- They find it very difficult to resist the urge to postpone things. As a result, they experience unpleasant feelings (insecurity, worthlessness, guilt).
- All procrastinators rationalize their behavior as something they cannot help. They can always come up with an excuse that makes it seem logical that they put something off. This is called avoidance behavior: they avoid confronting themselves.
- All those negative feelings cause their competencies to decline: they perform below what they are actually capable of. Due to the ‘self-paralyzing effect’ of procrastination, they achieve less than you might expect based on their intelligence and motivation.
Read more below about your personal procrastination type:
The Workhorse is a highly social person. You can always ask them for help, because they always say ‘yes’, even when it’s not realistic due to lack of time. They are incredibly busy, but mostly with things for other people. Precisely because they are so occupied, you wouldn’t immediately call them a procrastinator — but they are.
Strengths
Workhorses have boundless energy; they can also do many things simultaneously. When well planned, Workhorses can get an enormous amount done. They are also sociable: friends can always count on them.
Pitfalls
The Workhorse often has less self-confidence and a lower sense of self-worth. This makes it very difficult for them to say no to others.
Furthermore, they take on so much that they quickly mix up their priorities. When choices have to be made because there is less time than needed, Workhorses find this very difficult.
Thirdly, it is difficult for Workhorses to relax. They feel guilty when they take time for themselves, because there is always another task to be done.
The Overthinker is above all a champion at postponing decisions, from small to large. After all, you know what you have right now — if you make different choices, it remains to be seen whether that was wise. They hesitate to make a decision, or to take the first step in a challenging situation.
Strengths
A great way to postpone a decision is to get stuck in the process of gathering information. This is something the Overthinker excels at: collecting information, listing all kinds of perspectives, and seeking the opinions of others.
With this quality, an Overthinker can also achieve excellent results, when working with someone who dares to take responsibility for making the decision
Pitfalls
The Overthinker can appear unmotivated or even lazy, due to their slow pace or reluctance to take a first step. This is unfair; the procrastination is mainly caused by a lack of self-confidence. Can I actually do this?
The inability to make decisions can drive others to despair. The Overthinker finds it difficult to make decisions and also struggles to commit to decisions that have already been made. First, the Overthinker will seek information, advice, and confirmation.
A Stress Junkie is allergic to everything boring. They always have something going on and hate missing out on fun. The Stress Junkie gets a thrill from doing things at the last moment; chaos and emergencies give them a sense of being needed. When things become calm and manageable, they will create those situations themselves if necessary.
Their motto is ‘I simply work best under pressure’. That is why they seek out situations and professions where this is common.
Strengths
Stress Junkies are courageous and are not put off by complex challenges. A Stress Junkie also has a great deal of energy and drive, allowing them to handle a tight schedule.
Pitfalls
Because a Stress Junkie gets bored easily, they turn away from anything systematic and rational. Only when something becomes a crisis do they become interested. Ordinary daily activities are therefore postponed; they provide no thrill.
Attention is important to a Stress Junkie. This is why they can be quite dramatic; they put off work until the last moment — especially unpleasant tasks — and then emerge as ‘the hero of the day’ at the end.
Stress Junkies do not always work in a goal-oriented way; they are mainly attracted to ‘living on the edge’. They will even provoke a crisis if it means getting that rush. The downside is that they sometimes go so far that it becomes impossible to do something properly, even though it could have been done well if they had started earlier.
A Superhuman sets extremely high standards for themselves and for others. The bar is high, every detail must be perfect… sometimes to the point of being unrealistic. A Superhuman is afraid of failure and ties their sense of self-worth to the skills and achievements they demonstrate.
By procrastinating, a Superhuman has a perfect excuse for not performing at their best: it makes sense that you cannot deliver a top result with so little time. This is also known as self-sabotage; if things do not go well, it can always be attributed to something outside the Perfectionist’s control (lack of time).
Superhumans can also endlessly delay completing tasks or projects until something is perfect – which is unachievable. They redo tasks (re-reading things, rearranging a layout) in the hope that this time it will truly be 100% right.
Strengths
They always work thoroughly and have an eye for detail. Especially when they need to process a lot of information, such as in study, this is an advantage.
Superhumans are also good at planning (although the goals are not always realistic); making schedules comes naturally to them and they also make considerable progress in carrying them out.
Pitfalls
Due to the drive for perfectionism, a Superhuman also sets the bar too high in their planning. They tend to estimate the time needed idealistically, leaving no room for unforeseen developments (because it will be perfect, right?).
Because their sense of self-worth is so strongly linked to their achievements, failure is an intense experience for a Superhuman.
Superhumans enjoy day-to-day activities less; they see almost everything in life as a burden.
The Dreamer often forgets the step between dreaming and doing. They get stuck in the thinking stage, figuring out what they would like and what they hope for.
A Dreamer often gets stuck in broad, grand, vague plans and never gets around to making an action plan or working out the concrete tasks that belong to the goal.
Strengths
The Dreamer can put the importance of urgency in perspective. They are optimistic (‘It will all work out’) and positively minded.
Because a Dreamer is aware of their own dreams and desires, they are good at looking at what they truly want. This gives them a lot of information to eventually describe the goal or outcome.
Pitfalls
Because they get absorbed in their fantasy world, Dreamers have an aversion to daily, recurring tasks. A Dreamer wants a pleasant and easy life and stays well away from unpleasant things.
The Dreamer has little eye for facts and details; they prefer to leave those to others. This does not always make for a fair division of work.
The Dreamer’s optimism can sometimes get in their way. Hard work is unnecessary, because it will all work out anyway, right?
Do you have questions about this test or would you like to know more about what the results mean? Feel free to get in touch, or visit my website to find out about my coaching and training programmes. There is also a specific online training called Stop Procrastinating.
Karen
karen@newbroom.nl
0652 645 283