Perhaps its just another way for trauma to show itself.
From the latin word procrastinatus it literally means ‘forward of tomorrow’ . or let’s not do it today , let’s do it tomorrow . I like to say “don’t put off today what you can put off tomorrow” ……..
Now I was going to write this blog post last week ( I feel you’re ahead of me here ….) , but I just kept putting it off.
What do we mean by procrastination ?
I know we sort of said this above , but the real definition is ….a self defeating behaviour , its a short-term benefit ( I can lay here a bit longer ) and the long-term cost ( I feel guilty that I didn’t do this). You are unnecessarily delaying doing something , the key here is that it is voluntary , there is no reason for you not to have done it ( train strike , bad weather ), its just you!
This sounds a bit like Im giving you a licence to be lazy , Im not , but I get how it looks .
Ive seen a lot of click bait on this subject by bloggers on YouTube looking for clicks . As usual , all the relevant keywords are included mostly a play on trauma and procrastination and a number , such as 10 reasons we procrastinate ….that sort of thing . It seems so easy nowadays to look at rankings , look at what’s trending and place keywords in to get clicks , but we know were not about that here , were about informing and helping each other.
Procrastination…..are you just anxiety in a harder to spell word?
Damn , you found me ….
Well , that may not be totally right , there may be a physical reason , we all know what poor sleep quality feels like , thats enough for me to hunker down with a film and forget the list my wife has left me !
Having COVID19 in spring of 2020 , that gave me lots of reasons to put things off , for ages , you know little things like , breathing , walking and talking ….. But really, any painful condition or fatigue inducing disease can easily seem to lead to procrastinating . But is that really and truly procrastination ?, we did point out above that the key part of the cause must be voluntary , being ill isn’t voluntary. A patient with Fibromyalgia and Ive known a few , suffer from fatigue , they have good days and bad ones. They need to , not push themselves too much on the better days or this can lead to the bad days being more frequent , they need to pace themselves. If they put off things on the good days , they are doing what they should do , thats not procrastination , its just adjusting to their illness, I would imagine they would love the opportunity to procrastinate.
I think tiredness though can lead to low willpower distractibility and low energy , so although your capable of doing something , you might want to postpone it .
This is a very difficult area for researchers to look into , how do you observe procrastination ? You can’t just sit someone down and hope it happens . The only real way is to rely on questionnaires , individuals reporting on themselves and thats hard to do without bias.
Fuchsia Sirois ( behavioural Scientist) from Durham University shows that we are all hardwired to avoid difficult ,and what we perceive to be painful experiences.
By procrastinating we are seeking instant relief, but as well have seen , relief is temporary. This can lead regular procrastinators into a shame or regret spiral , he does show that meditation and emotion-centred treatment might help.
There is a condition called bedtime procrastination and a paper in 2023 by Shah et al , links childhood environmental harshness ( abuse and unpredictability , neighbourhood , school , family ) as potential predictors of youths bedtime procrastination.
Can we link procrastination to ACEs then?
Psychology Today is always a good place to find some answers and indeed they ran an article in May 2021 by Peg Streep ( Author or Verbal Abuse:Recognising , dealing and Reacting ) . She states that the constant habit of putting things off isn’t a stand-alone. Children from stable childhoods , don’t fear failure or taking risks. These people she says are called “approach-orientated” they know failure is a possibility, but are resilient.
Those who grew up in an opposite type of childhood , those who we would consider having been subjected to child abuse look upon failure as their fault , it’s because they are flawed. If you were told you were a failure , useless , you can’t do anything right, then you are more likely to be “avoidant-orientated”….so Streep points out. She says that procrastination is fed by a fear of failure , how can you feel bad , if you haven’t done it yet? She says that this can be seen as a form of self-handicapping , putting things in the way of having to do the task that you might fail at.
GP Psychology ( www.gppsychology.co.uk) Gemma Pearson, CPsychol , Msc, BSc , writes about Chronic procrastination. She states that from a trauma perspective , individuals may have traumatic memories that have not been fully processed and are unconsciously triggered . The individual might not understand why they have put off the task and may even be experiencing a strong emotional response when they think about doing the task.
But wait a minute …..
