Psychologists have explained the causes of procrastination and named ways to cope with it.

Procrastination is the active postponement of important tasks with full understanding of the consequences. Most often, anxiety, perfectionism, or fear of failure are behind this. Psychologist Maria Gubkina told Izvestia about this on April 21.

According to her, it is important to distinguish between laziness and procrastination. In the first case, a person has no desire to act, in the second, he is aware of the need for a task, but avoids doing it.

She explained that the brain tends to choose short-term relief over long-term benefit. Watching social media or TV shows reduces the level of anxiety "here and now", reinforcing the habit of avoidance.

According to experts, the tendency to procrastination decreases with age. This is due to a change in life priorities, the accumulation of experience and the development of self-regulation skills. However, the consequences of procrastination in youth may persist — in the form of missed opportunities and delayed career growth.

Gubkina also noted differences in the causes of procrastination. In women, it is more often associated with perfectionism and fear of evaluation, in men — with avoidance of routine tasks or loss of interest.

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In turn, Ekaterina Bulgakova, Associate Professor of the Department of Labor Psychology at the State University of Education, emphasized in a conversation with Izvestia that procrastination is based on complex neuropsychological processes.

"When a task is perceived as difficult or emotionally stressful, the brain reacts to it as a threat and triggers an avoidance mechanism. The limbic system, which is responsible for emotions, takes over from the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for planning," she explained.

The expert added that external factors such as deadlines and responsibility help reduce the tendency to procrastinate in adulthood, but they do not eliminate the accumulated consequences.

According to Bulgakova, effective ways to combat procrastination are not related to strict self-control, but to understanding the causes of behavior. If the problem is related to anxiety, "grounding" techniques help — simple actions that bring attention back to the current moment. With perfectionism, it is important to lower the bar of expectations and allow yourself to perform tasks that are not perfect.

Experts also recommend breaking down tasks into small steps and using the "15 minutes" rule, in which a person starts work with a minimum time interval.

"Procrastination is a signal, not a verdict. It is important not to fight with yourself, but to understand what exactly causes resistance, and gradually return to action without self—accusation," Bulgakova stressed.

Experts point out that developing self-regulation skills and being attentive to one's own condition help reduce the impact of procrastination and increase productivity.

On April 7, Roman Yerkhov, CEO of TuBi recruiting company, told Izvestia that the decrease in employee productivity is more often associated not with personal qualities, but with the features of the management system. According to the expert, the laziness of employees in most cases is a manifestation of procrastination, burnout or low engagement. The reasons for postponing tasks are lack of clear goals, lack of feedback, and loss of meaning in the work.