As Price (2018) argues, “Procastinators can will themselves to work for hours; they can sit in front of a blank word document, doing nothing else, and torture themselves; they can pile on the guilt again and again — none of it makes initiating the task any easier. In fact, their desire to get the damn thing done may worsen their stress and make starting the task harder” (para. 14).
I cannot but agree with this quote since I am myself such a person who is likely to torture oneself instead of looking for the reason that is holding back the completion of the task. Indeed, when people convince themselves that they are too lazy or that they are losers who cannot cope with their assignments on time, they do not make anything easier. Instead, they only turn the situation into a serious of self-blaming shots, each one more painful than the previous. Sometimes, all they need is a simple encouragement or a positive word, which they do not receive either because they do not ask for it or because those being around do not believe that anxiety can be the major source of what they call laziness.
Laziness does exist, but when speaking about procrastinators, it is not always the core cause of their postponing the work. People may be hardworking and dedicated, but they may lack a push, a final little drive to make the picture clear or at least to make the picture look likely to happen. Constant thinking about the inability to get the work done may lead to serious stress issues, which, when turned into a habit, will postpone other projects’ starts in the future. Like an avalanche, fears will pile up to eventually form a great mass of apprehension. People should show respect and encouragement toward each other rather than blame their colleagues or family members for postponing the beginning of some work. Laziness is quite different from procrastination, and it never helps to be hostile and disbelieving. It is better to find a good distraction or help someone struggling with procrastination find it — that way, people will not condemn themselves for laziness but will find motives to work faster instead.
Reference
Price, D. (2018). Laziness does not exist. But unseen barriers do. Human Parts. Web.