Why do we put off important tasks and decisions?

Putting off a task, commitment, or important decision isn't always a sign of disorganization or lack of motivation. Sometimes there are more pressing matters, other times there's not enough time for everything, and procrastination is inevitable—it's part of normal life and work management.

But there's another type of procrastination: the kind that occurs when a task is a priority, we have time to do it, but we voluntarily choose to postpone it, often focusing on secondary tasks or distractions. This behavior is called procrastination. It could be completing a work report with a deadline already approaching, studying for an exam due in two days, responding to an important email that's been sitting in our inbox for a week, or making a decision about something that's been bothering us.

Some studies show that procrastination is very common. For example, among students, a study conducted in Sweden found that 71% of participants considered it a problem, and of these, almost 30% had considered seeking help to deal with it. Among the general population, it is estimated that around 20% are chronic procrastinators , that is, people who systematically postpone important tasks, despite the negative consequences.

Procrastinators often seek out anti-procrastination tools focused on planning and organization, combating distractions, managing priorities, and productivity strategies. These usually don't work, for a simple reason: "procrastination isn't a time management problem, but rather an emotional regulation problem," argues Fuschia Sirois , a health and social psychologist, professor, and researcher at Durham University in the United Kingdom. She has published several articles on the topic, as well as two books: one technical , the other for the general public .

The work of the researcher—and other colleagues—argues that procrastination isn't laziness, since what we're truly postponing isn't the task itself, but rather the emotions associated with it. "Procrastination is a form of avoidance, used to deal with unpleasant emotions. When we postpone the task that's causing us negative and uncomfortable emotions, we feel immediate relief. We manage to regulate our emotions, but very briefly and ineffectively," she explains.

This often happens when “thinking about what we have to do makes us nervous, stressed, frustrated, afraid of failing—or simply expecting it to be boring.”