Perfectionism and procrastination: 4 tips for moving forward
In this article, I’m going to explain the link between perfectionism and procrastination.
Perfectionism can be defined as a mental state in which a person feels compelled to achieve unrealistic goals, with high standards.
Perfectionism is not always bad because it allows us to be better at what we do.
But if it becomes too important to the point of preventing you from taking action then it can cause a real problem in your personal or professional life.
Procrastination is the avoidance of activities that seem tedious or uninteresting. It is a strategy to avoid stress and anxiety but has negative effects in the long run.
This is because it will cause a delay in the work to be done which will increase your stress level and create a vicious circle.
Next, I present you :
- some research showing the link between procrastination and perfectionism
- practical tips to better manage perfectionism in order to reduce your habit of procrastination
1 – Good and bad perfectionism
As you have read in my previous articles, some psychological factors are not always good or bad.
For example, you probably know that there are two forms of procrastination, namely passive and active procrastination.
Passive procrastination is the tendency to postpone important activities even if it has negative consequences in your professional or personal life.
Active procrastination, on the other hand, is the strategic choice to postpone an activity in order to carry it out at a later time. In the latter case, the task will be completed in a reasonable amount of time.
Perfectionism can be positive or negative because how Sirois, Molnar & Hirsch (2017) show perfectionism is a multidimensional factor and perfectionistic concerns are positively correlated with procrastination. In contrast, perfectionism seeking is negatively correlated with procrastination.
This means that perfectionism that is motivated by the desire to improve does not cause procrastination. On the contrary, this form of perfectionism can be beneficial to progress.
In this case, it is in your best interest to strengthen your skills and confidence in your abilities. One way to strengthen self-confidence is to strengthen self-efficacy, i.e. the belief in your ability to succeed in whatever you undertake. In this sense, Xie, Yang, & Cehn (2018) show that self-efficacy mediates the relationship between procrastination and self-directed perfectionism and that self-directed perfectionism is an indicator of perfectionism seeking.
On the other hand, when perfectionism is externally directed, i.e., the gaze of others, social norms, fears, etc., then people tend to postpone their actions and therefore procrastinate.
Actionable tip: change what you focus on
Instead of thinking all the time about the reaction of your external environment, focus on yourself. Start with your most important values and set goals that are consistent with what is most important to you.
2 – Chance or credit?
Perfectionism also depends on the difficulty some people have to identify factors responsible for their successes and failures.
According to Shafran (2002) even when they achieve their goals, perfectionists tend to attribute their success to external factors. On the contrary, when goals are not achieved, these individuals may engage in avoidance coping strategies such as procrastination in order to protect their self-worth.
ActionableTip: Become aware of your difficulty in evaluating situations
Start to question your current ability to evaluate yourself and try to assess yourself more objectively by defining personal rules over which you have more control and which allow you a greater probability of success in your daily life.
3 – The importance of self-kindness
Perfectionist people are extremely critical of themselves and this has a negative effect on their self-esteem. As a result, not only do they experience more unpleasant emotions than others, but they also tend to take fewer and fewer actions and thus procrastinate.
For example Burnam & al. (2014) show that students who doubt their ability to succeed, view their mistakes as a sign of failure, and do not set high personal standards for themselves are more likely to report that their procrastination behavior is problematic.
But people who try to be more forgiving of themselves, are able to manage emotions better and thus continue to do their best despite failures. Sapanci (2021) shows the mediating role of self-compassion in the relationship between perfectionism and procrastination.
This means that by helping perfectionists develop more self-compassion, it is possible to help them become more accepting of the fact that mistakes are a part of life and therefore reduce their tendency to procrastinate.
Actionable tip: Become aware of your internal dialogue
Start paying more attention to how you communicate with yourself. You can also write down what you are thinking.
Then, rate the level of caring in your internal dialogue between 1 and 10.
Then reinterpret the situation in a more empathetic way and write a more compassionate sentence to describe yourself.
4 – Pay attention to fear of failure
Yosopov (2020) shows that the fear of failure predicts the tendency to generalize failures to the overall self-image and this combination of effects is at the origin of the association between perfectionism and procrastination.
What really causes procrastination in people who are too perfectionist is first and foremost the fear of failure.
Managing this fear is essential because it can affect all areas of a person’s life.
The most important thing to help a perfectionist is to develop his or her self-esteem.
First of all, it is important to understand that self-esteem is linked to context.
That is to say that you feel more or less capable depending on the situations you encounter in your life.
As you understand, you cannot fail in all areas of your life.
So focus on your successes to build self-esteem. Then, look at each new situation as a new beginning and try to be aware of your progress, your strengths, not just your weaknesses.
Operational tip: Turn fear to your advantage
You’re afraid you won’t make it, but instead of suffering it, use it to motivate you to take action.
First, identify the possible consequences of failure.
Then, take some time to find solutions to avoid this unpleasant outcome.
Finally, focus on the benefits of success.
Use the pain of failure and the pleasure of success to move forward.
Finally, understand that there is no such thing as failure if you continue to learn as much from your mistakes as from your successes.
Conclusions on the link between perfectionism and procrastination
In this article, I have highlighted the main factors that explain the link between perfectionism focused on others’ expectations and passive procrastination.
By applying the tips I’ve just suggested, you’ll begin to reduce procrastination.
If you are interested in the topic of productivity, I invite you to discover all my articles on productivity.
If you are looking for tools to improve your time management skills, I recommend you read my article on the best time management apps.
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Read this article in other languages
Français : Perfectionnisme et procrastination : quel est le lien et comment progresser
Italiano: Perfezionismo e procrastinazione: qual è il legame e come evolvere