Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsHow Anxiety Causes ProcrastinationDealing With PerfectionismCoping When You’re OverwhelmedOvercoming Fear

Table of ContentsView All

View All

Table of Contents

How Anxiety Causes Procrastination

Dealing With Perfectionism

Coping When You’re Overwhelmed

Overcoming Fear

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Procrastination can be a common problem for many people with anxiety-related conditions, includingpanic disorder. There are numeroussymptomsof panic disorder and common anxious personality traits that can contribute to procrastination.

This article explores some obstacles that may hinder your progress toward your goals and responsibilities. Read through them and consider if you are allowing these potential roadblocks to lead to procrastination.

The Psychology Behind Procrastination

Anxiety can lead to procrastination for a number of different reasons. Some of these include:

Perfectionism

Having ananxiety disorderputs one at risk ofperfectionism.While it might seem like this perfectionism is a positive attribute, having such high standards can increase the risk of procrastination. Perfectionism can cause you to:

Perfectionism can also lead to procrastination, as you need everything to line up perfectly before you feel ready to work on a particular task. You may always be waiting for the “perfect time” to start working on a goal.

Worry

Worryingcan also prevent you from accomplishing your tasks and goals.Sometimes, our worry about the end results will keep us from completing certain responsibilities.

For example, you may put off going through your bills out of worry about whether you will be able to pay them. Perhaps you have been putting off certain self-care activities or talking to your doctor about panic disorder because you are nervous about the outcome of these tasks.

Strategies to Overcome Worry

Feeling Overwhelmed

What It Means to Be Paralyzed With Anxiety

Fear and Low Self-Esteem

Self-doubt and fear can make you feel you will fail to reach your goals. For example, you mayjump to conclusions, believing you lack the skills needed to accomplish your goals. You may avoid getting started to avoid the disappointment you would feel if you did fail to meet your goals.

How to Deal With the Fear of Failure

Fortunately, there are strategies you can use to help deal with worry and perfectionism that contribute to procrastination:

What You Can Do to Cope With Anxiety

At times when you feel overwhelmed and uncertain of where to begin, just start somewhere.

Pick out one small thing that you can complete to accomplish your larger goal. It may be helpful to list the many small steps that will lead to accomplishing a greater task.

In order to get started:

Goals often become much more manageable when you break them down into smaller parts.

How to Calm Down Quickly: 9 Things You Can Do Right Now

To overcome your personal fears or negativeself-concepts, begin to assess whether you really lack the skill set needed to complete a specific task.

To get started, ask yourself these questions:

For example, let’s say you want to do morephysical exercise, but fear and self-consciousness keep you from going to the gym. Is it possible to ask a trusted friend to go with you? Does the gym offer a guide or trainer to help you become more efficient in using the equipment? Or maybe you would be more comfortable exercising at home.

When fear and low self-esteem are leading to procrastination, try to push past negative thinking and find creative ways to accomplish your goals.

The Four Fear Responses: Fight, Flight, Freeze, and Fawn

Press Play for Advice On Dealing With Procrastination

Final Thoughts

The problem with using procrastination to avoid the things that are making you anxious is that it makes anxiety worse in the long run. Instead of waiting until the last minute and adding even more stress to your life, finding ways to deal with anxiety and overcome the urge to procrastinate is a more effective response.

Breaking tasks into smaller steps and taking them one step at a time can be effective solutions, but experiment to find what works for you. Many people find that setting a time and just getting started can lead to the progress they need to lessen anxiety and get things done.

Best Online Therapy for Anxiety in 2024

3 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Kelly J.Your best life: Perfectionism–the bane of happiness.Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2015;473(10):3108-3111. doi:10.1007%2Fs11999-015-4279-9De Palo V, Monacis L, Miceli S, Sinatra M, Di Nuovo S.Decisional procrastination in academic settings: The role of metacognitions and learning strategies.Front Psychol. 2017;8:973. doi:10.3389%2Ffpsyg.2017.00973Henriksen I, Ranøyen I, Indredavik M, Stenseng F.The role of self-esteem in the development of psychiatric problems: A three-year prospective study in a clinical sample of adolescents.Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health. 2017;11:68. doi:10.1186%2Fs13034-017-0207-y

3 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Kelly J.Your best life: Perfectionism–the bane of happiness.Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2015;473(10):3108-3111. doi:10.1007%2Fs11999-015-4279-9De Palo V, Monacis L, Miceli S, Sinatra M, Di Nuovo S.Decisional procrastination in academic settings: The role of metacognitions and learning strategies.Front Psychol. 2017;8:973. doi:10.3389%2Ffpsyg.2017.00973Henriksen I, Ranøyen I, Indredavik M, Stenseng F.The role of self-esteem in the development of psychiatric problems: A three-year prospective study in a clinical sample of adolescents.Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health. 2017;11:68. doi:10.1186%2Fs13034-017-0207-y

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Kelly J.Your best life: Perfectionism–the bane of happiness.Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2015;473(10):3108-3111. doi:10.1007%2Fs11999-015-4279-9De Palo V, Monacis L, Miceli S, Sinatra M, Di Nuovo S.Decisional procrastination in academic settings: The role of metacognitions and learning strategies.Front Psychol. 2017;8:973. doi:10.3389%2Ffpsyg.2017.00973Henriksen I, Ranøyen I, Indredavik M, Stenseng F.The role of self-esteem in the development of psychiatric problems: A three-year prospective study in a clinical sample of adolescents.Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health. 2017;11:68. doi:10.1186%2Fs13034-017-0207-y

Kelly J.Your best life: Perfectionism–the bane of happiness.Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2015;473(10):3108-3111. doi:10.1007%2Fs11999-015-4279-9

De Palo V, Monacis L, Miceli S, Sinatra M, Di Nuovo S.Decisional procrastination in academic settings: The role of metacognitions and learning strategies.Front Psychol. 2017;8:973. doi:10.3389%2Ffpsyg.2017.00973

Henriksen I, Ranøyen I, Indredavik M, Stenseng F.The role of self-esteem in the development of psychiatric problems: A three-year prospective study in a clinical sample of adolescents.Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health. 2017;11:68. doi:10.1186%2Fs13034-017-0207-y

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