Why Do I Keep Putting Things Off Even When They’re Important?
Updated: Sep 9
You know it needs doing.
It might be an important email, a difficult phone call, a piece of work with a deadline, sorting out your finances, making an appointment or finally dealing with something you've been avoiding for weeks.
You genuinely intend to do it.
Yet somehow you find yourself doing almost anything else.
You tidy a drawer. Check your phone. Make another cup of tea. Decide you'll feel more motivated tomorrow.
Then the longer you leave it, the worse you feel.
If this sounds familiar, you may have wondered why you keep putting things off even when you know they're important.
I'm Sharon Shinwell, a UK clinical hypnotherapist, counsellor and psychotherapist with more than 25 years' professional experience. Procrastination and lack of motivation are problems I've encountered many times in my work.
And one of the most useful things to understand is this:
Procrastination isn't always a time-management problem. Very often, it's an avoidance problem.
Why Do I Procrastinate When I Know Something Is Important?
It seems completely illogical.
If something matters, surely that should make you more likely to get on with it.
But importance can sometimes create pressure.
The task may bring up uncomfortable feelings such as:
anxiety about getting it wrong
fear of failure
uncertainty about where to begin
boredom
resentment
feeling overwhelmed
fear of being judged
pressure to do something perfectly.
Putting the task off provides temporary relief from those feelings.
That's why procrastination can be so persistent.
For a little while, avoiding the task makes you feel better.
Unfortunately, the task hasn't disappeared. It is simply waiting for you — often accompanied by an approaching deadline and a growing sense of guilt.
Procrastination Doesn't Necessarily Mean You're Lazy
People who procrastinate can be extremely hard-working.
You might spend hours doing other jobs while avoiding the one thing you really need to do.
That's an important distinction.
Laziness suggests you simply don't want to make an effort.
Procrastination can happen when you very much want to do something but find yourself repeatedly avoiding starting it.
In fact, the more important something feels, the more emotional weight it can sometimes carry.
A routine email may take two minutes.
An email where you're worried about someone's response can remain unanswered for two weeks.
The practical task is almost identical.
The feelings attached to it are not.
Why Fear of Failure Can Make You Put Things Off
Imagine you've been asked to prepare an important presentation.
You want it to go well.
But somewhere underneath that desire is another thought:
What if I'm not good enough?
Starting the presentation means confronting that possibility.
As long as you haven't properly begun, you don't yet have to find out.
So you research a little more. Rearrange your notes. Tell yourself you'll start properly after lunch.
Eventually, the deadline becomes so close that you have no choice.
If the presentation doesn't go particularly well, you can then tell yourself:
I didn't have enough time.
That can feel less threatening than:
I tried my hardest and perhaps I wasn't good enough.
This is one reason fear of failure and procrastination can become closely connected.
Perfectionism Can Look Like Procrastination
Perfectionism sounds as though it should make somebody highly productive.
Sometimes it does the opposite.
If the standard in your head is:
I must do this extremely well,
starting becomes more intimidating.
You may spend too long preparing.
You might keep changing things that were already good enough.
Or you may not start at all because you don't yet feel ready to produce something that meets your own expectations.
A useful question is:
Does this really need to be perfect, or does it simply need to be done well enough?
For many everyday tasks, “good enough and finished” is considerably more useful than “perfect but never started”.
Sometimes the Problem Is That You Don't Know Where to Begin
“Sort out the house.”
“Get fit.”
“Deal with my finances.”
“Find a new job.”
“Write the report.”
These sound like tasks, but they're actually collections of tasks.
When something feels enormous or vague, your mind has no obvious starting point.
So make the first step almost ridiculously specific.
Instead of:
I need to sort out my finances.
try:
I'll find my latest bank statement.
Instead of:
I need to get fit.
try:
I'll put my trainers on and walk for ten minutes.
Instead of:
I need to write the report.
try:
I'll open the document and write the heading.
You're not trying to finish.
You're trying to begin.
Why Waiting for Motivation Often Doesn't Work
This is one of the most common traps:
I'll do it when I feel more motivated.
The problem is that motivation doesn't always arrive before action.
Quite often, action creates motivation.
Think about a job you've been dreading. Once you finally start, you may discover it isn't nearly as unpleasant as you imagined.
Twenty minutes later you're wondering why you avoided it for three days.
Starting removes some of the uncertainty.
You are no longer thinking about doing the task.
You're doing it.
That psychological shift can be surprisingly powerful.
The Five-Minute Approach
If you're struggling to begin, make a deal with yourself:
I'll do it for five minutes.
Not an hour.
Not until it's finished.
Five minutes.
If you genuinely want to stop after five minutes, you can.
This reduces the size of the commitment.
And once you've crossed the biggest barrier — beginning — you may find continuing is much easier.
If you don't continue, you've still done five minutes more than you would have done by avoiding it altogether.
Notice What You Do Instead
Your distractions can tell you something.
