Is Procrastination A Mental Illness?

 

Is Procrastination A Mental  Illness?

Written By Leon Ho

If you procrastinate, you might feel powerless.

Even though you tell yourself a million times "I should get started", you don't – until the very last moment.

Or you even postpone things indefinitely.

In any case, you feel that procrastination has a grip on you, a grip so strong you can't loosen it.

In the worst case, you might feel it has completely taken over your life.

Just like mental illness does.

But here's the thing: if you feel that way, you're not alone.

My good friend from high school once told me about his struggle with procrastination.

The challenges he had were brutal and intense.

He was procrastinating at his job until the list of tasks became so big and the level of stress so high that he couldn't work at all.

What started as a productivity issue quickly transformed into an emergency.

I wasn't able to help him with procrastination because all of this had happened before Lifehack.

But I remember the question I've asked him.

"Were you happy at that job before you started procrastinating?"

And his answer didn't surprise me.

You see, he worked as a software developer even though graphic design and video editing were his true passions.

Like many of us, he was persuaded by his parents to take a more lucrative career path.

And he ended up in software development.

Even worse, he worked in an early-phase startup, meaning that job roles weren't fixed so he had to attend sales meetings quite often.

Considering all that, it's no wonder he procrastinated.

He was repulsed by the job.

Procrastination was a symptom of that.

His survival instincts were forcing him to avoid the work and the pain associated with it.

That was the conclusion of our talk.

So I didn't help him immediately stop procrastinating.

Instead, I helped him understand why he procrastinates and encouraged him to explore other options.

Several months later, he got a paid apprenticeship in a design studio.

His issues disappeared practically overnight.

He was suddenly finishing the work way ahead of deadlines and even taking additional workload so he can learn faster.

Now Chibuzor, I know that procrastination can have various causes.

But I urge you to think about this.

If the job you're currently doing isn't aligned with your values and talents, maybe that's the reason why you procrastinate.

Why you scroll down the social media feeds instead of doing the work.

If my friend came to me today with the same problem, I would give him this book.