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Did you know that the Latin origin of the word procrastination is pro (forward) plus crastinus (belonging to tomorrow)?
Procrastination is a habit that doesn’t know any geographical boundaries.
When I lived in the Gulf, I remember many times my Arab friends would use the word ‘Bukra’ which means tomorrow. Over time I learned that when they said Bukra, it was either their way saying that they would not heed a requested or they planned to postpone it.
I figured out that when my Belorussian colleagues would use the phrase ‘patum zaftra’ (later tomorrow) they held a similar intention.
Interestingly that too is procrastination.
Even though Wimpy of Popeye fame whose famous line “I’ll gladly pay you on Tuesday for a hamburger today” is mentioned in the context of securing a free meal without any plan to repay the loan, it still reflects the intention to procrastinate when it comes to honoring his part of the deal.
Do you procrastinate? Or maybe sometimes?
I’ll be honest and admit that I have a tendency to procrastinate, especially when there is a change of weather and my body is adjusting.
Admittedly, when the temperature is too high or too low, we become lazy and tend to reassess the concept of priorities and importance of tasks. Some of us start to procrastinate.
But what if you always procrastinate?
There’s 1 way to find out. Try my fun quiz to figure out where you stand and whether you need to make overcoming procrastination a priority!
The key to the scoring is given below. Then read on for some good old fashioned self-help information.
Key to Quiz
1. Yes : 2 points Maybe: 0 No: -1 point
2. Yes : 2 points Maybe: 0 No: -1 point
3. Yes: -1 points Maybe: 0 No: 2 points
4. Yes : 2 points Maybe: 0 No: -1 point
5. Yes: -1 point Maybe: 0 No: 2 points
6. Yes : 2 points Maybe: 0 No: -1 point
7. Yes: -1 point Maybe: 0 No: 2 points
8. Yes: -1 point Maybe: 0 No: 2 points
9. Yes : 2 points Maybe: 0 No: -1 point
10. Yes : 2 points Maybe: 0 No: -1 point
Score Interpretation
You scored 16-20
Well done, you are not a habitual procrastinator! There may be times when you do procrastinate. You may find yourself procrastinating sometimes, we all do. Just ask yourself, is there a reason? Is it justified? If not, just do it.
You scored 9-15
You have a tendency to procrastinate and need to be aware of your reasons for procrastinating. You need to understand better why you procrastinate – there can be many reasons and more than 1 may apply in your case. Book a Change Catalyst Session with me and learn more about yourself with tips to change your habit.
You scored (10)-8
If you scored in this section, then I’m afraid, you are a procrastinator, but then you know it already, don’t you? You miss deadlines, you pay penalties for unpaid bills and are in a perpetual state of overwhelm. You look busy and keep busy but don’t seem to achieve much. Try the solutions listed below.
2 Anti-Procrastination Suggested Solutions
If you love books, then I recommend reading the book Eat That Frog! by Brian Tracy.
If you are serious about overcoming your multifaceted delay tactic habit, then check out my self-study course How to Stop Procrastinating right now. Click the image below or the preceding link highlighted in bold blue to get the full details or here.
So how did it go? Are you a Procrastinator? Game to share your results in the comments box below?
For readers who want to learn more about procrastination behavior please read Professor Clarry Lay’s paper whose work inspired this quiz.
Lay, C. (1986). At last, my research article on procrastination. Journal of Research in Personality, 20, 474-495
Written by: Vatsala Shukla
This post was originally written in June 2013 and has been rewritten for relevance in July 2023.
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“Eat That Frog” – perfect birthday present for the Hubs!
It’s a great book, Kimba. One of my all-time favorites!
Yes I do have a tendency to procrastinate and just today i am working a new system to change that 🙂
That’s awesome, Suzie! Awareness that we have a procrastination problem and working on a system to change that is a hallmark of future success!
I took the quiz again Vatsala, with the same results. I thought it might be different as I’m trying to slow my pace a bit. I think when I put off a task, I spend the time doing something else on my to-do list, so it all gets done. I never put off completing commitments I’ve made to others.
Fortunately you are sticking to the To Do List and completing all your tasks, Tamuria. Yet, there appears to be an element of discomfort dodging though not at critical levels. You’re still playing your A-Game all-round. 🙂
At least I’m not a habitual one 🙂
People don’t always procrastinate. The habit comes in when there is an uncomfortable task and the first line of defense is resistance. We’re covering this in the How to Stop Procrastination teleclass.
Enjoyed the quiz, Vatsala, and even though some might think I’m a procrastinator because I work a lot from inspiration, I am definitely not! I seem to ‘know’ the right time to do what I need to do. I keep hearing about Brian Tracey’s books, so perhaps it would be a fun read for me to finally add to my list! Thanks for helping me confirm that I am not a procrastinator. 🙂
Intuition as a guide to deciding the timing for taking action works for a lot of us, Beverley. In one of my earlier posts, I’ve provided some reasons where procrastination is not only healthy but useful. Most people aren’t card holding members of the Procrastination club, they simply prefer avoiding uncomfortable activities. You’ll enjoy this particular book by Brian Tracey. It’s one of my personal favorites. 🙂
I was never a procrastinator until I took on being responsible for our blogs. I was about to answer yes to each question but right now I have delayed writing my draft for next week’s blog for past 2 days. Im putting other tasks first & I have good reasons, but truth be told my dear Vatsala, I find them challenging. I don’t tackle them like I do so many other tasks in social media & I do put them off. So I’m more of a procrastinator than I want to admit to.
We often avoid uncomfortable tasks, Roslyn, and that leads to procrastination. As long as we cut ourselves some slack, commit to a firm date for task completion and do it, we are fine. It’s when the Wimpy syndrome kicks in that we have a problem and that is the main message of my upcoming teleclass!
Love this! I am not a procrastinator with 16 ; however this was more due to intuitive guidance than procrastination. xoxo
Awesome 16 score, Natasha! You and Beverley are kindred spirits on using intuition for guiding the timing of your actions.
Something really stimulated me in your mention of Wimpy and his pay you tomorrow burger. What I got from what you wrote is that procrastination is a form of non-payment. Our tasks of this day, be they personal or professional, are our ‘payment’ for our presence here on earth, in this life. We best engage with what life is putting in front of us – and we all know what that is – and we ought not let those debts pile up, or life will lose its CURRENCY! Vatsala, somehow this is moving me very deeply. Thank you!
At a deeper spiritual level, you have nailed the Wimpy part of this post, Reba. There is a couplet by the famous Saint Kabir that we were taught in school, where he tells us to do the tasks that we put off for tomorrow today and the tasks for today should be done immediately because if the world were to end in a second, when would you complete the task? The English translation doesn’t really capture the essence of the couplet but I know you’ll understand it. I’m delighted this post has touched you so deeply. Mission accomplished! 🙂
Just scraped through to not being a habitual procrastinator.I think I put things off a bit more these days than I used to but I’m also less uptight about things and more mindful, which means everything is a priority. Fun quizz. 🙂
I’m happy you enjoyed the quiz, Tamuria. We often go through phases of procrastination when we are preoccupied with matters that compete for our attention. Fortunately it doesn’t last forever when we are mindful so this too shall pass. 🙂
Very interesting. Well, I am pleased to see that I’m not a habitual procrastinator. 🙂
~Debra
That is awesome, Debra. We all procrastinate from time to time and I guess that is alright provided we are delaying taking action for the right reasons.