Klokken er 17:00 og du har lige indset, at rapporten du udskudt skal leveres i morgen. Det er tid til, at du tager dig sammen, starter computeren... og tjekker din telefon. Måske lige tjekke din yndlings Youtube-kanal? Faktisk må du hellere lave mad først. Du kan godt lide madlavning, men det er svært at nyde med rapporten hængende over hovedet, og wow - det er faktisk ret sent! Måske skal du bare prøve igen i morgen tidlig? Dette er prokrastineringens cyklus, og jeg lover, at vi alle har været der. Men hvorfor trækker vi tiden ud, selv når vi ved, at det skader os?
It’s 5 p.m. and you’ve just realized that report you’ve been putting off is due tomorrow. It’s time to buckle down, open your computer... and check your phone. Maybe catch up on your favorite YouTube channel? Actually, you should probably make dinner first. You usually like cooking, though it’s hard to enjoy with this work hanging over your head, and oh— it’s actually pretty late! Maybe you should just try again in the morning? This is the cycle of procrastination, and I promise you, we have all been there. But why do we keep procrastinating even when we know it’s bad for us?
At gøre noget senere er ikke altid det samme som at prokrastinere. For at planlægge din tid ansvarligt må du bedømme, hvad der er vigtigt og hvad der kan vente. Når vi prokrastinerer, undgår vi ting vi burde gøre, uden god grund, selvom vi ved, at det vil få negative konsekvenser. Selvfølgelig er det ulogisk at gøre noget, du ved vil skade dig. Men ironisk nok er prokrastinering kroppens forsøg på at beskytte os, ved specifikt at undgå ting, vi oplever som trusler.
To be clear, putting something off isn’t always procrastinating. Responsible time management requires deciding which tasks are important and which ones can wait. Procrastination is when we avoid a task we said we would do, for no good reason, despite expecting our behavior to bring negative consequences. Obviously, it’s irrational to do something you expect to harm you. But ironically, procrastination is the result of our bodies trying to protect us, specifically by avoiding a task we see as threatening.
Når du indser, at du skal skrive den der rapport, reagerer din hjerne ligesom den ville mod andre trusler. Din amygdala, en samling af nerveceller der er med til at behandle dine følelser og identificere mulige trusler, frigør hormoner, bland andet adrenalin, som udløser en frygtreaktion. Denne stressinducerede panik kan overmande impulserne fra dit præfrontale cortex, som normalt hjælper dig med, at tænke langsigtet og regulere dine følelser. Og det er midt i denne kæmp-, flygt- eller frys-respons, du beslutter dig for at behandle truslen og undgår den, ved at lave noget andet der ikke føles så stressende.
When you realize you need to write that report, your brain responds like it would to any incoming threat. Your amygdala, a set of neurons involved in emotional processing and threat identification, releases hormones including adrenaline that kick off a fear response. This stress-induced panic can overpower the impulses from your prefrontal cortex, which typically help you think long term and regulate your emotions. And it’s in the midst of this fight, flight, or freeze response that you decide to handle the threat by avoiding it in favor of some less stressful task.
Reaktionen kan virke ekstrem— det er trods alt bare en deadline, ikke et bjørneangreb. Men vi udskyder som regel mere, når opgaver vækker negative følelser, såsom frygt, inkompetence og usikkerhed. Undersøgelser af universitetsstuderende har vist, at deltagerne oftere udskyder, opgaver der virker stressende eller udfordrende. Og opfattelsen af hvor svær en opgave er at løse stiger, når du trækker tiden ud. I et eksperiment fik studerende påmindelser om at studere hele dagen. Imens de studerede, syntes de fleste ikke, at det var så slemt. Men når de prokrastinerede udtrykte de alle, at tanken om at studere var meget stressende, hvilket gjorde det svært at komme i gang.
