Did you ever start thinking about all the things you have to do – all the things on your list that didn’t get done last week. And all the things people are expecting you to do this week. Then all the things that you want to do to try to push just a little bit further toward whatever goal you want to achieve? And you don’t feel like doing any of it? Don’t wait. Start now. Procrastinating will only increase your stress. Life is stressful enough as it is without adding additional stress to it.
I was sitting at my desk the other day, looking at my to-do list. It never gets any shorter. And not doing any of the things listed on it. I was feeling more and more anxious, and more and more stressed. Why? By not starting a task?
So, instead of actually starting a task, I did a little research. It turns out that procrastinating really does increase your stress. I was not imagining it. A review in the National Institutes for Health indicates that procrastination is a low-resource means of avoiding aversive and difficult task-related emotions.
Yes. Instead of beginning a task on my list, I procrastinated and added more stress by researching procrastination and stress.
We know that stress is bad for our health. It tends to compromise our immunity. And as we age our immunity decreases. Not what we need.
Here’s the deal. If you’ve got something on your list that you think is too challenging, you’ll try to avoid doing it. Or if you said something to your best friend that you probably shouldn’t have, you’re going to put off calling them to apologize. On the other hand, if your dog threw up, you’re going to grab the paper towels and cleaner and do something about it. There are few immediate adverse consequences to not jumping into a challenging task. Your friend will still accept your apology a few days later. After you’ve worked yourself up about it and finally called.
So even though you know you might pay some consequences later, it’s worth it to you to put off taking the action. That action is hard. It might be worthwhile in the end (making progress on a challenging task or strengthening your friendship), but right now you’ll procrastinate. You know that the carpet will stain, though, or someone will walk through the mess, so you clean it up right away. That’s easy. And, as it turned out, my research into procrastination actually did tick an item off of my list: this article!
Procrastinating increases stress. So get to it. Start small. Take one little action. Chances are, you’ll be motivated to do more.
