Do you often feel like you’re constantly playing catch-up, missing deadlines, or postponing activities you intend to do for less critical tasks? If so, you’re not alone. Twenty percent of individuals identify themselves as procrastinators.

According to researchers, procrastination has more than quadrupled in the past 30 years! For some, procrastination has become so common that they shrug it off and simply describe it as a way of life.

The problem with procrastination extends beyond simply not completing tasks or only finishing them at the last minute; it affects our lives overall.

• • Forty percent of procrastinators have suffered financial losses, missed professional opportunities, or incurred additional long-term costs due to late fees resulting from delayed payment of bills, tickets, or taxes.
  • Our relationships are impacted, resulting in higher rates of divorce.
  • The associated stress and anxiety lead to headaches, insomnia, reduced immune system function, depression, heart disease, and high blood pressure.
  • Our self-confidence, satisfaction, and happiness negatively impact us.

As an ADHD life coach for over 20 years, I can honestly say that one of the most common challenges my clients face is procrastination—putting important tasks off, struggling to start them, and believing there’s more time to complete them. One client once said to me as we were exploring her procrastination: “I’m not a procrastinator… I am a time optimist!” In fact, she was not too far from the truth.

There are many different reasons why people procrastinate, and I refer to these as your “procrastination style.” Below are seven procrastination styles, their pitfalls, and simple solutions. Which one(s) describe you?

The Optimist

This type of procrastinator genuinely believes they have ample time to complete a task. You can identify an optimistic procrastinator because they appear upbeat and relaxed, even carefree amid a looming deadline. That is, until time runs out. The pitfall for many optimistic procrastinators is that they perceive time differently than others do. For them, time is a concept that is vague and intangible. One way to determine if you are an optimistic procrastinator is to reflect on how you currently keep track of time. Most optimistic procrastinators have few, if any, external time-management tools in their environment, such as clocks or alarms, to help them manage their time. If they do have such tools, they are often either inaccurate or malfunctioning. One time, an optimist proclaimed, “I love clocks. I have lots of beautiful clocks in my home. I just don’t think they are working.”

I refer to this difference in the perception of time as “time blind.” Similar to being color blind, optimist procrastinators may not even realize they perceive time differently than most people. Optimist procrastinators also struggle to estimate time accurately. For example, they often underestimate the time required to complete a task or are overly optimistic about what they can accomplish in a short period. Optimist procrastinators are known for “five-minute-itis,” thinking they can finish a list of tasks in just five minutes. They can also perceive the passage of time in unique ways; for instance, if they are genuinely interested in a task, two hours can feel like five minutes. Conversely, if they lack interest in an activity, five minutes can feel like two hours.

If this sounds like you, here are some strategies to enhance your chances of success:

• • Increase the environmental cues that remind you of time and the passage of time. Place analog clocks in every corner of your surroundings, including the bathroom and garage.
  • Track how long everyday tasks or activities actually take to complete. Often, there is a huge “aha” moment when you realistically discover how much you can accomplish in a given time.

The Preparer

The preparer’s style of procrastination can be challenging to recognize because these individuals often appear very busy. They are busy preparing, researching, gathering ideas, planning, and perfecting instead of actually tackling the critical task and getting it done. Preparers can spend a considerable amount of time getting ready. Unfortunately, and often surprisingly for the preparers themselves, these activities tend to interfere with the actual task they want to complete. The pitfall for preparers is knowing when it’s time to stop preparing and start doing – because getting it done is more important than getting it perfect.

For preparers, procrastination serves as a way to delay the anticipated dreaded moment when it won’t be “right” and, more importantly, when they think they won’t be right.

Here’s the answer for the procrastinating preparer:

• • Adopt a mindset focused on progress rather than perfection. This doesn’t mean lowering standards or exerting less effort; it’s simply a shift in the focus of the outcome. Preparation is one of the first steps, but so is completion. Concentrating on progress and advancing step-by-step requires mindfulness not only of the importance of preparation but also of execution.

The Overwhelmed

This type of procrastinator is easily recognized because they hesitate before even starting. For this form of procrastination, tasks may seem too daunting to tackle, or they believe it will take too much time to finish. For the overwhelmed, molehills undoubtedly appear as mountains. Standing at the base of that mountain paralyzes them. Additionally, prioritizing and planning can pose challenges.

The result? The overwhelmed procrastinator is unsure where to start on a task or what to do next. Instead, procrastination occurs because they give up, check out, or decide to postpone it until a “better time.” Secretly, the overwhelmed hope the task will somehow become clearer, smaller, more manageable, or take less time when they return to it.

Here are the keys to overcoming this type of procrastination:

• • Break the task into smaller pieces from the start and begin…anywhere. Another way to describe this technique is to chunk the project, task, or goal into smaller sections. This helps create more manageable parts to address.
  • Keep in mind that the task may not require as much time as you initially think. Tackle the task in bite-sized chunks of time, such as 15-minute increments, rather than attempting to complete it all at once. This approach will help you recognize your incremental achievements.
  • Seek the assistance of others. Having someone nearby for moral support can help overcome the initial reluctance to start. Asking friends, a spouse, or a boss how they would prioritize or plan a task can be an efficient way to get down to business.