This response might seem extreme— after all, it’s just a deadline, not a bear attack. But we’re most likely to procrastinate tasks that evoke negative feelings, such as dread, incompetence, and insecurity. Studies of procrastinating university students have found participants were more likely to put off tasks they perceived as stressful or challenging. And the perception of how difficult the task is increases while you’re putting it off. In one experiment, students were given reminders to study throughout the day. While they were studying, most reported that it wasn’t so bad. But when they were procrastinating, they consistently rated the idea of studying as very stressful, making it difficult to get started.
Fordi prokrastinering er motiveret af vores negative følelser, er nogle individer mere tilbøjelige til at gøre det end andre. Personer der har svært ved at regulere sine følelser, og de som kæmper med lavt selvværd, er meget mere tilbøjelige til at prokrastinere, lige meget hvor gode de er til at planlægge deres tid. Det er en almindelig misforståelse, at alle der prokrastinerer er dovne. I kroppen og hjernen er dovenskab koblet til lav energi og generel apati. Når du føler dig doven, er det mere sandsynligt at du intet laver, end at du distraherer dig selv med uvigtige opgaver. Faktisk prokrastinerer mange, fordi noget betyder for meget dem. De som prokrastinerer, udtrykker ofte stor frygt for at fejle og trækker tiden ud, fordi de er bange for at deres arbejde ikke vil leve op til deres høje standard.
Because procrastination is motivated by our negative feelings, some individuals are more susceptible to it than others. People who have difficulty regulating their emotions and those who struggle with low self-esteem are much more likely to procrastinate, regardless of how good they are at time management. However, it's a common misconception that all procrastinators are lazy. In the body and brain, laziness is marked by no energy and general apathy. When you’re feeling lazy, you’re more likely to sit around doing nothing than distract yourself with unimportant tasks. In fact, many people procrastinate because they care too much. Procrastinators often report a high fear of failure, putting things off because they’re afraid their work won’t live up to their high standards.
Uanset årsagen til prokrastineringen, er resultatet ofte det samme. Personer der tit prokrastinerer lider oftere af angst og depression, vedvarende følelser af skam, højere stressniveauer og fysiske lidelser, der associeres til høj stress. Værst af det hele: selvom prokrastinering skader os på lang sigt, så hjælper det os midlertidigt med at reducere vores stressniveau, hvilket signalerer til kroppen, at det er en god respons mod stress. Så hvordan kan vi bryde denne cyklus af prokrastinering?
Whatever the reason for procrastination, the results are often the same. Frequent procrastinators are likely to suffer from anxiety and depression, ongoing feelings of shame, higher stress levels and physical ailments associated with high stress. Worst of all, while procrastination hurts us in the long run, it does temporarily reduce our stress level, reinforcing it as a bodily response for coping with stressful tasks. So, how can we break the cycle of procrastination?
Før i tiden troede man, at personer der prokrastinerer burde udøve disciplin og følge strikse tidsskemaer. Men i dag mener mange forskere det helt modsatte. Er du for hård ved dig selv, kan flere negative følelser associeres til en opgave og gøre truslen mere intens. For at afværge denne stressreaktion, må vi adressere og mindske de negative følelser. Nogle simple strategier er, at dele opgaven op i mindre stykker, eller at føre dagbog om, hvorfor den stresser dig og adressere de underliggende bekymringer. Prøv at fjerne distraktioner i nærheden, der gør det nemt at prokrastinere. Og mere end noget andet hjælper det, at vise dig selv medfølelse, at tilgive dig selv og planlægge, hvordan du gør det bedre næste gang. For en kultur der fostrer denne cyklus af stress og prokrastinering, skader os alle på lang sigt.
Traditionally, people thought procrastinators needed to cultivate discipline and practice strict time management. But today, many researchers feel the exact opposite. Being too hard on yourself can layer additional bad emotions onto a task, making the threat even more intense. To short-circuit this stress response, we need to address and reduce these negative emotions. Some simple strategies include breaking a task into smaller elements or journaling about why it's stressing you out and addressing those underlying concerns. Try removing nearby distractions that make it easy to impulsively procrastinate. And more than anything, it helps to cultivate an attitude of self-compassion, forgiving yourself, and making a plan to do better next time. Because a culture that perpetuates this cycle of stress and procrastination hurts all of us in the long term.