• This article may be useful for everyone who has ever experienced procrastination or knows a person who suffers from it.

Procrastination is always viewed by everyone as just laziness and irresponsibility. People,especially teens who usually suffer from procrastination, are always scolded for their lazy and irresponsible behavior,especially by their parents. But,what if there’s more to it? Let’s find out.

Procrastination is a well known infamous term,even people who don’t possess the knowledge of this term, do know the feeling of it.

It is a maladaptive coping mechanism that is used to avoid difficult feelings like anxiety, burn outs, fear of failure or overwhelming fatigue of doing tasks. 

According to statistics, around 60 to 80 percent of teens experience it, as school life plays a big part in this game.

The terrifying part about procrastination is that it can evolve into another infamous, more sophisticated mental problem, depression.

The first thing we need to understand about our enemy,it’s their biography. What actually 

causes procrastination? Let’s begin with the base,the coping mechanism. Coping mechanisms are conscious or 

unconscious strategies,thoughts, behaviors, and emotions. People use to manage, tolerate, or reduce stressful situations, and unpleasant emotions: in short, everything that is tied to negative emotions. 

These techniques help individuals adjust to challenges, with types ranging from adaptive (positive long-term health) to maladaptive (negative temporary relief, harmful). So as we said earlier,procrastination is a maladaptive relief, and very addictive one. The individual tends to avoid doing their tasks, spending more time on the phone or just laying in the bed. 

It’s basically like trying to get drunk with tap water. The brain tries to convince yourself that the task isn’t worth the effort and time to be spent on, because it gives negative emotions. It’s elusive and deceitful,just like a snake. That restless, anxious feeling on the top of it, makes the things even saltier, which makes our brain convince us with thoughts like:”A little bit of rest and tomfoolery won’t hurt right? After all,I have just enough time to do it, maybe tomorrow the deadline is yet far away.” And after endless hours of doomscrolling and 5 stages of denial, you’re still standing in one place. With deadlines creeping up behind your back like Nosferatu.

If you are still reading this,then congratulations! Right now when you know your enemy in person. You’re halfway on the path to weaken it.

The task of getting rid of procrastination may sound like an impossible, and enigmatic task,full of sophisticated tricks and mental manipulation. But in reality, it’s way too simple to do it,that it feels illegal.

The first thing that comes to mind is endless fatigue clinging to our very soul. Hence, it is an improper way to rest! Who knows,maybe the root of all your mental problems is behind improper rest? Before reading the next words,think about your daily routine,and specifically,think about the way you rest.

According to the statistics. 70% of teens think of spending the most of their free time on their phones or videogames as a proper good rest, but in reality it’s futile,useless. You trick your brain into believing that you get rest,the dopamine from screen time is fast,yet too short to live, so it gives addiction to your brain, making your brain addictive to fast receive dopamine. 

So the first solution is digital detox. Digital detox is a term that means minimizing the screen time; it sounds almost impossible, since the phone is our literal connection to the big world. But let me tell you something, our brain isn’t supposed to receive that much ‘gap’ information, nothing will happen if you won’t doomscroll 5 hours on tik-tok or any social media, nor you’re supposed to know what happens at every corner of the planet at once. 

It’s recommended,when you get home after school,or work, instead of going to scroll on some social media. It’s better to sit somewhere comfortable,preferably somewhere silent,close your eyes,and take deep breaths for at least 15 minutes. This way,you give yourself a short break time,to regenerate your energy after long cognitive functions. Sometimes,the tranquility of the silent room and the darkness from closed eyes,it’s just enough to give yourself a decent rest. 

Going in contact with nature can also be helpful,it’s better sometimes just to take long walks in parks,to digest all the information during the day.

Ever heard of a saying:”Movement is life”? After all, this simple proverb that everyone has heard in their life, it may sound trite and overused,but it’s actually a good solution to many problems! Try to do at least 3 simple sets of exercises,everyday. Scientifically, sport is considered as the recharge for our body,it can improve your mood,filling you up with euphoria,energy,dopamine and reduce stress. Hence,it can significantly help with procrastination! As it feeds on anxiety and the feeling of guilt when you’re doing nothing. So if you’ll start doing these things,you can get yourself busy,so there’s no room left for guilt and anxiety. Though,it’s also recommended not to overwork yourself to the edge. Otherwise you can burn out,falling into an even deeper loop.

Conclusion—the key to weakening procrastination is finding a healthy way to rest,and a right balance between your tasks and healthy rest. The balance between this both is the key for cure. If you’ll ever feel doubtful about yourself and overthink the way you work,remember:

«A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.» 

 Lao Zi.

Arian Budeanu 1-DL (Fedir Vishnya)