When you avoid an important task, where do you go?
Your phone?
Social media?
Food?
Television?
Housework?
Online shopping?
Less important work?
These alternatives usually offer something the avoided task doesn't: an immediate reward or relief.
You don't need to ban every distraction from your life.
But it helps to recognise when you're using one to escape an uncomfortable feeling.
The next time you catch yourself doing it, ask:
What am I avoiding right now?
The answer can be more useful than simply accusing yourself of procrastinating again.
Remove Friction From Starting
Sometimes surprisingly small obstacles keep procrastination going.
If you want to exercise in the morning, put your clothes out the night before.
If you need to make a difficult call, put the telephone number in front of you.
If you're writing something, open the document before you take a break.
If your phone constantly distracts you, put it somewhere you can't reach without getting up.
Make the behaviour you want easier to begin and the distraction slightly less convenient.
You don't always need enormous willpower.
Sometimes you simply need fewer opportunities to escape.
Stop Turning Procrastination Into a Judgement About Yourself
One of the least helpful responses to procrastination is:
I'm hopeless.
I'm so lazy.
Why can't I ever get anything done?
Now you have two problems.
You still have the original task, but you've also created a negative judgement about yourself.
Instead, become curious.
Ask:
Why am I avoiding this particular task?
Is it boring?
Am I frightened I'll get it wrong?
Does it feel too big?
Am I unsure what I'm supposed to do?
Am I genuinely exhausted?
Do I resent having to do it?
Different causes need different solutions.
A vague feeling of “I'm a procrastinator” tells you very little.
What If I'm Genuinely Tired or Overwhelmed?
Not every delay is procrastination.
Sometimes you need rest.
If you've been working constantly, sleeping badly, dealing with stress or trying to manage too many responsibilities, difficulty getting started may be a sign that you're depleted.
There is a difference between:
I'm avoiding this because it makes me uncomfortable
and
I genuinely don't have the mental or physical capacity for this today.
Learning to recognise the difference matters.
If exhaustion, low mood, anxiety or difficulty functioning is persistent or significantly affecting your life, speak to your GP or an appropriate healthcare professional rather than assuming you simply need more motivation.
How to Break the Procrastination Cycle
If there's something you've been putting off, try this:
2. Identify the feeling.What happens when you think about starting it — anxiety, boredom, confusion, resentment, fear?
3. Make the first step smaller.What could you do in five minutes?
4. Remove one distraction.Make avoiding the task slightly less convenient.
5. Begin before you feel ready.Don't make motivation a requirement.
6. Notice what happens.Was starting as difficult as you predicted?
Repeated experiences of beginning and coping can gradually weaken the old pattern of avoidance.
Can Self-Hypnosis Help With Procrastination?
Self-hypnosis isn't going to complete your tax return, write your report or make the difficult phone call for you.
You still need to take action.
Where it may help is with some of the thinking and emotional patterns that make starting difficult.
During hypnosis, you're physically relaxed while focusing your attention on helpful suggestions and mental rehearsal.
For somebody who procrastinates, that might involve imagining yourself:
beginning a task without endlessly thinking about it
remaining calmer when something feels difficult
accepting that something doesn't have to be perfect
staying focused despite distractions
experiencing the satisfaction of completing something
seeing yourself as someone who takes action rather than continually postponing it.
Mental rehearsal doesn't replace action.
The aim is to make the desired response feel more familiar so that taking that first real-world step becomes easier.
When Procrastination May Be Part of Something Else
Occasional procrastination is extremely common.
But persistent difficulty starting or completing tasks can sometimes occur alongside conditions or difficulties such as depression, anxiety, ADHD or significant stress.
If procrastination is severely affecting your work, education, finances, relationships or ability to manage everyday life, it's worth discussing it with your GP or an appropriate professional.
There may be more going on than simply needing to become better organised.
Start Before You Feel Ready
If there's one idea I'd like you to take from this article, it's this:
You don't have to feel motivated before you begin.
You can feel uncertain and begin.
You can feel bored and begin.
You can worry that you won't do something perfectly and begin anyway.
And every time you do, you're giving yourself new evidence:
I don't have to wait until I feel different before I take action.
That is how a different pattern begins.
How I Can Help
I'm Sharon Shinwell, a UK clinical hypnotherapist, counsellor, psychotherapist and clinical supervisor with more than 25 years' professional experience.
I've worked with many people who have struggled with motivation, self-doubt, overthinking and patterns of avoidance.
I created my Improve Motivation & Stop Procrastinating Self-Hypnosis MP3 to provide additional support for people who find themselves repeatedly putting things off. The recording uses guided relaxation, suggestion and mental rehearsal to help encourage greater focus, motivation and willingness to take action.
You can use it privately at home alongside the practical strategies I've discussed above.
And if you've never experienced self-hypnosis before, you can also listen to my free 10-minute self-hypnosis recording to find out what it feels like before deciding whether it's for you.
