Procrastination can become a harmful disorder

0 Comments | Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Dec 15, 2007 | by Joseph Cramer, M.D. Deseret Morning News

Down to defeat is the destination

of all those who practice procrastination.

-- Lew W.M. Cramer, my dad

No wonder I feel like a loser so many times. For me there is nothing I can't put off tomorrow I have already put off today. Procrastination is a very common ailment. It's not quite a disease, but if exercised too often it can become a kind of disorder. Procrastinating is avoidance, a biological response to increased tension. It is more common and more intense in people with increased worry or nervousness. It is also a problem-solving style learned from infancy. Like any group of fans who support perennial losers (say, the Chicago Cubs) the favorite mantra of procrastinators is "There's always next year."

The problem is that in so many endeavors outside of the pennant race, there is no guarantee of a second chance. Time is linear and keeps going forward, flying past a lot of moments of personal victory.

Avoidance is another "flee phenomenon" of managing perceived threats. Our body has limited options to handle an onrushing bear. We can flee, or as the joke goes, "I only have to outrun you, not the bear." We can stay and fight with whatever weapon is on hand. (I personally would prefer a large-caliber gun), or we could freeze -- "Don't move and he won't see us!"

We are probably predisposed by temperament on a favorite form of escape. Infants, very early on, can be shown to be "approachers" and "withdrawers." Those with the predisposition to approach look ahead and deal with new things with greater ease. People with withdrawal turn away. They are more sensitive to the world around them. It isn't bad, just a difference. These behaviors display how the brain regulates energy and processes the information of potential harm. If the face, food or setting is interpreted as a threat too great to cope with, then the child will avoid for self-protection. It is as if the child's body says, "Quick, run, hide" all the time.

Avoidance is also a result of a parenting style. A child is taught, over the millions of minutes of infancy, that when there is a crisis and fear is the emotion, running away is the best solution. It is taught by repeatedly experiencing stress without a matching parental response of calm. There is learned external quieting but little internal calm. As the tension goes up, the habit becomes to deal with it by escape. This may not be actual physical running but a failure to deal with the tension.

Procrastination also has an addictive profile, much like cocaine. The drug causes a surge of pleasure with a resulting crushing low, enforcing the need to do it again and again to avoid the agony. While not illegal or as enslaving, postponing builds the tension more and more until something has to be done or the crisis passes on its own. If we finally act, the release of tension is enormous -- much like a drug-induced high. The crash comes when our performance is suboptimal or the excuses and self-criticism come in waves of "If only I had" or "I should have done better" or "If only I had more time." There is tension, release, then pain.

Treating procrastination means overcoming internal tension and worry and vanquishing childhood traditions of managing stress by running away. Therefore, know your fears. Naming them helps deal with them. Skip the stressors you can. Act before the tension is too high. Have a visible written plan or list to do. Commit with others for help. Hold hands. Do simple things, then celebrate and provide huge emotional rewards to yourself for doing something small now. If anxiety is up, bring it down. Don't beat yourself afterward if you happen to delay.

My dad was right, but his saying needs more verses:

"Down with fear" is the obligation for all those who crush procrastination.

"Up with courage" is the destination of all those who defeat procrastination.

Joseph Cramer, M.D., is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, a practicing pediatrician for more than 25 years and an adjunct professor of pediatrics at the University of Utah. He can be reached at jgcramermd@yahoo.com.