Beliefs That Lead to Procrastination
In a previous article, when I discussed Albert Ellis, I mentioned that Irrational Beliefs lead to unhealthy emotions and behaviors.
In this article, I will look at what kind of beliefs lead to procrastination. The book I referenced is "Why Do You Put Off That Work? (Kenji Sasaki)," which is based on the lineage of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy by Albert Ellis.
Beliefs That Lead to Procrastination
Everyone has moments where they think, "I have to do that work, but I just can't bring myself to start..." The inconvenient beliefs behind this include the following:
All-or-nothing thinking: Thinking of things in black-and-white terms and considering even the slightest mistake a complete failure.
Overgeneralization: Thinking that if one bad thing happens, everything in the world is like that.
Jumping to conclusions: Reaching pessimistic conclusions without any evidence.
Magnification and minimization: Exaggerating one's own failures and underestimating one's strengths. Conversely, overestimating others' successes and overlooking their flaws.
Personalization: When something bad happens, blaming oneself even when one is not responsible.
I then asked an AI to think about how each of these beliefs leads to procrastination.
Impact of all-or-nothing thinking:
Due to perfectionistic thinking, anxiety that "I might not be able to do it 100% perfectly" prevents one from starting. For example, when writing a report, one might overthink that it "must be perfect," leading to avoiding starting it altogether.
Impact of overgeneralization:
By overgeneralizing past failures, motivation for new tasks is diminished. The assumption that "because it didn't go well last time, it will definitely fail this time" hinders the start of an action. For example, a single bad presentation experience can create a tendency to avoid all presentations.
Impact of jumping to conclusions:
Unfounded pessimistic predictions cause one to give up before even starting. The irrational conclusion that "it won't go well anyway even if I try" justifies procrastinating.
Impact of magnification and minimization:
By underestimating one's own abilities and overestimating the difficulty of a task, the belief that "I can't do it" is reinforced. This leads to avoiding the task and procrastinating. Also, by overestimating others' successes, one feels a sense of helplessness in comparison, further hesitating to act.
Impact of personalization:
By taking excessive responsibility for failures, the fear of taking new actions intensifies. The thought that "if something goes wrong, it's all my fault" triggers a defensive reaction that leads to procrastination.
...I see. I feel like I can relate to all of these.
How to Address Irrational Beliefs ①
First, after understanding these irrational beliefs, we ask two questions: ① Is it realistic? ② Are there exceptions? For example, what happens if we apply these two questions to "One should think of things in black-and-white terms and consider even the slightest mistake a complete failure"?
Belief:One should think of things in black-and-white terms and consider even the slightest mistake a complete failure.
Realistic? Edison experienced over 1,000 failures in developing the light bulb and said, "I have not failed. I've just found 1,000 ways that won't work." In other words, failures and mistakes are necessary steps to success, and perfect success does not exist in reality.
Exceptions? A presentation is fine if the message is conveyed, even if there are some stumbles.
Thinking this way, we realize that rather than "black or white," a mindset of "passing grade" or "sufficient success" is more realistic and healthy. Then, the belief can be upgraded as follows.
Original belief:One should think of things in black-and-white terms and consider even the slightest mistake a complete failure.
New belief:While it is important to aim for perfection, small mistakes are opportunities for learning, and if the goal is achieved overall, it can be considered a sufficient success.
By doing this, the thought that "60 points is fine at first, I can improve it later" lowers the barrier to action. Thinking "failure is a learning process" reduces the need to procrastinate, and not seeking perfection prevents spending more time than necessary on preparation, which can reduce procrastination.
How to Address Irrational Beliefs ②
Let's take up another one: "When something bad happens, blaming oneself even when one is not responsible."
Belief:When something bad happens, I blame myself even when I am not responsible.
Is it realistic? For example, in the case of a project delay, it involves organizational factors such as sudden changes in specifications from external sources, coordination with other departments, and system troubles, so it does not seem realistic to attribute responsibility to an individual.
Are there exceptions? Even in daily life, it is full of uncertain factors that cannot be helped by individual power, such as bad weather, poor physical condition, and traffic jams caused by accidents.
Thinking about it this way, even if something bad or inconvenient happens, it seems healthy to first separate what is your responsibility from what is not.
Original belief:When something bad happens, I blame myself even when I am not responsible.
New belief:When a problem occurs, calmly assess the scope of your responsibility and focus on the parts you can improve. There is no need to take responsibility for everything.
If you do that, you will likely be able to think, "Let's focus on my part first," "Let's get the necessary support for areas beyond my control (it's okay to rely on others)," and "There are many unpredictable things in the world, so let's start early with what I can do."
Summary
Writing it in this way might give the impression that inconvenient beliefs are 100% bad, but there must have been times when such beliefs contributed to your own growth or helped you avoid danger.
Therefore, I think it is good to express gratitude for such beliefs while also considering updating them with curiosity, asking yourself, "What would happen if I looked at this from a different perspective?"
For those who are wondering what other articles are available.