The Over-extender

Over-extenders are popular and likable people. They are helpful, willing, and eager to assist. These procrastinators quickly say yes and take on more and more, ultimately juggling too many tasks at once (which often leads to failure). When they are unable to complete most of their commitments, they blame themselves. To compensate for their perceived shortcomings, they become trapped in a vicious cycle. They offer to do even more, hoping to make up for the times they didn’t follow through, but again, they end up accomplishing less. Something will inevitably be forgotten, lost, or postponed until the last minute. And around and around the over-extenders go.

The key to overcoming procrastination for those who overextend themselves:

• • Recognize your natural limits, as time and energy are finite resources for everyone. Acknowledge your boundaries.
  • Identify your priorities and what is most important to you. Allow yourself to say no to spending time and energy on activities that do not align with your values.

The Forgetter

This type of procrastinator simply forgets or misremembers a task they intend to complete. The forgetter is characteristically confident, capable, and intelligent. They are accustomed to and proud of being able to track their “to-dos,” schedules, responsibilities, and deadlines in their heads. The problem? The forgeter’s life has become so busy and full that they can no longer rely on their memory to keep track of it all. Our memory evolved to protect us from danger by helping us remember things that might harm us. The forgetter is merely trying to use their memory for less threatening tasks—something it wasn’t designed to do. As a result, smaller, less threatening, but important tasks get forgotten and go undone.

Here’s the solution for forgetful procrastinators:

• • Recognize that your memory is an evolutionary tool designed to help you recall things that could be dangerous rather than a tool for remembering mundane tasks. In simple terms, our brains were not created to retain the multitude of minute details, tasks, or deadlines that are common in today’s world.
  • Consider utilizing an external memory system (EMS)…even if this feels like it undermines your intelligence by not being able to remember everything on your own. These systems can range from innovative electronics to a simple, old-fashioned pen-and-pad or planner approach.

The Over-Extender

Those who exhibit the distracted style of procrastination have perhaps the best intentions of all. They want to start, work on, and complete tasks. They understand the significance of their responsibilities. The problem arises when something more interesting catches their attention—such as a sound, an intriguing sight, or even hunger, thirst, or a creative idea. Then, innocently and almost without realizing it, the distracted individuals veer off from their intended goal.

The key for distracted procrastinators is to:

• • Find a way to minimize distractions so you can stay on task. This involves everything from attending to physical needs to rearranging your environment to decrease the chance of unintended distractions. One way to think about this strategy is like an athlete preparing for a major event. Before the game, their focus is on being physically fit, well-fed, and rested. Just before the event, they mentally eliminate outside distractions by using headphones, maintaining minimal eye contact, and clarifying their intentions. They do this every time to avoid distractions and perform at their best.

The Bored

It’s hard to imagine that boredom can be physically uncomfortable, even painful. However, those with a bored procrastination style know exactly what this means. It’s like slogging through mud with a thousand-pound boots on in your brain and not being able to escape.

For the procrastinator who thinks, “It’s boring,” it’s essential to

• • Get a little creative. Know what interests you and sprinkle that in to fend off boredom. Work at a busy café, use color to liven up a dull spreadsheet, and listen to music… do whatever it takes to spice, spark, and shake things up.

The Crisis Worker

The crisis worker style of procrastinator thrives under pressure. These procrastinators believe they produce their best work at the last minute. Crises workers will even describe experiencing clarity of mind and a kind of brilliance that occurs when they procrastinate just long enough.

To understand the crises-worker procrastination style, it helps to look beyond the “putting things off until the last minute” behavior to what is happening physiologically in the brain. When the crisis worker delays getting started until the last minute, their body goes into a stress response cycle. Under stress, our bodies react similarly, whether it’s the strain of an impending deadline or the approach of a wild bear. When stressed, adrenaline is released into our bloodstream by the adrenal glands. This adrenaline triggers the release of dopamine in our brain, a physiological adaptation that helps us think clearly. The increased surge of dopamine can activate the executive function. And voilà, like magic, the crisis worker can now focus and get things done! This magical design of our bodies helps maintain a calm head under stress. However, the pitfall for the crises-worker procrastinator is that the human body was not meant to depend on stress to accomplish tasks. Inevitably, the body will stop responding in its normal manner, and/or other life responsibilities will suffer as a result.

Solutions for the crises-worker procrastinator include:

• • Adopting healthier methods to activate dopamine and using other natural ways to enhance their productivity.
  • Exercise and foods like caffeine and chocolate can boost the release of dopamine in the brain.
  • Identifying when they are naturally most productive—whether in the morning or evening—and then scheduling less engaging tasks for those times can be beneficial.
  • Medications, including stimulant medications, target dopamine receptors and enhance the availability of dopamine in the brain.

As an ADHD Life Coach, I possess a fierce determination to help people enjoy their authentic brilliance, appreciate their uniqueness, and live life in a way that suits them best. My goal is for people to experience as much fullness and satisfaction as they can in their lives.

Procrastination not only robs us of money, but also of time and happiness. You are not born a procrastinator; rather, procrastination is a behavior you’ve learned as compensation for something else—something you may not even be aware of. The good news is that once you understand your procrastination style and identify your underlying struggles, you can apply some simple strategies to turn your to-dos into ta-das! You can transform from a procrastinator into a “pro-activator”!