5 Health Concerns Related Organization Procrastination
By Guest Blogger, Jennifer C.

Have you put off the spring cleaning of your garage or re-organizing your office or dorm room for a while? Are more enjoyable things distracting or pulling you from doing the more important things? If your answer is yes, you might be suffering from procrastination; and you are not alone. Procrastination is the voice in your head that’s telling you to do more pleasurable things instead of the more urgent and less pleasurable ones. Most people are guilty of procrastination at some point and in some level, but if it goes on for a while, it may begin to affect your health.

5 Procrastination Health Concerns

1. Increase your stress level

Stress is probably one of the major negative health effects of procrastination. Putting aside the important issues, such as reorganizing your home or office, and concentrating on the less important issues may give you a temporary relief but on the long run your subconscious mind will suffer the consequences. If the issue is not corrected, it can lead to a dangerous spiral and further delaying it will only worsen the stress response.

2. Negative impacts on your overall health

The direct health impact of procrastination is often via stress response that causes changes in your immune function, which in turn negatively impacts your health. For example, a study looking at procrastinating students found that procrastination lead to compromised immune system, which in turn made the students more prone to colds and flu, gastrointestinal problems, and insomnia. Stress has also been linked to diabetes, heart disease, and obesity.

3. More prone to accidents.

Organizational procrastination may lead to worsened or even dangerous work and/or living conditions. Eluding proper hygiene or safe work conditions due to procrastination can cause accidents. This is especially true for people who work in accident-prone environments (construction, workshop) or use dangerous tools (welder, chainsaw)—in these circumstances working in an unorganized, cluttered space can be unsafe and lead to serious accidents.

4. Depression

Working in an environment that is cluttered and unorganized is not only unsafe but can also reduce your motivation and work speed. This can cause guilt and anxiety, which in time can lead to depression, fatigue, and other mental health problems. When you put things off too long, you may start to find even pleasurable things to be cumbersome. As depression worsens, your body will feel fatigued and accomplishing even easier tasks may feel unbearable.

5. Becoming less health-conscious

The indirect health impact of procrastination results from stress, depression and fatigue. When your procrastination has been going on for a while you may find yourself delaying health-protective behaviors (such as healthy eating and regular exercise) and instead you are finding yourself promoting unhealthy behaviors (such as eating junk food, being a couch potato, delaying health check-ups with your doctor). In order to resolve these indirect consequences, you need to fix the underlying issue causing the procrastination, such as reorganizing or cleaning your home or office.
Procrastination is largely due to our internal struggle with self-control and our tendency to seek pleasure rather than the un-enjoyable things. Undertaking multiple unpleasing tasks or a large project all at once, may seem intimidating and eventually lead to procrastination. To prevent and/or stop this behavior, make a plan to do the task in small, well-defined parts instead of tackling it all at once. If re-organizing an entire storage facility or a room seems intimidating, start by organizing a small section of it. In between, give yourself time to do the more enjoyable activities to keep you motivated and, most importantly, healthy.

About the Author
Jennifer Caughey is a freelance content writer in Toronto, Ontario, who specializes in anything having to do with the home and health. Jennifer believes that a clean home can lead to better overall health. She has a background in Nursing and has been writing on health/home related topic over the last several years. When she isn’t writing she is trying to find new, inventive ways to live healthier, through meal planning, exercise and fun family activities with her daughter.

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