What Is Procrastination? Meaning, Types, and Examples

Procrastination is voluntarily delaying a task you intended to do, even though you know the delay will make things worse for you later. It isn't the same as resting, and it isn't the same as changing your plans for a good reason. It's when you want to do the thing, you decide to do the thing, and you push it off anyway. The word comes from the Latin procrastinare, which joins "pro" (forward) and "crastinus" (of tomorrow). In other words: kicking it to tomorrow. Today, most research treats procrastination less as a lack of willpower and more as a way of escaping a bad feeling tied to the task.

What does procrastinate mean in practice?

To procrastinate is to leave for later something you could do now, usually swapping it for something less important or more pleasant. The psychologist Piers Steel, who pulled together hundreds of studies in a major 2007 review, describes procrastination as a voluntary and irrational delay: you know you'll be worse off, and you put it off anyway.

Three signs help separate procrastination from other kinds of delay:

• You intended to do it. It isn't a task you decided to cancel.
• The delay has no good reason. You aren't waiting for information or handling something more urgent.
• It comes with discomfort. Guilt, anxiety, that heavy feeling in the back of your head.

If you put off cleaning the garage because a friend needed help moving, that's a choice. If you put it off because opening the door makes your stomach drop and you went to scroll your feed, that's procrastination.

Is procrastination just laziness?

No. Laziness is not wanting to do anything and being fine with that. People who procrastinate usually want to do the task, feel bad about not doing it, and spend energy avoiding it. Often they're extremely busy, just with other things.

Researchers Fuschia Sirois and Timothy Pychyl, in 2013, described procrastination as a problem of mood regulation: the task stirs up boredom, fear of getting it wrong, insecurity, or confusion, and putting it off gives instant relief. The catch is that the relief is short and the bill arrives later, with interest. We walk through that cycle in more detail in Why Do I Procrastinate? 5 Real Reasons.

What are the types of procrastination?

There's no single official classification. Researchers use a few different splits, and these are the most useful.

Passive vs. "active" procrastination

In 2005, Angela Chu and Jin Nam Choi proposed separating passive procrastination (delaying and freezing, with guilt and a blown deadline) from so-called active procrastination (deliberately waiting until close to the deadline because the person says they do their best work under pressure). The second type is still debated. Many researchers see it as "planned delay" rather than real procrastination.

Occasional vs. chronic procrastination

Everyone puts off something boring now and then. It becomes a problem when it's your default way of dealing with tasks and starts to affect work, school, health, money, or relationships.

Types by reason (the most useful day to day)

In practice, it helps more to ask why you're putting something off. The most common reasons:

1. Emotional avoidance. The task brings fear, shame, or anxiety (opening a bill, answering your boss).
2. Perfectionism. If it can't be perfect, it's better not to start.
3. Overwhelm. The task looks so big you don't know where to begin.
4. Indecision. There are many options and choosing feels risky.
5. Boredom. The task is simply dull and your brain goes looking for something more interesting.
6. Trouble getting started. You want to, you know what to do, and you still can't get the engine going.

Each reason calls for a different way out. Perfectionism needs a deliberately ugly first draft. Overwhelm needs the task broken into parts. Trouble starting needs a tiny first step.

Examples of procrastination in everyday life

• Waiting until April 15 to file your taxes even though your forms have been sitting in a folder since February.
• Cleaning the whole desk, loading the dishwasher, and sorting your browser tabs before writing the report.
• Opening a textbook to study and, five minutes later, watching a cooking video.
• Putting off booking a doctor's appointment for months because making the call feels hard.
• Answering every easy email and leaving the one hard one for "tomorrow" (every day).
• Starting the gym "next Monday" for many Mondays in a row.

Notice that in almost every example the person is doing something. It just isn't the thing that needed doing.

Why is procrastination so hard to quit?

Because it works in the short term. Delaying removes the discomfort right away, and your brain learns that avoiding the task "solves" it. On top of that:

• The future feels far away. "Tomorrow's you" always seems more energetic than today's.
• The task's reward is slow. The phone's reward is instant.
• Guilt makes it worse. The more you beat yourself up, the heavier the task gets and the more you want to run from it. A 2010 study by Wohl, Pychyl, and Bennett found that students who forgave themselves for procrastinating on one exam procrastinated less on the next.

Does procrastination have to do with ADHD?

It can, but one doesn't mean the other. Everyone procrastinates sometimes. For people with ADHD, trouble starting tasks, estimating time, and holding attention on something that isn't interesting tends to be more intense and more frequent, which is why procrastination shows up so often in their stories. We cover the difference between "putting off" and "not being able to start" in ADHD and Procrastination: What's the Difference?.

If you suspect you have ADHD or take medication, talk to a health professional.

How can you get out of procrastination today?

You don't need a perfect plan. You need a small beginning:

1. Pick one task. The one that weighs on you most.
2. Name the feeling. "I'm putting this off because I'm afraid it will turn out bad." Just naming it lightens the load.
3. Define a ridiculously small first step. Open the file. Type the title. Gather the papers.
4. Set a 2-minute timer. Tell yourself you're allowed to stop afterward. Often you keep going.
5. Celebrate the start. Starting is already the hardest part.

For a fuller step-by-step, see How to Stop Procrastinating: 6 Steps That Work.

Frequently asked questions

What is the meaning of procrastination?

Procrastination is voluntarily putting off something you intended to do, even though you know the delay will cost you later. The word comes from Latin and literally means "to leave for tomorrow."

Is procrastination a disorder?

No. Procrastination is a behavior, and everyone does it to some degree. When it's constant and gets in the way of your life, it's worth talking with a professional to understand what's behind it.

What's the difference between procrastinating and resting?

Rest is a break you choose, without guilt. Procrastination is avoiding a task you wanted to do, usually with guilt and discomfort during the avoidance.

Are people who procrastinate lazy?

No. People who procrastinate usually want to act and feel bad that they can't. What gets them stuck is the emotion tied to the task (fear, boredom, insecurity), not a lack of desire.

Start with one thing

Pick the task you've been avoiding most and do only the first step, with 2 minutes on the clock. Then mark it done.