Procrastination and Anxiety: A CBT Approach
Why Procrastination Isn’t Laziness
The assumption that if you procrastinate, you’re ‘just lazy’ is so common. People can make it feel like procrastinating means you don’t care, but the reality is that most people who procrastinate care deeply and yet still struggle to complete the assignments that need to be done. So, if it’s not about being lazy or not caring enough, why do we keep doing it?
Well, when we have many tasks, even simple ones, we can get overwhelmed. We don’t know where to start, we can feel stressed about not being able to finish them all, and we can worry about things not being ‘perfect’; and that’s when anxiety gets involved. This often overlaps with perfectionism, where starting feels impossible unless it can be done flawlessly. Then, approaching tasks feels not just inconvenient but emotionally unsafe, so we procrastinate as a protective response.
The Anxiety-Avoidance Cycle
As a result, we kind of find ourselves in a cycle: feel anxious->we procrastinate-> feel relieved-> then feel guilt-> engage in self-criticism-> get more anxious. Many people find themselves stuck in that cycle and never recognize it as such.
How CBT Breaks the Procrastination Loop
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) looks at this cycle without judgment, simply by acknowledging and showing compassion. Then we can break it down into thoughts, emotions, and behavior, which interact with one another. Recognizing one’s thoughts, like “If I can’t do it perfectly, there’s no point in even starting” or “I’ll start once I’m less anxious,” helps us see how much they feel true and how much they hold us back. When we believe that motivation comes before action, we wait for it to arrive, as if it’s going to come soon and we can get going, but the reality is that we keep waiting and waiting for something that may never come. CBT offers the opposite: action often comes first. This principle is known as behavioral activation, a core CBT skill for breaking avoidance patterns. We know it can sound confusing at first, but we suggest: start before you’re ready.
Practical CBT Strategies for Getting Started
We have learned that the anxiety decreases after you start a task, and not before. This is a common pattern in anxiety disorders, where avoidance temporarily reduces discomfort but strengthens the fear long-term. Well, we are sure that even when you read this, it’s harder said than done. This requires breaking down our patterns, doubting our beliefs, and slowly learning that tasks are tolerable; all of these are worked on in CBT with us here at East Side CBT. The work includes dividing tasks into smaller steps, time-limiting work into blocks in order to reduce anxiety, focusing on performing “good enough" rather than “perfectly”, and more. Each of these help breaking the procrastination-anxiety loop.
Getting Support at East Side CBT
CBT believes that there’s nothing “wrong” with you, and that self-criticism increases stress and anxiety, not productivity. If procrastination and anxiety keep you stuck, you don’t have to figure it out alone. Schedule a consultation with East Side CBT to learn practical strategies that help you move forward.