The procrastination-anxiety vicious cycle

The procrastination-anxiety vicious cycle

The reasons for procrastination are closely linked to anxiety.

Maybe, we are afraid of taking the next step forward because it is demanding and challenging.

Some struggle with intolerance of uncertainty, which causes them to procrastinate. Their anxiety may also overcomplicate the issue and make it difficult to decide where to start.

Anxiety can disguise itself behind various other emotions. You may feel angry and blame other people for not completing a particular task and resent having to do the job in the first place.

Anxiety-related procrastination is a vicious cycle. Although a task may make people feel anxious, putting it off can make them feel more anxious and create more dread around the task in the long run. Research also shows that procrastinators get worse sleep and feel tired in the daytime, worsening the cycle of procrastination and amplifying anxiety symptoms.

The issue here is that if we fail to prioritize our tasks, we will not be picking away at those tasks. We are not only going to hand in some mildly shitty work, it is also going to have a negative effect on whatever our next task is.

Procrastination is closely linked to anxiety. Many people find that their anxiety flares up when faced with a large task, causing them to put off the task out of a fear that it won’t be good enough or that it’s simply too much for them to handle.

For those with anxiety-related procrastination, targeting the problem of anxiety can help to solve the procrastination problem.

We should think about and write down our goals and our direction for those goals and why we are diving in to that meaningful work. If we don’t have a destination in mind, it’s like wandering without a map. We are not going to be able to measure if we are actually making progress because we don’t have a destination in mind.

The best thing to do for anxiety-related procrastination is acknowledge your anxiety. It may be state anxiety about the general project, or you may be struggling with other anxiety symptoms, such as having a sense of impending danger and an increased heart rate.

Avoidance is typical of people with anxiety. They may miss social engagements or events that make them feel anxious and do the same with various tasks and projects.