What is perfectionism: meaning, reasons, how to deal with procrastination

There are various techniques on how not to put things off for later. However, for the most part they are associated with the use of human willpower. Treatment is a constant work on oneself, strengthening one's consciousness.

What does perfectionism syndrome mean?

One of the common problems of people in modern society is perfectionism syndrome. In other words, putting things off until later. Of course, postponing is different, but sometimes it becomes a real hindrance. Mentally healthy people refuse to perform certain tasks, and this begins to harm them greatly. They lose money, jobs and relationships, get fined and scolded, but keep saving. This, of course, is not about a sudden offer to rob a bank or cheat on the stock market, but about everyday completely legal matters such as work, study or housekeeping.

Agree, this is an interesting phenomenon. A fully capable citizen refuses to do a job that promises him benefits and bonuses in the future, and receives a lot of minuses in return. From the point of view of common sense, this sounds strange, but, nevertheless, there are cases where procrastination is not isolated. This affects not 1-2 people, but much more. According to rough estimates of experts, almost 100% of people procrastinate at some point in their lives, and about 60% use procrastination so often that it significantly worsens their quality of life.

What does perfectionism mean in relation to economic development and well-being? The United States has already begun to calculate the economic damage from such behavior of citizens. So, one of the studies showed that in the size of the country, due to procrastination, up to 20% of the national gross income is lost. This is all unfinished, unfinished, unplanned and other unfinished… You can add unsigned contracts, refusals to complete large projects and business failures to them. Indeed, for all these major cases, it is necessary to take many timely actions, draw up papers in time and build projects.

Postponing things for later

Procrastination is present to one degree or another in everyone's life. Probably everyone can agree that from time to time they try to delay some unpleasant business or events. And it's not always bad. Sometimes procrastination has a positive effect. During the time of postponing, a person matures, plans and works out the details. This is the so-called positive, or productive, procrastination. It is not really a problem, but rather a working style.

They talk about procrastination as a problem if it becomes a kind of stereotype. In this case, there is a constant postponing of affairs for later. When a person begins to experience any unpleasant experiences or expectations, procrastination becomes a way for him to avoid the bad. Not doing it is a way to save yourself from negative emotions. But this strategy often becomes a way not to avoid, but to find more problems for yourself. After all, the more you delay, the more you will have to answer for it and work harder. Procrastination, when it results in negative consequences for the individual, is called pathological.

The meaning of perfectionism: what is it?

Perfectionism has only one meaning. This desire to refuse momentary performance of certain affairs. People quit jobs for a variety of reasons. As discussed above, in most cases, the main driving force behind not doing things is anticipating negative feelings and trying to avoid them. In other words, everything that pushes a person to procrastinate is in his head and relates to his beliefs and vision of the world. Allocate certain internal obstacles on the way to doing things.

Perfectionism: what is it, banal laziness or a psychological problem? Man believes that everything must be done perfectly. But since internally he strongly doubts his ability to achieve the ideal, he simply does nothing.

Fear of success. A person fears that they will not love him, that he will be rejected if he suddenly succeeds. Sounds strange, but it's true. After all, you can often hear from people something like: “I achieved success and forgot the men, I became proud." Moreover, people are afraid that success will dictate certain conditions, responsibilities. You have to work harder, invest more. Although in principle a person can do his job on time and continue relationships with others or refuse high-ranking positions, but those who put things off because of fear of success do not come up with additional options.

Fear of failure

Fear of failure is one of the psychological underpinnings of this state. Cases are delayed because they may not work out, and then. Then everyone has their own content.

Anger. Refusal to do things because a person is angry at a situation in which he has to do something when he really does not want to.

Failure to plan. A person takes on several tasks at the same time, which are thrown halfway, because something new begins.

The need for increased stimulation. Things drag on until the last moment because the deadline is too far away and not invigorating at all. To invigorate, to tickle the nerves, the matter begins only when it is already almost impossible to have time. A person does not sleep at night, experiences stress and, when, finally, everything is done, he experiences a feeling of significant relief, which can be pleasurable in itself.

Causes of Procrastination

A lot is being written about procrastination now, it has almost been equated with absolute evil. The term "procrastination" itself began to mean only pathological procrastination. However, the behavior associated with postponing things for the future was very characteristic of the ancients. The Romans and Greeks of old never made a decision until there was an urgent need. They discussed and considered any problem for a long time, philosophizing on this topic, looking for positive and negative sides. Such behavior began to be considered bad in the Middle Ages: according to Christian ideas, after the fall of Adam, God bequeathed to work in the sweat of his brow until the end of his days. Therefore, if you put things off and spend time idle and thinking, you are sinning. But so far, the real causes of procrastination have not been found and studied.

Of course, in fact, the question is not only in relation to current affairs and cultural heritage. There are things that cannot be postponed, because then it will be really late. For example, it was quite difficult for the same peasant of the Middle Ages to postpone planting or harvesting. Rather, such procrastination could cost the entire crop, and the family would be left without food for a whole year. Life in those days was hard, so the main concerns were daily bread and survival. Such things cannot be delayed.

How to deal with procrastination?

In the modern world, there are also many branches of human activity that require immediate solutions, quick execution and timely application. On the other hand, there are things that need to be thought about and philosophized, like the ancient Greeks, that is, without fuss and haste. Here, reasonable positive procrastination is even useful. The ability to separate such urgent and non-urgent matters is generally a very useful life skill.

As for pathological procrastination, planning plays a very important role here. Before you fight procrastination, you should distribute your tasks in such a way that each piece of work or item in the plan is necessarily rewarded with positive emotions. It should not be a banquet or an expensive gift to your loved one. Sometimes it is enough to praise yourself, to consider the overall positive contribution to the work that you are doing.

In addition, it is useful to divide all your affairs into the following 4 main groups:

1st – not urgent, but important things that you do to achieve a certain goal. They are performed from time to time, but there is a certain time period when they can and should be completed. For example, buying winter clothes. People do not buy new things for themselves every winter, but they have to do it periodically. This also includes the purchase of furniture or new dishes.

2nd – regular and important things that condition your daily life. This is a trip to the dentist, general cleaning of the house, a large purchase of products.

3rd – rather urgent, but not vital matters: organizing holidays, visiting relatives or friends, planning a vacation.

4th – completely unnecessary and unimportant things: watching TV shows, idle pastime on the Internet, chatting on the phone.

Based on this division, you need to create a plan with time limits that indicate in what period you can do this or that thing, when to start and when the deadline is. And already within this time period, you can paint smaller details. For example, buying a fur coat or a sofa is still not a one-time process. It is necessary to think over what exactly you want, to look for information about what is available and what opportunities exist in order to bring together what you want and what is available. Then estimate the cost in relation to the family budget, etc. All these activities, done at a certain time, can be separate parts of a large decision. Moreover, during the day you need to consider how often you do something related to the 4th group of cases. These are typical time thieves which prevent them from doing something more important. This does not mean that it is necessary to give up pleasant and idle things, but it is very useful to control the time spent on them.