Why you procrastinate even when it feels bad

Translator: Kamilla Christiansen Reviewer: Jesper Mougaard

It’s 5 p.m. and you’ve just realized that report you’ve been putting off

Klokken er 17:00 og du har lige indset, at rapporten du udskudt

is due tomorrow.

skal leveres i morgen.

It’s time to buckle down, open your computer...

Det er tid til, at du tager dig sammen, starter computeren...

and check your phone.

og tjekker din telefon.

Maybe catch up on your favorite YouTube channel?

Måske lige tjekke din yndlings Youtube-kanal?

Actually, you should probably make dinner first.

Faktisk må du hellere lave mad først.

You usually like cooking,

Du kan godt lide madlavning,

though it’s hard to enjoy with this work hanging over your head,

men det er svært at nyde med rapporten hængende over hovedet,

and oh— it’s actually pretty late!

og wow - det er faktisk ret sent!

Maybe you should just try again in the morning?

Måske skal du bare prøve igen i morgen tidlig?

This is the cycle of procrastination, and I promise you, we have all been there.

Dette er prokrastineringens cyklus, og jeg lover, at vi alle har været der.

But why do we keep procrastinating even when we know it’s bad for us?

Men hvorfor trækker vi tiden ud, selv når vi ved, at det skader os?

To be clear, putting something off isn’t always procrastinating.

At gøre noget senere er ikke altid det samme som at prokrastinere.

Responsible time management requires deciding which tasks are important

For at planlægge din tid ansvarligt må du bedømme, hvad der er vigtigt

and which ones can wait.

og hvad der kan vente.

Procrastination is when we avoid a task we said we would do, for no good reason,

Når vi prokrastinerer, undgår vi ting vi burde gøre, uden god grund,

despite expecting our behavior to bring negative consequences.

selvom vi ved, at det vil få negative konsekvenser.

Obviously, it’s irrational to do something you expect to harm you.

Selvfølgelig er det ulogisk at gøre noget, du ved vil skade dig.

But ironically, procrastination is the result of our bodies trying to protect us,

Men ironisk nok er prokrastinering kroppens forsøg på at beskytte os,

specifically by avoiding a task we see as threatening.

ved specifikt at undgå ting, vi oplever som trusler.

When you realize you need to write that report,

Når du indser, at du skal skrive den der rapport,

your brain responds like it would to any incoming threat.

reagerer din hjerne ligesom den ville mod andre trusler.

Your amygdala, a set of neurons involved in emotional processing

Din amygdala, en samling af nerveceller der er med til at behandle dine følelser

and threat identification,

og identificere mulige trusler,

releases hormones including adrenaline that kick off a fear response.

frigør hormoner, bland andet adrenalin, som udløser en frygtreaktion.

This stress-induced panic can overpower the impulses from your prefrontal cortex,

Denne stressinducerede panik kan overmande impulserne fra dit præfrontale cortex,

which typically help you think long term and regulate your emotions.

som normalt hjælper dig med, at tænke langsigtet og regulere dine følelser.

And it’s in the midst of this fight, flight, or freeze response

Og det er midt i denne kæmp-, flygt- eller frys-respons,

that you decide to handle the threat

du beslutter dig for at behandle truslen

by avoiding it in favor of some less stressful task.

og undgår den, ved at lave noget andet der ikke føles så stressende.

This response might seem extreme—

Reaktionen kan virke ekstrem—

after all, it’s just a deadline, not a bear attack.

det er trods alt bare en deadline, ikke et bjørneangreb.

But we’re most likely to procrastinate tasks that evoke negative feelings,

Men vi udskyder som regel mere, når opgaver vækker negative følelser,

such as dread, incompetence, and insecurity.

såsom frygt, inkompetence og usikkerhed.

Studies of procrastinating university students have found participants

Undersøgelser af universitetsstuderende har vist, at deltagerne

were more likely to put off tasks they perceived as stressful or challenging.

oftere udskyder, opgaver der virker stressende eller udfordrende.

And the perception of how difficult the task is

Og opfattelsen af hvor svær en opgave er at løse stiger,

increases while you’re putting it off.

når du trækker tiden ud.

In one experiment, students were given reminders to study throughout the day.

I et eksperiment fik studerende påmindelser om at studere hele dagen.

While they were studying, most reported that it wasn’t so bad.

