The 5 types of procrastination

The Spanish proverb is not always right in all the sayings it gives us, but we can find some very accurate ones. In fact, it is rare to find someone who has not heard the saying “Do not leave for tomorrow what you can do today”. So we will not leave until tomorrow the knowledge of the 5 types of procrastination.

Depending on where you look, you can find different classifications of procrastination that differ from each other. We are going to focus on what psychologist Neil Fiore, author of books like Awaken your powerful self and founder of the company Fiore Productivity.

What is procrastination?

First of all, we must take into account what procrastination consists of, since many confuse it with laziness or laziness. According to the coach and journalist Aldara Martitegui, it is about « postpone until the last minute some task that we have pending and replace it with another or others that we find gratifying».

In fact, A procrastinator can have a full agenda of activities., but most of them are just there to avoid the really important tasks. Therefore, as Matt Brauning points out in 3 Ways To Cure Procrastination, “staying busy all the time does not equate to productivity”.

That being said, let’s look at what types of procrastination typically develop.

The 5 Types of Procrastination

Knowing the types of procrastination that exist is important because not all of them have the same consequences.. In fact, contrary to what it may seem, the so frowned upon procrastination can be very positive when an incubation of the idea occurs in the waiting time between purpose and action. If you like, let’s go with those five guys.

1. Perfectionist procrastinator

In this case, according to Neil Fiore, the person is a perfectionist to the maximum for fear of being judged or shamed. They are so exhaustive with each phase that they consume too much time in the details, so that many of their projects are completed in a rush.

So, in the end, Instead of avoiding mistakes, they make them in excess, causing more fear of other people’s judgment. That is, they achieve exactly what they want to avoid, being embarrassed if something is not right.

2. Impostor procrastinator

This is one of the types of procrastination that occurs in environments with profiles that are difficult to please. In this case, postpones or avoids his tasks because he believes that he will not be up to the task or because it will not provide good results, so that this attribute is attached to your image. However, this attitude can end in learned helplessness, a feeling closely linked to depressive states.

3. Unmotivated procrastinator

This profile constantly postpones its tasks or obligations due to the fact that You are faced with a job that you find unpleasant or boring. This tendency, for its part, is closely related to the lack of motivation in jobs that become repetitive or in which the worker does not receive any type of feedback about the quality of their work.

4. Overwhelmed procrastinator

Another profile of the procrastinator. In this case, the individual has so much to do, and so many tasks in mind that don’t know where to start with them. Finally, it is common for it to lead to a mental block that prevents you from even starting the work.

In this case of procrastination, being overwhelmed by the amount of tasks can be a personal decision, or also by a person in a higher position, such as a boss, for example. Be that as it may, this excess is very negative, since represents an obstacle to any progress.

5. Lucky procrastinator

Can you be a procrastinator and lucky? According to Neil Fiore, yes. In this case, the profile is identified with people who believe they only work well when under pressure. So they postpone their tasks until it gets late and they are at the limit of doing what they have or intend to do on time.

Curiously, Individuals with this profile usually achieve good results, so they tend to repeat the attitude. That is, they postpone their tasks until they are between a rock and a hard place. Then, take advantage of the adrenaline rush that gives them the peak of anxiety of finding themselves against the ropes and they get going. Of course, on many occasions they arrive, but on many other occasions they do not.

If we want, can we end procrastination?

This type of behavior, as we have observed, can have dire consequences. In many cases, the person ends up living in constant peaks of stress that endanger their emotional balance and harm, unintentionally and indirectly, their environment.

Thus, according to Fiore, could lead to an imbalance that will affect all facets of lifebeyond the professional.

For this reason, professionals recommend wise time management to complete a task, so that anxiety does not end up taking control. In this sense, some of the recommendations would be:

Carry out a study of the specific task to be carried out. If it is very high in volume, we can try to delegate or simplify. It is also important spend some time organizing or planning, which includes the resources that we are going to need and how and when we are going to obtain them if we do not have them. It is also necessary to take care of the motivational section and assume commitments that we will later be able to fulfill. In this sense, if we are not clear about the reasons for what we do, perhaps it is better to leave it. Go step by step, divide work into smaller steps or entities, is also a good idea.Finally, to avoid falling into a loop of infinite procrastination it is necessary to set deadlines. Thus, if upon reaching a certain date we are not in the position we would like, we will have a wake-up call to help us reevaluate the situation. However, let us ensure that these deadlines are not too far away in time because, according to a study carried out at the University of Otago, long deadlines eliminate the urgency to act.

Guidelines to overcome procrastination depending on the type

For its part, there are some techniques that we can apply to overcome procrastination, depending on the case. These are:

Perfectionists: For perfectionist procrastinators, it is ideal to set realistic goals before starting to develop the project, establishing delivery times for each one. And if the project is too large, the ideal would be to divide it into parts and establish deadlines for each one. For its part, it is important to modify the internal dialogue, in which the achievements of the work are valued (no matter how small they may be) without focusing on its defects. In this case, it is important to assume that it is normal to make mistakes and that we must allow ourselves to make mistakes to continue growing.Unmotivated: in this case the person must assume responsibility and be consistent. If you committed to certain tasks or tasks, the ideal is to fulfill them. And if you are not satisfied with them, then it is time to look for other functions or challenges that better align with her desires and help her be more motivated.Impostor: This type of procrastinator must be aware that no matter how much fear or discomfort making a decision causes him, he must start acting. Well, not taking the first step is in itself a behavior that will generate negative effects. So the important thing is to put aside the apocalyptic vision and start working on self-confidence. To do this, you can start setting small milestones that are less overwhelming and increase them after each achievement.Overwhelmed: in this case the person must learn to set appropriate limits. To do this, it is essential to know what his own capacity is and to what extent he can perform tasks without overloading himself.Lucky: This type can reflect on the pros and cons of leaving a task until the last minute, instead of doing it progressively. Let us remember that, although it has been successful in most of them, this working method entails a lot of stress, possible delays, more possibility of errors, etc. Plus, you can end up burning out prematurely.

To take into account

Now that you know the existing types of procrastination, you are in a position to avoid them. If you identify with any of them, we hope that Fiore’s professional recommendations can help you overcome it. On the other hand, we cannot finish this article without highlighting the note we made before, not all procrastination is bad or compromises productivity.

What’s more, many times People around us may feel like we are procrastinating when in reality what we are doing is considering other options. or try to broaden our point of view. In this sense, we share with you this interesting conference (you can activate the subtitles in Spanish).

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