Procrastination is a common part of human behaviour in that it is something that most of us do from time to time. Often people confuse procrastination for “laziness” and in everyday language, it sounds a little like, “putting things off”, “delaying”, “waiting until the last minute”, or “postponing”. Procrastination can be problematic depending on the negative consequences associated with not following things through.

Example

Patrick has an important exam coming up in a weeks’ time and knows that he has to revise in order to achieve the best possible mark he can. Instead of revising, Patrick binges on Netflix, surfs the web, sorts through old emails, and takes regular smoke breaks. To avoid feeling guilt associated with procrastination, Patrick makes excuses such as “I am too tired, I will do it tomorrow” and “I need to wait until I am in a better mood”.