Imens de studerede, syntes de fleste ikke, at det var så slemt.

But when they were procrastinating,

Men når de prokrastinerede

they consistently rated the idea of studying as very stressful,

udtrykte de alle, at tanken om at studere var meget stressende,

making it difficult to get started.

hvilket gjorde det svært at komme i gang.

Because procrastination is motivated by our negative feelings,

Fordi prokrastinering er motiveret af vores negative følelser,

some individuals are more susceptible to it than others.

er nogle individer mere tilbøjelige til at gøre det end andre.

People who have difficulty regulating their emotions

Personer der har svært ved at regulere sine følelser,

and those who struggle with low self-esteem

og de som kæmper med lavt selvværd,

are much more likely to procrastinate,

er meget mere tilbøjelige til at prokrastinere,

regardless of how good they are at time management.

lige meget hvor gode de er til at planlægge deres tid.

However, it's a common misconception that all procrastinators are lazy.

Det er en almindelig misforståelse, at alle der prokrastinerer er dovne.

In the body and brain, laziness is marked by no energy and general apathy.

I kroppen og hjernen er dovenskab koblet til lav energi og generel apati.

When you’re feeling lazy, you’re more likely to sit around doing nothing

Når du føler dig doven, er det mere sandsynligt at du intet laver,

than distract yourself with unimportant tasks.

end at du distraherer dig selv med uvigtige opgaver.

In fact, many people procrastinate because they care too much.

Faktisk prokrastinerer mange, fordi noget betyder for meget dem.

Procrastinators often report a high fear of failure,

De som prokrastinerer, udtrykker ofte stor frygt for at fejle

putting things off because they’re afraid their work

og trækker tiden ud, fordi de er bange for at deres arbejde

won’t live up to their high standards.

ikke vil leve op til deres høje standard.

Whatever the reason for procrastination, the results are often the same.

Uanset årsagen til prokrastineringen, er resultatet ofte det samme.

Frequent procrastinators are likely to suffer from anxiety and depression,

Personer der tit prokrastinerer lider oftere af angst og depression,

ongoing feelings of shame,

vedvarende følelser af skam,

higher stress levels and physical ailments associated with high stress.

højere stressniveauer og fysiske lidelser, der associeres til høj stress.

Worst of all, while procrastination hurts us in the long run,

Værst af det hele: selvom prokrastinering skader os på lang sigt,

it does temporarily reduce our stress level,

så hjælper det os midlertidigt med at reducere vores stressniveau,

reinforcing it as a bodily response for coping with stressful tasks.

hvilket signalerer til kroppen, at det er en god respons mod stress.

So, how can we break the cycle of procrastination?

Så hvordan kan vi bryde denne cyklus af prokrastinering?

Traditionally, people thought procrastinators needed to cultivate

Før i tiden troede man, at personer der prokrastinerer burde udøve

discipline and practice strict time management.

disciplin og følge strikse tidsskemaer.

But today, many researchers feel the exact opposite.

Men i dag mener mange forskere det helt modsatte.

Being too hard on yourself can layer additional bad emotions onto a task,

Er du for hård ved dig selv, kan flere negative følelser associeres til en opgave

making the threat even more intense.

og gøre truslen mere intens.

To short-circuit this stress response,

For at afværge denne stressreaktion,

we need to address and reduce these negative emotions.

må vi adressere og mindske de negative følelser.

Some simple strategies include breaking a task into smaller elements

Nogle simple strategier er, at dele opgaven op i mindre stykker,

or journaling about why it's stressing you out

eller at føre dagbog om, hvorfor den stresser dig

and addressing those underlying concerns.

og adressere de underliggende bekymringer.

Try removing nearby distractions that make it easy to impulsively procrastinate.

Prøv at fjerne distraktioner i nærheden, der gør det nemt at prokrastinere.

And more than anything, it helps to cultivate an attitude of self-compassion,

Og mere end noget andet hjælper det, at vise dig selv medfølelse,

forgiving yourself, and making a plan to do better next time.

at tilgive dig selv og planlægge, hvordan du gør det bedre næste gang.

Because a culture that perpetuates this cycle of stress and procrastination

For en kultur der fostrer denne cyklus af stress og prokrastinering,

hurts all of us in the long term.

skader os alle på lang sigt.