Procrastination that doesn’t look like procrastination

Top 5 ways in which your brain tricks you into thinking you’re working.

Procrastinating means putting off something we need to do, either because we aren’t interested in doing it or because we are too invested in it and terrified of failing. Sometimes, it’s obvious enough we’re procrastinating, like when we should be preparing a literature review that’s due in tomorrow, and instead are doom-scrolling on Instagram or binge-watching a Netflix series. Other times, our minds play exquisite tricks on us: we resort to doing something useful or important, without which (we tell ourselves) we can’t really start working. This kind of procrastination is trickier to conquer, because even identifying it as procrastination can be a challenge! Below is my Top 5 of these mind tricks - from least to most treacherous - assembled from personal experience and that of my friends and clients. How many sound familiar to you?

5. Shopping for the perfect pen

Your plan was to go to the library and get some real work done, but you drop into a stationery shop on the way, telling yourself you need a new pen (or pencil, or notebook…). Once you find it, writing will be so much easier! You take such care in choosing it that you decide to reward yourself with a coffee. While drinking, you remember you also needed hair conditioner - and hey, since you’re already shopping…

4. Curating a study playlist

Easy to fall for, because you’re so close. You’ve already sat down and opened your laptop. You may have even opened the right document or brought up the right tab. Hell, you may have read the first paragraph or written the first sentence! But something doesn’t feel quite right. You’re working, sure - but you could be working better. Like, if you find the perfect music for this particular task, then you’ll feel all Zen and get into a flow state and amaze yourself and others with your productivity. Now, what was that song you heard last Thursday? Let’s see if it’s on Spotify…

3. Answering emails

Similar to the playlist, in that you’re already in position, but even trickier because you’re dealing with study-related things. As your laptop connects to the coffee-shop WiFi, you hear a little ‘ping’ and can’t help noticing that five new emails loading in your university inbox. What if it’s something urgent? You’d better check. OK, it’s not urgent, but you can get it out of the way quickly. Now you’ve filled in a student voice survey, looked at the course offer for next term, and even asked your supervisor if you can drop in during her next office hours - you’re crossing lots of things off your list! There is just one problem: you still haven’t started dealing with the reason you’d opened your laptop in the first place.

2. Cleaning your room (and beyond)

Plenty of us feel that we can’t have a tidy mind in an untidy room, and that’s all very well.. If there is a pile of laundry on your bed, it stands to reason that you don’t want to sit next to it and organise your lecture notes into an essay plan. But suddenly, your feel a will to cleanliness and order that far exceeds your usual housekeeping routine: after vacuuming , you pack away your winter things, scrub the shower in your little en-suite, then get started on the communal kitchen… Who can fault you your tidiness and industriousness? Your housemates throw you grateful and surprised glances. Once you’ve got the whole place sparkling and smelling of lemon and cinnamon, you realise that you have massively misdirected your efforts: that report is still hanging over you, and no amount of cleaning will make it go away.

1. Helping someone else

The mother of all procrastination devices, and a devilishly hard one to untangle. You’re honestly just about to start working, when your best friend texts you with boyfriend troubles. You consider yourself a good friend, so you call her straight away and spend the next hour talking through it with her and doing your best to help. She ends up coming over, and the two of you reach for some cider left over from last weekend’s afterparty. Next thing you know, another day has passed, and while your friend is feeling heaps better thanks to you, you’re feeling the weight of undone work on your shoulders (plus your head hurts from the cider).

If you often find yourself losing focus despite your best intentions, consider joining a webinar or investing in study coaching: it teaches you how to prioritise even when everything seems important!