The 5 Types Of Procrastination

The Spanish proverb is not always right in all the sayings or sayings that it gives us (in fact, for many of these sayings, we can find the opposite), but some very successful ones we can find. In fact, it is rare who has not ever heard that ” do not leave for tomorrow what you can do today. ” So we will not leave until tomorrow the knowledge of the 5 types of procrastination.

Depending on where you look, you may come across different classifications regarding procrastination that differ from each other. We are going to focus on the one done by the psychologist Neil Fiore, author of books such as “Wake up your powerful self” and founder of the company Fiore Productivity.

Types of procrastination

Knowing the types of procrastination that exist is important because not all have the same consequences. In fact, contrary to what it may seem, the frowned upon procrastination can be very positive when an incubation of the idea occurs in the waiting time between purpose and action. If you like, let’s go with those five guys.

Perfectionist procrastinator

In this case, according to Neil Fiore, the person is a perfectionist to the utmost for fear of being judged or embarrassed. They are so exhaustive with each phase that they take too much time on the details that many of their projects are completed on the fly. Thus, in the end, instead of avoiding mistakes, they commit them in excess, causing more fear of the judgment of others. That is, they achieve exactly what they want to avoid, being embarrassed if something is not right.

Impostor Procrastinator

This is one of the types of procrastination that  occurs in environments with profiles of difficult compliance. So the person, for fear of being branded as incompetent, monopolizes an excess of work that reaffirms their responsibility, so that this attribute remains attached to their image. However, this attitude can lead to learned helplessness, a feeling closely linked to depressive states.

Fearful procrastinator

This profile is constantly putting off your tasks or obligations due to the fact that you are faced with a job that is unpleasant or boring for you. This trend, for its part, is closely related to the lack of motivation in jobs that become repetitive or in which the worker does not receive any type of feedback on the quality of their work.

Overwhelmed procrastinator

Another of the procrastinator profiles. In this case, the individual has so much to do, and so many tasks in mind, that he does not know where to start with them. Ultimately, it is common for it to lead to a mental block that prevents you from even starting work.

In this case of procrastination, being overwhelmed by the amount of tasks can be a personal decision, or also on the part of a person in a higher position, like a boss, for example. Be that as it may, this excess is very negative, since it  is an obstacle to any progress.

Lucky procrastinator

Can you be procrastinating and lucky? According to Neil Fiore, yes. In this case, the profile is identified with people who consider that they only work well when they are under pressure. So they put off their tasks until it gets late and they find themselves on the limit to do what they have or intend to do on time.

Interestingly, individuals with this profile, whenever they achieve good results, tend to repeat the attitude. That is, they postpone their tasks until they are between a rock and a hard place. Then take advantage of the adrenaline rush that gives them the rush of anxiety to see themselves on the ropes and get going. Of course, on many occasions they arrive, but on many other occasions they do not.

If we want to, can we end procrastination?

This type of behavior, as we have observed, can have dire consequences. In many cases the person ends up living in constant stress peaks that endanger their emotional balance and damaging, unintentionally and indirectly, their environment. Thus, According to Fiore, it could lead to an imbalance that will affect all facets of life, beyond the professional.

Therefore, professionals recommend wise time management to perform a task, so that anxiety does not end up taking control. In this sense, some of the recommendations would be:

• Carry out a study of the specific task to be carried out. If it is very high in volume, we can try to delegate or simplify.
• It is also important to spend time organizing or planning, including the resources that we are going to need and how and when we are going to obtain them if they are not available.

• It is also necessary to take care of the motivational section and make commitments that we will be able to fulfill later. In this sense, if we are not clear about the reasons for what we do, it may be better to leave it.
• Going step by step, dividing the work into smaller steps or entities, is also a good idea.
• Finally, in order not to fall into a loop of infinite procrastination, it is necessary to set deadlines. Thus, if a certain date is reached, we are not in the position we would like, we will have a wake-up call to help us reassess the situation.

Now that you know the types of procrastination that exist, you are in a position to avoid them. If you identify with any of them, we hope that Fiore’s professional recommendations can help you overcome it. On the other hand, we cannot finish this article if we highlight the point we made before, not all procrastination is bad or compromises productivity.

Moreover, many times the people around us may have the feeling that we are procrastinating when in reality what we are doing is considering other options or trying to broaden our point of view. In this sense, we share with you this interesting conference (you can activate the subtitles in Spanish).