By Toronto Life & Mindset Alignment Coach Stephanie J. Marshall

The Procrastination Secret

We don’t talk about procrastination enough. Not because it’s rare, but because procrastination feels so good, and we’re not supposed to admit that. Especially not when we know exactly what we’re avoiding, and we still find ourselves “checking something quickly” on our phones like we’re not doing it on purpose.

But if it felt bad, we wouldn’t do it. That’s the truth.

You think you’re avoiding a task, but you’re actually avoiding a feeling. The effort, the decision, the risk of not doing it right. So your brain takes a shortcut. It offers you something easier. And you take it, because the relief is immediate and it works.

Until it doesn’t.

This morning, here’s how that played out:

• I looked at my schedule. I was supposed to write this email.
• I told myself it would be hard because I hadn’t figured out what to say yet.
• That thought created friction.
• I opened a tab and scrolled for a few minutes.
• Because procrastination feels so good in the moment, I felt immediate relief.

It wasn’t the task that created resistance. It was the emotional forecast.

👉 Which Are You? The Six Types of Procrastination

Short-Term Relief, Long-Term Regret

Here’s what I didn’t think about:

• How I’d feel later if the email still wasn’t done
• How much better it would feel to have it sent before 9 a.m.
• How often I convince myself I’ll feel more up to it “later,” even though I never do

The reason procrastination feels so good is that it removes pressure instantly. But that pressure doesn’t go away. It just gets rescheduled.

If we spoke our justifications out loud, they’d collapse instantly:

“I’m going to avoid this email because I want to conserve energy. I won’t think about how I’ll feel when I’m drained later with this still unfinished. I definitely won’t imagine the calm of having it handled early.”

Procrastination breaks down under even mild interrogation. The resistance only works if we don’t look at it directly.

And here’s the worst part. The thing I was avoiding doesn’t require a heroic act. It just asks me to begin.

Coping Has a Cost

When procrastination feels so good, we tell ourselves it’s harmless. But it’s not free. It borrows time without your consent. Those fifteen minutes this morning weren’t about distraction. They were about not having to feel discomfort.

But what if I’d used that time differently?

• Chloe could have had a longer walk
• I could have played that same game later, with smug satisfaction
• I could have read something indulgent in the middle of the day
• I could have started on something I keep telling myself I never have time for

Less reward now. More meaning later. The equation isn’t complicated, it’s just inconvenient.

Fifteen minutes a day doesn’t seem like a lot until you realize it adds up to over sixty hours a year.

And that’s if you’re lying to yourself about it only being fifteen.

When Done Feels Better Than Escape

I spent years trying to procrastinate less. It didn’t work. What finally shifted wasn’t discipline. It was noticing what was actually happening in the moment, and using that to make a different choice.

The Kickstartology tools don’t try to crush the impulse. They help you catch it. They show you what you’re trading away and remind you that the thing you think you’re avoiding might not be that bad. Sometimes it’s just five minutes of uncertainty that your brain dressed up as danger.

Eventually, you stop chasing relief and start creating it on purpose. You stop defaulting to the escape hatch. You stop pretending you don’t care.

You already know why procrastination feels so good.

But what is it costing you?

Exactly.