Education, study and knowledge

The 7 reasons that lead us to procrastinate when making decisions

Procrastination is the tendency to delay the completion of tasks or obligations, either consciously or semi-consciously. It is a problem that, if it is not attended to, becomes installed in the person's day-to-day life, conditioning his pace of life and causing things to do and reasons to suffer to accumulate stress. When we internalize procrastination, it becomes part of our habits and makes us very vulnerable to the unexpected, as well as predisposing us to do things quickly and badly.

In this article we will review the causes that may be behind the habit of leaving "for later" that moment in which we must make a relevant decision, something that means generating conflicts with others, losing opportunities and being unable to face our work, family and even self-care responsibilities.

  • Related article: "The 3 types of procrastination, and tips to stop postponing tasks"

What are the main reasons that lead us to procrastinate decision making?

As we have seen, this psychological phenomenon can cause great damage to the person who practices it and affects both to their productivity and to their physical and mental health, due to cases of stress or anxiety that can propitiate.

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When making a decision, there are a number of reasons or causes that lead the person to procrastinate at decisive moments, those in which you have to opt for one or the other option from a strategic point of view: apply for a promotion, tell someone we like you, choose a career university etc These are the most common.

1. Not having a schedule

Not having a clear schedule is one of the first causes that can lead us to procrastination both in the workplace as in any other area or responsibility that we must attend to in our day to day day.

The lack of time structure makes us fatigued by constantly having to decide what to do next; That is why people who follow a well-defined schedule daily are more productive and are more satisfied with their performance.

To procrastinate

Maintaining a daily work schedule will also help us prevent the appearance of psychological or emotional disorders such as stress, anxiety or depression.

  • You may be interested in: "Time management: 13 tips to make the most of the hours of the day"

2. Excess work stress

Excess work stress is one of the most common disorders in workers around the world, which experience how high work demands and increasingly high work rates exert a negative effect on your mental health.

Excessive stress combined with the pending tasks that we must attend to, makes us fear the experience of facing certain tasks that we see as accumulated problems.

This process becomes a loop that feeds back on itself, reaching the point where we can feel stress every time we get to work or perform any task that is assigned to us commendation

  • Related article: "Work stress: causes, and how to combat it"

3. lack of rest

Not having slept or rested enough makes us never feel ready to make important decisions, or that we cannot be attentive or concentrated enough because our brain is tired or upset.

This happens especially when we decide to take advantage of hours of sleep at night to work, believing that this way we will perform more when what we are really doing is overloading our brain and getting tired excessively.

That is why to work well and avoid procrastination it is recommended to sleep correctly and all the hours we need for both our body and our brain to rest properly satisfactory.

  • You may be interested in: "Insomnia: what is how it impacts our health"

4. Lack of assertiveness

The lack of assertiveness, that is, not knowing how to say no to others in situations in which we should defend our personal positions, also promotes involuntary procrastination in many cases.

This inability to say "no" at decisive moments makes us prioritize what they ask of us and we do not take care of personal tasks that are really important to us, which in the long run robs us of valuable time job.

5. Believing that the more I work, the more motivation

Some people tend to procrastinate because they consider that the more work they have accumulated to do, the more motivated they will be to do it and the better the final result will be.

The truth is the more accumulated work, the greater the probability of overloading and stressing ourselvesThat is why it is important to keep the work up to date and finish all the obligations at the time that we are asked.

  • Related article: "Types of motivation: the 8 motivational sources"

6. Believing that we need to rest more

Another cause that sometimes pushes us to procrastinate when making a decision is the belief that we need to rest a little more before we get to work, since the more rested we are the better we will surrender

Often this reflects indecision and a lack of belief in ourselves.This is why some people tend to procrastinate when they get to work, because they believe that they are not yet ready to do it correctly.

7. Fear of failure

This is one of the most common causes for procrastination and may be an underlying reason for the above cause.

Some people are so afraid of failing that they decide to postpone as long as possible the start of the work they must face, all this as a defense mechanism against the belief that they will not know how to perform the task successfully.

  • You may be interested in: "How to learn from mistakes: 9 effective tips"

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