When you have something you need to get done, do you tackle it right away, or do you put it off by doing basically anything else? If you avoid the task at hand, you’re in good company, along with 71% of Americans who admit to regularly procrastinating, according to a new survey. But that doesn’t mean they feel good about it, in fact, 76% of them confess to feeling guilty when they procrastinate.
The new poll of 2-thousand U.S. adults also finds:
- Procrastinating can happen anywhere at any time, but it turns out, Americans are most likely to procrastinate at 12:06 on Monday afternoons.
- A lot of people grab their phone when they’re putting off the tasks they should be doing, as 42% of respondents say they scroll through social media to avoid their to-do list.
- Half of those surveyed see their phone as a fifth appendage that they only put down for family dinners (50%), special events like birthday parties or weddings (35%) or dates (22%).
- The average American spends nearly two and a half hours on social media every day, even though they try to limit it to less than two hours.
- But 10% admit they’re on social media between five and eight hours a day and 18% don’t ever try to limit their time spent on social media.
- More than a quarter (28%) of respondents admit their phone is the main reason they aren’t getting things done.
- But some can be swayed to start crossing things off their to-do list if they’re expecting friends or family (30%), have the perfect snack (17%) and playlist (17%).
- A third (34%) motivate themselves when they “gamify” their agenda or reward themselves with a snack (30%) when they complete a task.
- In the end, 19% admit the tasks they’ve been putting off always take less time than expected.
Top Things Americans Would Rather Do Than Their To-Do List
- Watch TV and movies (50%)
- Lay in bed (39%) or take a nap (39%)
- Eat something (33%) Visit with friends and family (33%)
- Do nothing (31%)
- Go for a walk (30%)
- Go shopping (28%)
- Go for a drive (20%)
- Work out (16%)
- Catch up on work (10%)
Source: SWNS Digital