Procrastination: 5 Types

Proverbs aren’t always right, but there are some that really hit the spot. It is certainly difficult to find someone who has never heard the phrase ” don’t put off what you can do today ” until tomorrow. So we won’t leave the discovery of the 5 types of procrastination for tomorrow.

Depending on the perspective, different classifications can be found in reference to procrastination that differ from each other. We will focus on the one made by the psychologist Neil Fiore, author of books like “Awaken your strongest self” and founder of the Fiore Productivity company.

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 much-frowned-upon procrastination can be very positive when an incubation of the idea occurs in the waiting time between the purpose and the action. Let’s go on to discover five different types of procrastination.

Perfectionist procrastinator

In this case, according to Neil Fiore, the person is a perfectionist at best for fear of being judged or embarrassed. They are so thorough with each sentence that they spend too much time on details; in this way many of their projects run out. In the end, instead of avoiding mistakes, they commit too many, feeling even more afraid of the judgment of others. Basically, they achieve just what they want to avoid, being embarrassed if something isn’t right.

Procrastinator impostor

This is one of the types of procrastination that occurs in environments with hard-to-please profiles. Thus the person, for fear of being labeled as incompetent, hires up huge amounts of work to reaffirm his responsibility, so that this attribute remains attached to his image. However, this attitude can lead to learned helplessness, a feeling closely linked to depressive states.

Fearful procrastinator

This profile constantly postpones his duties or obligations because he has  a job that is unpleasant or boring to him. This tendency, in turn, is closely linked to the lack of motivation in occupations that become repetitive or in which you do not receive any feedback on the quality of your work.

Overwhelmed procrastinator

In this case the individual has so much to do and so many tasks in mind that he doesn’t know where to start. Eventually, it is common for him to suffer from a mental block that prevents him from even starting work.

In this case of procrastination, being overwhelmed with tasks can be a personal decision or even a decision of a person in a higher level position, such as a boss, for example. In any case, this excess is very negative, as it represents an obstacle to any progress.

Lucky procrastinator

Can you be a procrastinator and a lucky one? According to Neil Fiore, yes. In this case, the profile is identified with people who believe they work well only when they are under pressure. They postpone their business until it’s late and find themselves on the edge.

Interestingly, individuals with this profile, provided they perform well, tend to repeat this attitude. They keep putting off their tasks until they find themselves between a rock and a hard place. Then they take advantage of the adrenaline rush generated by the peak of anxiety in being on the ropes and at this point they are activated. Of course, on many occasions they get the job done on time, but on many others they don’t.

Can we end procrastination?

This behavior, as we have seen, can have dire consequences. In many cases the person ends up experiencing constant peaks of stress that endanger his emotional balance and affect, involuntarily and indirectly, his context. According to Fiore, he could suffer from an imbalance that will affect all aspects of life, not just the professional one.

Professionals, therefore, recommend wise time management to accomplish a task, so that anxiety doesn’t end up taking over. In this regard, some of the recommendations are:

• Carry out a study of the specific task to be performed. If it has a very high volume, we can try to delegate or simplify.

• Spend some time on organizing or planning, including the resources we will need and how and when we will get them in case we don’t already have them.

• Take care of the motivational part and make commitments that we will then be able to meet. In this sense, if the reasons for what we do are not clear, it might be better to let it go.

• Breaking the work into smaller stages or entities  is another good idea.

• You need to set deadlines to avoid falling into an endless procrastination loop. If by a certain date we have not achieved the desired objectives, we will have a warning to help us re-evaluate the situation.

Now that you know the different types of procrastination, you will be able to avoid them. If you identify with any of them, we hope that Fiore’s advice can help you overcome them. On the other hand, we cannot finish this article without making the point we made earlier: not all types of procrastination are bad or compromise productivity.

Often the people around us may feel that we are procrastinating when in fact we are considering other options or trying to broaden our point of view.