Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Techniques to Reduce Procrastination
In This Guide
What is Procrastination?
Most people procrastinate from time to time. However, some people struggle with severe procrastination, causing undue anxiety, reduced motivation, and even depression. Procrastination can be especially problematic when putting off important tasks, such as paying the bills or applying for jobs. There are a number of causes of excessive procrastination. For example, some people have skills deficits in planning. They have never learned to plan and complete complex tasks, resulting in feeling overwhelmed by large projects. When we're overwhelmed by something, we usually do everything we can to avoid it. The more we avoid a task, the more anxiety we feel about it, causing even more feelings of being overwhelmed and, thus, more procrastination. There are often other factors causing us to procrastinate, such as anxiety, self-esteem, attention problems (ADHD), as well as other skills deficits.
CBT for Procrastination
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for Procrastination is a short-term, highly effective treatment for eliminating procrastination and getting on track to achieve your goals. CBT is a cutting-edge form of therapy that is clinically proven and backed by hundreds of scientific studies. Unlike traditional talk therapy, Cognitive behavioral therapy is present-focused and involves teaching procrastinators new skills they can use to solve their problems and cure procrastination.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) Exercises for Procrastination
It's important to note that CBT treatment for procrastination is always tailored to the individual's needs but typically includes some combination of the following interventions:
Functional Analysis for the Causes of Procrastination
Functional analysis is a systematic CBT approach that is used to identify the underlying causes of procrastination and other negative patterns of behavior. The idea is that to break out of an unhelpful cycle, we need to first understand what is keeping us stuck in that cycle.
The causes of procrastination are important to understand because there are many factors that can lead to procrastination. For example, some people procrastinate to temporarily avoid feelings of fear, sadness, or boredom. Procrastination can also stem from a wide range of mental health issues, including anxiety and depression, ADHD, fear of failure, low self-esteem, and perfectionism.
Conducting a functional analysis with a mental health professional can shed light on factors maintaining procrastination for you. This is the first step towards creating a personalized treatment plan that includes the most effective methods of overcoming procrastination.
Organization and Planning Training
People who procrastinate often have deficits in managing multiple tasks. If you feel unable to juggle several tasks at once, you're more likely to feel overwhelmed and put them off, resulting in giving up on goals, increased anxiety, and a sense of underachievement. Difficulty prioritizing tasks is often at the root of these issues, making it even harder to move forward effectively.
We help clients overcome these barriers by teaching effective planning and organizational strategies, boosting confidence, and fostering a path toward feeling more productive and fulfilled.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Reducing Distractability
Distractibility can create significant challenges at work or school. Many of our clients share that they struggle to complete tasks because less important activities often take priority. For instance, someone might sit down to work on a project but end up browsing the Internet or checking social media instead. One student in our program shared that whenever he tried to work on his thesis, he would suddenly feel the urge to clean different areas of his apartment, even if they were already tidy enough.
Our approach helps clients build the skills needed to stay focused, manage distractions, and maintain productivity, leading to greater success in their personal and professional lives.
Cognitive Restructuring to Transform Thought Patterns
Unhelpful thoughts often maintain or worsen procrastination. When it comes to working on a task, it is not uncommon for those who struggle with procrastination to have thoughts like, "I'm never going to finish this" or "I don't think I'm good enough to even do this." Thoughts like these can intensify negative emotions (e.g., stress and anxiety) that you then try to manage by putting off the task, which then increases unhelpful emotions and thoughts in the long run.
Cognitive Restructuring is a set of CBT techniques that aim to help you identify negative thoughts, recognize thought distortions, challenge your thinking, and arrive at more balanced and realistic thoughts. By working with a therapist, you can learn how to analyze your thoughts and find new ways of thinking to help you break out of the cycle of procrastination.
Behavioral Activation to Enhance Productivity
Behavioral activation is a CBT technique that consists of doing more activities that bring you a sense of accomplishment and enjoyment to build your confidence and boost your mood. This is key when it comes to managing procrastination. Procrastination is rooted in avoidance, and behavioral activation involves counteracting urges to avoid. Actively approaching tasks and activities than align with your goals and values can help you break cycles of inactivity, boost motivation, and increase overall productivity and well-being.
Therapy can help you implement behavioral activation as a tool to reduce procrastination. The first step is to identify activities that would bring you a sense of accomplishment or joy. CBT encourages planning or scheduling more of these activities so you can gradually increase your engagement in these activities in your day-to-day life. By helping you approach tasks you tend to put off, behavioral activation can decrease procrastination while boosting your mood and sense of mastery.
Mindfulness Training to Target Ineffective Urges
Mindfulness is an attention technique that involves bringing our attention to the present moment with curiosity and compassion. The breath is often used as a central point of focus in mindfulness and can help us remain anchored to the present moment, as we observe the currents of our thoughts and feelings without judgment.
Mindfulness training is beneficial for overall mental and physical health. It has been shown to reduce negative emotions and increase focus, both of which are important in overcoming procrastination. Increasing your awareness of the thoughts and feelings that might lead you to procrastinate also allows you - not your emotions or thoughts - to decide how you respond.
Activity Scheduling to Prevent Procrastination Habits
Procrastination can make tasks seem daunting. Activity scheduling is a cognitive behavioral therapy technique that involves making tasks seem more manageable by breaking them down and scheduling time to complete them. More opportunities to complete smaller tasks can help you get started and make progress towards your goal. Task completion is also associated with positive feelings, so it can lead to feeling more accomplished and more motivated to start on the next task.
Activity scheduling consists of listing tasks that require your attention, prioritizing them according to their urgency and importance, breaking tasks down into smaller steps, and creating a daily schedule for yourself. This does not have to be limited to difficult tasks; in fact, incorporating leisure activities and personal projects into activity scheduling can make it even more beneficial. Scheduling increases the likelihood that activities will be completed. Checking off a task is a great feeling and will motivate you to approach rather than put off future tasks.
Overcome Procrastination Today
CBT Techniques from CBT Specialists
CBT is highly effective in treating chronic procrastination. By working with a mental health professional, you can gain valuable insights, guidance, and strategies to overcome unhelpful thoughts and behaviors that keep you stuck in procrastination patterns. Instead of avoiding tasks until the last minute, you can tackle them right away.
Our therapists at Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Los Angeles are equipped with years of experience and are ready to help you accomplish your tasks and goals on time. By remaining up-to-date on the most current methods of psychotherapy backed by scientific research, our providers are able to provide you with the most effective treatments available for procrastination.
Accessible Treatment Tailored to You
Recognizing that you want help is an important step, but the nature of procrastination might make it hard to actually reach out and get started. Putting off tasks is habitual, so why would therapy be any different? We’ll work with you to make this process as easy as possible.
We offer different modes of therapy with several different locations. Serving all areas of Los Angeles, we have made therapy accessible to you with offices in both the Wes L.A. and the East Side. We also offer Telehealth sessions with all of our providers so you can access high-quality care from the comfort of your home.
Take the First Step Towards a Motivated and Productive Life Today
Procrastination can end. Take the first step today by reaching out to us to set up an initial consultation. Simply click the button below to complete our 2-minute interest form, or give us a call. Our therapists are actively accepting new clients and are ready to help you get on top of your life.
Click for more information about What CBT is and How it Works
Learn about how CBT can help eliminate procrastination in this edition of the Harvard Mental Health Letter.