This article is an excerpt from the Shortform book guide to "Procrastination" by Jane B. Burka and Lenora M. Yuen. Shortform has the world's best summaries and analyses of books you should be reading.
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Do you tend to procrastinate on important projects, delaying them until the last minute? What are the dangers of chronic procrastination?
In the short term, procrastination wastes your time and gives you anxiety. In the long term, however, it has more overarching and deleterious effects, hurting your mental health and causing you to miss out on opportunities to progress in life.
Keep reading to learn about the negative effects of procrastination.
What Is Procrastination, and How Does It Harm Us?
Procrastination is postponing a task. There are positive, neutral, and negative forms of procrastination. It’s positive or neutral when you delay less-important tasks to attend to important ones. For example, it’s a good idea to procrastinate on mowing the lawn so you can visit an aging family member. Positive and neutral forms of procrastination have little to no long-term, negative consequences.
(Shortform note: Other experts on procrastination also argue that there are positive forms of procrastination. In A Mind for Numbers, Barbara Oakley adds that procrastination is positive when you intentionally delay a task to reflect on how best to begin it. For instance, you might intentionally procrastinate on starting a report by looking back at feedback on your previous reports and determining what writing skills you should focus on improving.)
By contrast, procrastination is negative when you delay tasks to the extent that you delay living a fulfilling, healthy life. There are several negative effects of procrastination:
First, it leads you to perform poorly on tasks. Procrastinators often save tasks for the last minute or miss deadlines altogether, leading to poor performance at work and school.
(Shortform note: Some people believe that when we procrastinate, we perform better on tasks because we’re under the pressure of an encroaching deadline. However, research confirms Burka and Yuen’s claim that people perform poorly on tasks they procrastinate on. For instance, one study shows that people who procrastinate work at a slower pace and make more mistakes on timed tasks compared to those who don’t procrastinate.)
Second, procrastination causes you to miss important opportunities. Procrastinators often delay life-improving decisions, such as switching to a better career.
(Shortform note: It seems counterintuitive to procrastinate on something that would improve your life. Procrastinators may postpone life-improving decisions because many life choices lack precise deadlines. For instance, there’s no specific age at which you must switch careers. Without the pressure of a looming deadline, it’s easier to procrastinate on such choices.)
Third, procrastination strains your relationships. When procrastinators delay chores, assignments, and decisions, they frustrate and disappoint their colleagues, friends, and family.
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Here's what you'll find in our full Procrastination summary:
- How to identify the fears that lead you to procrastinate
- How your biology, circumstances, and self-esteem affect your procrastination
- How to better control how you manage your emotions and time
