Why Can't You Just Start? The Truth About Laziness

There’s this one assignment that’s been nagging me for my MA in Early Childhood Education; I have avoided it for weeks. 

Every weekend, I say to myself, this is the weekend I’m going to get it finished, but every Monday morning, the assignment is still there, untouched.

The strange thing is that I know what I need to do, and I know it is important. Still, somehow, I just can’t bring myself to do it.

I tell myself, I just don’t have time right now. But deep down, I know that’s not true. I have the time; I’m just spending it doing other things, like scrolling on my phone or cleaning the kitchen. Last week, I even labeled my spices in alphabetical order instead of starting my work!

I had, at one point, kind of thought, maybe I’m just lazy. 

But when I looked into what procrastination means, I realized something: procrastination isn’t being lazy. It is a method of avoidance due to the way it makes us feel. 

For me, it’s a mix of fear, doubt, and anxiety.

Anxiety and procrastination go hand in glove. When I think about the assignment, I am overwhelmed. 

What if I don’t do it well? What if I don’t finish it on time? These thoughts make me freeze, like I’m stuck in anxiety paralysis procrastination.

I also learned that this is extremely normal. Experts say we procrastinate not because we’re bad at time management but because of how the task makes us feel. 

Tim Urban, creator of the blog Wait But Why, gave a famous TED talk on procrastination. He explained how he struggles to start tasks even with clear goals, comparing his mind to a battle between the “Rational Decision-Maker” and the “Instant Gratification Monkey.” As deadlines near, the “Panic Monster” finally forces him to act. 

Tim’s humorous take shows how procrastination affects even the most driven individuals.

The three big reasons people procrastinate

1. The Task Feels Awful

Some tasks are just boring, hard, or frustrating. This is what we call task aversion. 

According to Dr. Piers Steel in his book The Procrastination Equation, if something does not feel worthy, we will find an excuse to avoid it.

That was precisely what I was doing: this assignment felt big, hence overwhelming; I kept finding distractions to avoid it.

2. No Quick Rewards

People like things that reward them immediately. Watching a funny video or thumbing through social media makes one feel good right away. 

Writing an assignment doesn’t.

When someone wants to overcome procrastination, a long-term reward has to be thought about for motivation.

3. Feeling Stuck on Where to Start

Sometimes we do not start because we don’t know how. In popular terminology, that is called decision paralysis. 

More is the number of choices, the more paralyzed we get instead of acting, explains researcher Dr. Barry Schwartz.

It was like a huge puzzle for me: where to start—research, outlining, or writing? Since I didn’t know what I would be able to take care of first, doing nothing was being done continuously.

As the famous poet Maya Angelou once said, “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” 

And the best advice she could give was to just start. It doesn’t have to be perfect. 

Just start somewhere.

What am I doing now?

As I write this, the assignment isn’t done. For now, however, I’ve given up on all the excuses. Procrastination has nothing to do with being lazy, just stuck or scared.

Now I am breaking down the assignment into weensy steps. Rather than saying I need to finish the whole thing, I am concentrating on these tiny tasks today. Today I will read just one article, and I’ll write one paragraph.

Tomorrow, another.

I also tell myself that my first draft doesn’t need to be perfect. What counts is something that actually gets made. 

So, the real thing is you’re not lazy, and you’re not alone. Procrastination is just your brain’s way of protecting you from feeling uncomfortable. 

But every tiny step you make is a win.

As the Nike slogan goes, Just do it. 

Even if it’s messy, it’s better than nothing.