Science direct describes procrastination as ( we saw this above ) a voluntary delay of an intended action despite the recognition that this delay may have a negative effect. This does not involve a rational choice and is a form of self regulation failure.
So if it has to be voluntary , then not doing it as a result of an intense emotional response due to previous trauma cannot be classed as voluntary can it ? There is no rational choice involved and I feel that this part of a trauma response cannot therefore really be called procrastination.
Prapavessis et al 2003, shows that Athletes who show high levels of Anxiety, report higher levels of self handicapping or procrastination . This is a trait often associated with increased procrastination ( Ashley miller, Carolyn Murray ‘ Encyclopaedia of Mental Health 2023 ).
Sam David ( www.proactivitylab.com ), a former chronic procrastinator describes his experience of procrastination as being a place that was caused by anxiety and depression and the use of unhealthy tricks to deal with those symptoms.
The Corporation for a skilled Workforce ( www.skilledwork.org ), who undertake resilience and trauma work , amongst many other work based interventions and advisory services in order to try and improve practices and outcomes throughout the US.
They link trauma created Hyper-vigilance with procrastination , they also show that negative childhood experiences prevent individuals from leaving their comfort zones through fear, this is a formidable obstacle and procrastination then becomes a self protective -mechanism. By avoiding tasks they believe they can shield themselves from the possibility of making mistakes .
They do however show what they advise as part of their their work in helping individuals deal with this issue . .
1, …..Create a list of all your activities 2,……When you start avoiding , ask yourself , why am I avoiding ? 3,…..Allow yourself to feel those feelings , sit with it ,whatever the reason is , anxiety , shame , overwhelmed frustration. 4,…..Just do it , push through your feelings. 5, …..reward yourself after completing the task.
I think we have showed that Childhood trauma can lead to procrastination , the putting off , however , have we found ,that as its clearly not voluntary ,can it be described as true procrastination or is it a trauma coping technique ? I don’t know the answer to that one , putting off until tomorrow seems like procrastination either way to me ……
Thank for spending time here , I know there is so much content out there and it means a lot that you spent some time here. As ever, Im just a childhood trauma survivor looking for answers and bringing you along for the ride . Hope you are in a good place ….see you soon .
If you are worried about childhood trauma , don’t worry alone , if you feel ready , reach out for help from a trusted friend, a medical professional or a trauma trained therapist. Remember some solutions you might find on the internet may not be suitable for your situation, for example ,some find meditation triggering , some find just reading about it triggering.
Just know you are not alone .
Citations
Encyclopedia of Mental Health
Reference Work • Third Edition • 2023Section Editors: Volume 1: Kristin J. August, Nicole M. Cain, Meghan M. Gillen, Jill M. Hooley, Kelly L. Klump, Wenhua Lu, Mindy Mechanic, Ronald E. Riggio; Volume 2: Kristin J. August, Nicole M. Cain, Meghan M. Gillen, Jill M. Hooley, Kelly L. Klump, Wenhua Lu, Mindy Mechanic, Ronald E. Riggio; Volume 3: Kristin J. August, Nicole M. Cain, Meghan M. Gillen, Jill M. Hooley, Kelly L. Klump, Wenhua Lu, Mindy Mechanic, Ronald E. Riggio
Gemma Pearson, CPsychol, Msc, Bsc
Psychological Services
Therapy – Expert Witness – Supervision
Childhood environmental risk and youth bedtime procrastination: A path model with life history strategy and sense of control as mediators
Author links open overlay panelLei Shao a
, Juanjuan Jin a
, Guoliang Yu baSchool of Education, Renmin University of China, Beijing, ChinabInstitute of Psychology, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China
Received 7 September 2022, Revised 27 February 2023, Accepted 6 March 2023, Available online 10 March 2023.Show less
Self-handicapping tendencies, coping, and anxiety responses among athletes
- December 2003
- Psychology of Sport and Exercise 4(4):357-375
DOI:10.1016/S1469-0292(02)00020-1
Psychology Today
CHILD DEVELOPMENT
How Procrastination Can Reflect Childhood Experience
The constant habit of putting things off isn’t a stand-alone.
Posted May 18, 2021 | Reviewed by Abigail Fagan
skilled workforce CSW Corporation for skilled workforce. https://skilledwork.org/news/toxic-stress-trauma-procrastination/
