2. ARE YOU A CHRONIC PROCRASTINATOR - LIFEHACK.ORG
Introduction
If you have so many things to do that you often find yourself struggling to finish projects and
tasks, you’re certainly not alone. Studies show that over 20 percent of the adult population
put off or avoid doing certain tasks by allowing themselves to be overtaken by distractions.
Procrastination is doing more pleasurable things in place of less pleasurable ones. And the
end result is that important tasks are put off to a later time.
The cause of procrastination varies from person to person and is not always obvious.
Sometimes it is a hidden fear that you don’t want to acknowledge, or it could even be as
simple as not wanting to do something because it just doesn’t motivate you.
Whatever the reason may be, procrastination has far more damaging effects than you may
realize. It can hold you back from succeeding and accomplishing the most important things
in your life.
In this Procrastination Assessment, you will discover how serious your procrastination
problem is, and the importance of overcoming procrastination.
Direction
There are 20 questions in this assessment. To take the assessment, simply read each
statement carefully and circle one of the five options for each statement indicating how well
that statement describes you:
1. This statement does not describe you at all.
2. This statement describes you just a little.
3. This statement somewhat describes you.
4. This statement describes you pretty well.
5. This statement describes you exactly.
Remember to circle your best, most honest answer. When you’ve completed the
assessment, refer to the scoring instructions for your personal assessment.
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3. ARE YOU A CHRONIC PROCRASTINATOR - LIFEHACK.ORG
Are You a Chronic Procrastinator?
1. I'm lost without a road map.
1 2 3 4 5
2. I don't work well when I'm left on my own devices.
1 2 3 4 5
3. I cannot stand to be bored.
1 2 3 4 5
4. I need everything to be perfect to start / complete a task.
1 2 3 4 5
5. I find myself feeling too tired to work all the time.
1 2 3 4 5
6.
I prefer to spend my time enjoying the present than to think
about the future rewards/benefits I may reap.
1 2 3 4 5
7. I prefer to spontaneously work on my tasks than to plan them.
1 2 3 4 5
8. I work best under pressure.
1 2 3 4 5
9.
I have difficulty estimating the time it takes to complete a
task.
1 2 3 4 5
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4. ARE YOU A CHRONIC PROCRASTINATOR - LIFEHACK.ORG
10.
I focus on non-essential office work instead of what needs to
get done.
1 2 3 4 5
11.
When I lack confidence in my ability to correctly or adequately
perform a task, I skip the task.
1 2 3 4 5
12. I always worry that what I do may go wrong.
1 2 3 4 5
13.
I get frustrated quickly when I'm not enjoying myself and the
task at hand.
1 2 3 4 5
14. I always find myself running out of time.
1 2 3 4 5
15. I constantly worry about what others think of my work.
1 2 3 4 5
16. I have difficulty coping with change and transitions.
1 2 3 4 5
17.
I find it challenging to focus and concentrate on a task for
more than an hour.
1 2 3 4 5
18. I'm either pulling off or recovering from an all-nighter.
1 2 3 4 5
19. I'm chronically late.
1 2 3 4 5
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5. ARE YOU A CHRONIC PROCRASTINATOR - LIFEHACK.ORG
20. I feel overwhelmed by tasks easily.
1 2 3 4 5
Scoring Instructions
Now calculate your total score for the above 20 questions: [ ]
Which of the following range does your score fall into?
Score Range Indication
Below 40
You procrastinate every now and then when you lose your
motivation due to different reasons. You can learn effective
ways to prevent procrastination easily whenever it hits you!
40-60
You procrastinate often and struggle to work on important
tasks even though you know you shouldn’t. With a bit of
guided effort, you’ll be able to overcome procrastination.
61-80
Your procrastination is holding you back from completing
almost every important task. You’re always pulling off or
recovering from an all-nighter. But even so, you’re capable
of stopping this bad habit with the right method.
Above 80
You always procrastinate and are possibly a chronic
procrastinator. You're not getting anything important done
and it’s affecting your work and personal life. Remember,
you don’t need to let procrastination control your life, you
can turn things around!
No matter what your score is, it is just an indication of your current situation. There is a lot
you can do to overcome procrastination and start achieving more.
In the following section, you will learn more about the importance of getting over
procrastination.
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6. ARE YOU A CHRONIC PROCRASTINATOR - LIFEHACK.ORG
How Bad Is Procrastination?
It’s easy to get distracted or to trick ourselves into spinning our wheels doing nothing. It
takes our mind off the uncomfortable sensation of failing to make progress on something
important.
So, procrastination can destroy not only your productivity, but your entire life.
You will blow opportunities.
How many opportunities have you wasted because you didn’t take advantage of them
when they were there? This is when you really want to kick yourself.
What you don’t realize is that the opportunity could have been life changing but you missed
out on it. Most opportunities only come around once; you are never guaranteed a second
chance.
Opportunities are the world’s way of giving you more, do yourself a favor and grab them
with both hands!
You will miss important goals.
Procrastination seems to come on with full force when we entertain the thought of goals, of
wanting to achieve or change something. You might have a strong desire to change but you
just can’t seem to take the first step forward.
We set goals because we have a deep desire to better our lives in some way. If you don’t do
this because of procrastination, you destroy the possibility to better your life.
You could ruin your career.
The way you work directly affects your results, how much you have achieved and how well
you perform.
Perhaps procrastination prevents you from meeting deadlines or achieving your monthly
targets. You might miss out on promotions or worse; you might even be at risk of losing your
job.
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7. ARE YOU A CHRONIC PROCRASTINATOR - LIFEHACK.ORG
You will lower your self-esteem.
This is one of the vicious circles you might find yourself in. We tend to procrastinate
sometimes because of low self-esteem, but procrastinating doesn’t only reinforce this, it
makes it even lower.
You start to doubt and question what is wrong with you. You might desperately ask
yourself, “Why can’t I just do it?”
Having low self-esteem destroys lives in many ways. When we have low self-esteem, we
hold ourselves back, we feel less than we should and it leads to self-sabotaging acts.
You will make poor decisions.
When you procrastinate and make decisions from this standpoint, they are almost always
going to be poor decisions because of the place you are coming from.
When you procrastinate, you make decisions based on criteria that most likely wouldn’t be
there if you didn’t procrastinate, like pressure to finally make a decision because time is
running out.
Emotions heavily influence the decisions we make and procrastination affects how we feel
to a large degree.
Poor decision making has huge negative effects on our happiness, results and life.
You will risk your health.
Procrastination is linked to mental health problems like stress and anxiety, and these in turn
are linked to health issues. If your procrastination leads to feelings of depression, over time,
this depression will start to affect other areas of your life.
If you procrastinate too much with something, it will most likely start to stress you out and
cause anxiety, especially when other people or things are involved.
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8. ARE YOU A CHRONIC PROCRASTINATOR - LIFEHACK.ORG
How to Stop Procrastinating Once and for All?
Despite the fact that it’s human nature to seek immediate rewards and procrastinate tasks
that take effort, there’s a lot you can do to beat procrastination. Such ways include getting
to the root cause of why you procrastinate, getting rid of your procrastination triggers,
changing your thinking on short-term and long-term rewards, keeping track of your time
wisely and more.
If you want to learn more practical tips and techniques to stop procrastinating, stay tuned
with our email newsletter -- all the insider’s guide to overcoming procrastination and
helping you achieve more will be delivered to your inbox!
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