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The 3 explanations behind procrastination

2023-01-09T12:25:15.309Z


Behind the tendency to put everything off until tomorrow are psychic blockages and not laziness, recalls a British psychologist, in a video published on January 8 on Instagram.


The

to-do list

of the day is long but a little voice in our head prevents us from starting anything, and now we find ourselves (again) putting everything off until the next day.

This procrastination is not related to laziness, says Dr. Julie Smith, British clinical psychologist and author of the book

Why has nobody told me this before

(

Why nobody told me before

, in French).

In a short video published on January 8 on her Instagram account, the specialist delivers three cognitive mechanisms that push us to procrastinate, and gives her advice on how to overcome them.

In video, how to regain self-confidence

Fear of failing, emotional flight

According to Julie Smith, the primary explanation for procrastination is a strong will to succeed outweighed by an even more powerful fear of failure.

The whole thing prevents us from even starting a task.

The second explanation is linked to the belief that the performance that results from the task at hand says something about us, defines the person we are.

“Postponing the task then becomes an act of self-protection,” she says.

Finally, behind procrastination often hides the desire to run away from the emotions that accompany taking action, such as stress, boredom, and anxiety.

Tips to stop procrastinating

In the caption of her publication, Julie Smith offers five keys to her subscribers (more than a million on the social network) to put an end to procrastination.

Three of them require a work of introspection, by first transforming self-criticism into a form of curiosity.

"Rather than blame yourself, you have to ask yourself why this is happening and be prepared to be honest with yourself," writes the psychologist.

Questioning one's relationship to failure is also essential, because perfectionism and the fear of failing could block any progress and risk-taking, she points out.

Finally, we must ask ourselves if this or that objective is really ours, or if it is someone else's responsibility.

“Staying connected to why you're doing this job can help overcome lack of desire,” she explains.

Read alsoThese signals sent by the brain that show you need to get out of your comfort zone

As far as putting it into practice is concerned, and to turn off the little internal voice that pushes us to put everything off until later, the specialist recommends starting your day with the mission that seems the most unpleasant to you.

Finally, if a task overwhelms us, it is better to break it down into small steps, in order to make it less intimidating, concludes the psychologist.

Source: lefigaro

All life articles on 2023-01-09

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