15 Real-Life Procrastination Examples That Are More Common Than You Think
“Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.”
I used to think procrastination was just about being lazy or unmotivated. But it’s not so simple.
It can show up as productivity, perfectionism, or even self-care. Sometimes, it feels like you’re doing something useful – until you realise the one thing you really meant to do keeps getting pushed to tomorrow.
The good news is, once you spot these patterns, they get a lot easier to work through. You don’t need a major mindset shift or a perfectly organised routine – just a few small nudges in the right direction.
Below, I’ve rounded up some of the most common (and relatable) procrastination examples – everyday habits you might not even realise are stalling your progress – along with simple, doable fixes for each one. Nothing complicated. Just real-life examples and how to gently move past them.
Let’s get into it.
Everyday Examples of Procrastination (with Quick Fixes)
1. Scrolling social media instead of actually working
Ever told yourself, “Just one quick check,” only to find thirty minutes have slipped away in a TikTok spiral? Scrolling is the ultimate illusion of productivity – until you realise your inbox is still full, and your deadline is breathing down your neck.
Quick Fix: Put your phone on “Do Not Disturb” or stash it in another room for 15 minutes. Promise yourself you can scroll only after you’ve cleaned out the cupboard, answered that one email, or loaded the laundry – whatever micro-task you’ve been avoiding.
2. “I’ll do it tomorrow” syndrome
You keep postponing the work – even though you know exactly what needs to be done. It’s a chronic habit of delay. “Tomorrow” feels safer than today, so the cycle repeats. One more Netflix episode today won’t hurt.
Quick Fix: Set a 15-minute timer. Don’t commit to finishing – just to starting. The hardest part is beginning. Once the ball is rolling, momentum usually does the rest.
3. Reorganising or cleaning as a distraction
Dusting your desk, alphabetising your files, or reordering your bookshelf can feel like noble tasks – until you realise you’ve delayed your “real” project. If cleaning starts replacing your actual task, it’s just busywork in disguise.
Quick Fix: Set a strict 5-minute timer for tidying. When it dings, move on to your main task – even if your workspace still looks halfway messy.
4. Overthinking a simple decision (analysis paralysis)
Faced with two email draft options or a choice between “Slide A” or “Slide B”? Instead of picking one, you spend 20 minutes mentally debating pros and cons. By the time you decide, the day is half gone.
Quick Fix: Give yourself three minutes to decide. When the timer goes off, choose “good enough” and move forward. You can refine later – perfection will wait.
5. Waiting for perfect conditions
You need total silence and a full hour of uninterrupted focus before you’ll “get started”. Problem is, life rarely hands you that perfect block of time – but still, you keep waiting.
Quick Fix: Do a 10-minute “sprint” right now. Even if it’s just drafting two sentences or tackling a small chore, those ten minutes often turn into twenty.
6. Endless research (shiny object syndrome)
You dive into “best practices” tutorials on YouTube, find five new business ideas, read half a dozen blog posts – yet you still haven’t completed a single goal. Learning feels productive, but it’s just another stall tactic.
Quick Fix: After two quick videos (or one blog post), choose one project and finish it, no matter how imperfect. You’ll learn more by doing than by endlessly watching.
7. Multitasking to avoid the main task
You start one small to-do, then another, then reply to a couple of Slack messages – anything except that spreadsheet or report waiting in your drafts. Suddenly, you’ve been “busy” for two hours without making real progress.
Quick Fix: Block off 15 minutes of single-task focus. Mute notifications, set a visible timer, and work on that one thing. If a new message pings, let it wait. Focus first, respond later.
8. Crafting elaborate to-do lists without executing
You spend half an hour creating colour-coded to-do lists, bullet points, and sub-lists for “tomorrow.” Tomorrow arrives, and you’re still staring at the same nifty list, paralysed by its very organisation.
Quick Fix: Pick one top-priority task from your list and start on it – no more to-dos until that single item is completed. Done is always better than perfectly planned.
9. Perfecting one small detail instead of progressing
You tweak the font size, adjust the spacing, and rewrite one sentence on Slide 1 – yet Slide 2 through Slide 10 don’t even exist. Perfectionism disguises itself as care, but it’s really a delay tactic.
Quick Fix: Give yourself exactly two minutes to tweak. When two minutes are up, force yourself to move on. The rest of your work won’t create itself.
10. Waiting for inspiration to strike
You tell yourself, “I’m just not feeling creative today,” so you stare at a blank page until the muse shows up. But, most of the time, it doesn’t work that way. That’s exactly when you might need a gentle reminder of how to get your creativity back.
Quick Fix: Use a prompt or fill-in-the-blank exercise: “Today I will write about the one challenge I overcame last week”. Write one paragraph. You’ll usually find that inspiration follows any movement, even if it’s small.
11. Saying “I work better under pressure”
You believe you need a looming deadline to perform your best, so you don’t start until the last possible moment. True, adrenaline can be motivating – but it’s a risky game. Learning how to find your focus can help you work smarter, instead of waiting for panic to kick in.
Quick Fix: Create an artificial, low-stakes deadline. Tell a friend you’ll send them your draft by 4 pm, or promise to put $5 in a “penalty jar” if you don’t write 300 words by a certain time. Accountability creates its own pressure – minus the panic.
12. Feeling overwhelmed by a task’s scope
You see a 10,000-word report or a major closet-cleaning project and your brain instantly shuts off. “How do I even begin?” you wonder, before clicking out of the window.
Quick Fix: Break it down into bite-size chunks. Commit to “write one 200-word paragraph” or “clear one shelf.” Once a single chunk is done, tackle the next. Suddenly, the mountain becomes a set of small steps.
13. Dreading the “boring” part of a job
Brainstorming blog ideas feels fun – but data entry or responding to routine messages? Yawn. So you avoid the dull stuff, thinking you can “get to it later” – but later never comes.
Quick Fix: Pair the boring task with a micro-reward. Promise yourself one favourite song or a quick cup of tea for every 15 minutes you work on the dull section. Approach boring tasks like a workout: tough now, rewarding later.
14. Getting sidetracked by notifications
Every Teams ding, email pop-up, or calendar buzz pulls you away from your focus. You glance for “just a second,” and suddenly 20 minutes have vanished. Each interruption compounds the avoidance.
Quick Fix: Turn off all non-urgent notifications for at least 30 minutes. Silence is your best friend when you need to focus – if something truly urgent happens, the sender will call or follow up.
15. Avoiding unclear parts by saying “I’ll handle that later”
You skip over anything that feels vague, technical, or hard to define – and promise yourself you’ll return to it. But those skipped steps pile up and block your progress later.
Quick Fix: Pause and define the foggy part in one sentence. Once you name the problem, it’s easier to either solve or hand off.
Procrastination doesn’t always look like slacking off. Sometimes it wears the mask of productivity, planning, or even self-care. But once you start noticing these patterns, they’re easier to shift. The fix doesn’t have to be huge – just a small action, done today instead of tomorrow.
Which of these procrastination examples hit closest to home?
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