People with ADHD often face a double-whammy when it comes to procrastination. Their brains are more sensitive to immediate rewards and less able to block out distractions.

A recent study found that ADHD symptoms amplify the link between procrastination and delay discounting. 

Those with ADHD are even more likely to chase quick wins and avoid delayed tasks (PMC, 2023). In other words, if you have trouble staying focused and regulating your impulses, procrastination becomes the default.

Is procrastination that bad for me?

We often think of procrastination as a bad habit, but it goes deeper than that. Over time, it can affect not just your to-do list. It affects your mental health, physical well-being, work performance, and overall quality of life.

Let’s break it down.

It can mess with your mental health

Procrastination might feel like a short-term stress reliever, but the relief is temporary — and the stress builds back up. Chronic procrastinators tend to report higher levels of anxiety, depression, and stress.

In fact, a large study of over 3,500 students in Sweden found an interesting tell. Those who procrastinated more at the start of the semester experienced more mental health problems as the months went on. (EurekAlert, 2023).

Other studies back this up. Putting things off consistently is linked with lower life satisfaction and a higher risk of emotional burnout (PMC, 2023; Frontiers in Psychology, 2022).

It takes a toll on your body, too

It’s not just in your head. When you procrastinate, you’re also more likely to put off the things that keep your body in check, like exercise, sleep, or medical appointments.

The same Swedish study found that chronic procrastinators were more likely to sleep poorly, move less, and even feel more physical pain, especially in the neck and shoulders. (EurekAlert, 2023).

In the long run, procrastinating on your health can mean missed checkups, delayed treatments, and small issues becoming big ones. It’s all connected.

It hurts your performance (and your wallet)

No surprise here. Procrastination often leads to rushed work, missed deadlines, and lower-quality results.

In students, it’s been linked to lower grades and poorer exam performance (PMC, 2023). Piers Steel’s meta-analysis even found a moderate negative link between procrastination and academic achievement.

At work, it can mean falling behind on projects or delivering underwhelming results. One study noted that people who procrastinate often get lower job evaluations and even save less for retirement.

That’s the real-world cost of putting things off.

It chips away at your overall well-being

When procrastination becomes your default, it tends to steal time. Both from your work and your rest. You sacrifice free evenings, cut corners, or skip the things that you need as a human being.

All of this adds up. Chronic procrastinators report lower life satisfaction and less confidence. On the flip side, learning how to stop procrastinating, bit by bit, has been shown to boost mood, self-trust, and motivation.

Not everything about procrastination is obvious! 

Here are some thought-provoking and lesser-known insights that can bring depth to your understanding of this downward spiral.

1. People procrastinate more when no one’s watching

When you’re working in isolation, with no one to check in, no one to care if you start or finish, it’s a lot easier to put things off. That’s because a lack of accountability quietly feeds procrastination.

Without a team, a partner, or even a friend asking “How’s that going?”, there’s no gentle nudge to keep the momentum.

It’s also why so many people found body-doubling and coworking apps so “surprisingly” effective. Being seen makes a difference. That feeling of “someone else is here” can make starting (and finishing) a whole lot easier.

2. Procrastination isn't always unproductive

Sometimes, people procrastinate on one task by doing another productive task, like cleaning the kitchen instead of writing a report. 

This is called "structured procrastination", a term coined by philosopher John Perry. 

Procrastinators don’t always avoid work. They often avoid emotionally loaded tasks while staying buried in work. 

This can give the illusion of productivity while still dodging the actual issue.

Spot it in real life: Ever found yourself resolving less urgent matters than that one thing you’ve been avoiding? Suddenly deciding now is the perfect time to start learning a subject, while there are 5 more pressing exams before? That’s not laziness. It’s structured procrastination. 

3. Procrastination can be a form of self-protection

Research shows that for many, procrastination is tied to protecting self-image. 

If you delay a task, you can blame it on the time crunch, not your abilities.

This is called “self-handicapping”. It’s a subconscious way to protect ego from the pain of potential failure, especially for perfectionists or people with sensitive self-esteem.

Spot it in real life: When the deadline looms, you rush it. If it turns out great, amazing, you did it under pressure! But if it flops? Well, hey… You didn’t really try. It’s not you that failed, it’s the time crunch.

4. We procrastinate more when we’re emotionally depleted

Procrastination tends to increase when people are tired, stressed, or emotionally drained. 

That’s because self-control is a finite resource. After a long day of decision-making or emotional labor, people are more likely to default to the easy way out (even if they know better).

Spot it in real life: You’ve had a long day. You sit down to finally do that thing you’ve been avoiding… and instead, you open Instagram. It’s not that you don’t care. When your mental energy’s drained, even simple tasks can feel like climbing a hill in flip-flops.

5. Smart, ambitious people procrastinate (sometimes more)

High-achievers and perfectionists are often more prone to procrastination. Why? Because the higher the bar, the harder it is to start. As Erica Jong, a novelist and a poet, pointed out in her memoir, “We are so scared of being judged that we look for every excuse to procrastinate.”

When the expectation is big, the risk of falling short can be paralyzing.

So ironically, the desire to do something well can lead to not doing it at all. Back to perfectionism, right?

Spot it in real life: You’ve got high standards and big goals, but that project you care about just sits there. You keep thinking, “I need the perfect moment to start.” You avoid the work that matters most, not because it’s boring but because it matters too much.

6. Procrastination is shaped by culture

Some cultures place heavy emphasis on punctuality, personal responsibility, and productivity (think: the U.S. or U.K.). In others, time is viewed more fluidly. Delaying things isn’t as harshly judged.

Procrastination may be more stressful, or even pathologized, in cultures that value constant output and speed.

7. We procrastinate more on identity-relevant tasks

The more a task is tied to who we are, like writing something meaningful, starting a creative project, or launching a side hustle, the more likely we are to procrastinate.

That’s because the stakes feel personal. If you fail, it’s not just the task — it feels like you failed.

If you’re stuck on something that really matters to you, that hesitation might be fear in disguise. You’re not lazy. You just care a lot.

Spot it in real life: You’ve been thinking about starting that thing, writing your blog, building your portfolio, launching your project, but you keep pushing it off. Not because it’s hard to do, but because it feels personal.

Awareness is the first move

As we’ve seen, procrastination can show up in different ways for different people. Maybe it’s fear of failure, perfectionism, decision fatigue, or just feeling completely alone at work.

That’s why the first real step toward changing it is understanding.

Once you can recognize your own patterns—what you tend to avoid, when it usually happens, what thoughts run through your head in those moments—you stop fighting a vague monster. You start seeing the thing for what it is.

Awareness gives you clarity. And clarity gives you options.

Instead of “I’m just lazy,” you start thinking:
Oh, I avoid this because I’m scared it won’t be good enough.
Or: This task feels overwhelming because I have no support system or accountability.

From there, change becomes possible. Not overnight. But gradually, with a little more self-trust and a little less shame.