Imagine you have a big, important task to do, but procrastination sets in.
When you first start thinking about a task, you may encounter the obstacle of emotions, such as fear of failure or perfectionism. If you manage to overcome this obstacle and are ready to begin, you may then face the obstacle of confusion: What should I do? How long will it take? If you manage to overcome this obstacle, you may then encounter the obstacle of friction, such as a lack of motivation, willpower, or feeling too tired to start. This is how procrastination happens. We have all experienced these three obstacles before, but some people struggle more at certain points than others.
Emotional Obstacle
If you are easily distracted or tend to overthink, you might get stuck at the first obstacle, with too many negative emotions about the task. You may predict what might happen and how capable you are of completing the task, and if there is any uncertainty, you may become anxious, fear failure, and procrastinate. One way to overcome this is to not worry about the outcome and instead focus on the process that successful people have used. For example, don’t worry about what score you’ll get on the MCAT. Follow the study schedule that successful students have used, trust in the process, and you’ll be okay.
