Log in to continue to your results.
No account yet? Take a test and create one for free
Why do you put things off - and what helps? Laziness is not behind it, a specific trigger is: a dull task, worry about the outcome, or anything more interesting within reach. The test tells apart which of the three sources slows you down most and shows you where to push.
The test does not just measure whether you put things off, but above all why.
Your overall score places you in one of four bands, from minimal to strong procrastination, so you see straight away how big a theme this is for you.
Boredom, worry and distraction each get their own score, so you find out which trigger slows you down most and which barely plays a part for you.
The advice differs by source: what works on a dull task is useless against worry about the outcome. You get techniques picked for your profile.
For each statement you say on a 1-5 scale how well it describes you. Do not think about it for long, the first answer is usually the most accurate.
From your answers we work out the overall score and the scores of all three sources straight away, and name the one that leads.
The extended version gives you the whole profile, a description of your trigger and the concrete techniques that work on that one trigger.
Putting things off has no single cause. These three triggers are behind most of it and each one needs a different fix. Everyone has all three inside them; what matters is the ratio.
The procrastination test finds out how often you put off the things you are meant to do - and above all why. Procrastination is neither laziness nor a flaw of character. It is a learned loop in which pushing an unpleasant task away brings instant relief, and the mind remembers that relief well, so next time it reaches for the same solution faster. Our test has 21 original items, seven for each source, and works out your overall score along with where your putting things off comes from.
Three different triggers sit behind putting things off. Boredom and task aversion means you postpone whatever is dull - expense reports, paperwork, a subject that bores you. Worry and perfectionism is the exact opposite: you do not start because the outcome matters to you and you have no guarantee it will be good enough. Impulsivity and distraction describes the trouble with staying on an unfinished thing the moment anything more interesting is within reach. Based on your band and your strongest source the test places you in one of 10 profiles - and that is the point, because a technique that works on boredom is useless against worry about the outcome.
The test draws on procrastination research - on the work Piers Steel and Joseph Ferrari devoted to it - but the items and the scoring are our own. So treat the result as an approximate self-discovery profile, not as a diagnosis: the comparison with other people is rough, and chronic putting things off tied to anxiety belongs with a professional, not in an online test. Procrastination does not stand alone either - it is closely tied to conscientiousness, one of the five dimensions of the Big Five test, and to perseverance, which the grit test maps. Add those two to procrastination and you see the whole picture.
The overall level of putting things off and above all its source. We tell three of them apart: boredom and task aversion, worry and perfectionism, and impulsivity and distraction. You carry all three inside you, only the ratio differs - and that ratio is exactly what decides which advice will work for you.
The test draws on procrastination research, among other things on the work of Piers Steel and Joseph Ferrari, but the items and the scoring are our own - this is not a borrowed clinical instrument. The comparison with other people is therefore approximate, so treat the result as food for thought rather than a diagnosis. If putting things off keeps you from functioning normally over the long term, or anxiety comes with it, see a professional.
Around 3 minutes. You will answer 21 short statements, rating how well each one describes you.
The whole profile out of 10 combinations of band and source, a description of how your trigger works and how to spot it, your behavior as a deadline closes in, your weakest source and five concrete techniques picked precisely for your trigger.
Yes, you only have to aim at the right trigger. A dull task gives way to a fixed slot in the calendar and a reward tied to that task alone, worry gives way to a deliberately rough first version and a limit on "good enough", distraction gives way to the phone in another room and short focused blocks. That is why it pays to find out first where your putting things off comes from - the universal "just start" fails precisely because it leaves the trigger untouched.
Essential cookies take care of login and payments. With your consent we also measure traffic so we know what to improve. Privacy policy
Česky
Slovensky
English
Polski
Deutsch
Español
Magyar
Italiano
Português
Nederlands