How to Avoid Procrastinating When You Don't Want to Work

"Whether it is putting off doing the laundry, paying your bills, or getting your shopping done, we all procrastinate. As students, the urge to procrastinate is even stronger when you're surrounded by opportunities to have fun. But procrastination has been found to lead to poorer academic performance, higher levels of stress and anxiety, and academic burnout. Lee, Othman, & Ramlee (2025) were interested in determining if there were other treatment modalities besides Cognitive Behavioral Therapy that might help avoid procrastination."

"ACT is a short-term therapy that helps people accept difficult or uncomfortable thoughts and feelings while having them commit to actions that support their long-term life goals. Instead of changing thought patterns - the goal of traditional Cognitive Behavioral Therapy - ACT encourages people to change their relationship to thoughts and emotions by relying on six principles of psychological flexibility."

Procrastination commonly occurs in everyday tasks and intensifies for students amid distractions, contributing to poorer academic performance, elevated stress and anxiety, and academic burnout. Analysis of nine studies using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) with students found reductions in academic procrastination through enhanced psychological flexibility. ACT is a short-term approach that promotes acceptance of difficult thoughts and feelings while encouraging committed actions that align with long-term goals, using six principles of psychological flexibility rather than attempting to change thought content. Applying ACT involves clarifying core values, accepting the urge to delay, and choosing value-driven actions despite unwanted impulses.

Read at Psychology Today