Your Procrastination is a Threat Response

Think about that task you’ve been avoiding for weeks.

Even when you try to do it, you face intense mental resistance, so you grab your phone. Scroll TikTok. Check email. Open the Weather app for some reason.

Suddenly two hours have passed. But you still haven’t started. Then two weeks go by without any progress.

I’ve struggled with this a lot - particularly with things like making YouTube videos. I spent tons of time rearranging my office, brainstorming ideas, and studying other creators, but I haven’t made a video in over a year.

We think we procrastinate because we’re lazy, but often, the reason is a subconscious issue:

Your brain sees the task as a threat - so it makes you procrastinate to protect you from it.

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Are You Writing an Email or Facing a Bear?

Your amygdala (the center of your fight-flight-freeze response) scans your to-dos for psychological threats before rational thought even has time to kick in.

When a “threat” is detected, your brain triggers the same fight-flight-freeze response pathway as physical danger would. Your brain treats “write that email” the same way it treats “there’s a bear in my room.”

You don’t realize it happens, but all of a sudden, you just don’t feel like doing it anymore.

Research shows chronic procrastinators have stronger amygdala threat signals and weaker prefrontal control (specifically the part that says “it’s just an email, not a bear”). One result of this is they hesitate even on low-risk tasks. So then they start believing they’re just simply lazy.

I’ve developed a simple system to solve this problem that’s worked well for me ([and for the clients I’ve coached over the past 5 years](http://ecs.joeyjustice.co)).

Let’s call it the Procrastination Protocol.

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Step 1: Identify the Threat

There are 3 main types of threats your amygdala scans for in this context:

1) Identity threat - “failure would prove I’m not who I think I am”  
2) Competence threat - “I don’t know how to do this thing”  
3) Overwhelm threat - “this is too complex/uncertain”

The type of threat depends on a lot of factors. It’s helpful to identify which one you’re experiencing because that determines how you deal with it (as we’ll cover in Step 2).

Let’s break down each type.

Identity Threat: “If I fail at this, it proves something bad about who I am.”

This is why you procrastinate on things tied to your self-image. Starting a business. Putting content out there. Trying out a new social hobby like dancing (which I started last year).

Failure would mean you’re not who you think you are (or who you aspire to be).

The psychological trick here: procrastination protects the version of you with unlimited potential. The one who could do something great. Trying means testing if that’s actually true and potentially finding out it isn’t.

Research shows protecting your ego is a major unconscious driver of procrastination. Avoiding the task protects your identity until the task itself becomes an existential danger.

Competence Threat: “I don’t know how to do this, and everyone will see I’m incompetent.”

This manifests as thoughts like “I’m not ready yet”, “I need to research more”, and “I have to ask someone for advice.” You’re avoiding the discomfort of being a beginner at something. The task reveals skill gaps you’d rather keep in the dark.

This one is dangerous because it masquerades as being responsible. You tell yourself you’re being thorough, doing your due diligence, and making sure you give it your best effort.

But in reality... you’re stalling until you feel 100% certain you won’t look stupid.

The difference between normal preparation and the competence threat: preparation has a defined endpoint (”I’ll watch this tutorial THEN I’ll start”). Competence threat is infinite research with no actual plan to start.

Chronic procrastinators show disrupted error signals in the brain’s anterior cingulate cortex (the part that notices “wait am I doing this wrong?”). The “am I incompetent?” fear spikes and then avoidance kicks in.

Overwhelm Threat: “This is too complex, and I can’t figure out where to start.”

This one is my personal weakness. It’s held me back countless times over the years - with college, work, dancing, and other things that are important to me. I still struggle with it at times (such as with the YouTube thing I mentioned earlier).

When a task has too little clarity, too much complexity, and/or too little certainty, your amygdala sounds the alarm. Your brain can’t figure out a clear step forward, so it treats the whole thing as dangerous, and you don’t have the motivation to do it anymore.

You probably have multiple things you’ve been avoiding for a long time. You can work on low-stakes tasks for 3 hours but can’t touch the important project for even just 5 minutes.

Different tasks trigger different threats - so you can’t just fix procrastination once. You have to identify which type of threat you’re dealing with every time.

Thankfully, as you start noticing this happening in your day to day life, dealing with it gets easier (and faster).

So for Step 1, the next time you feel procrastination kicking in, ask yourself this:

“What am I afraid will happen if I do this task?”

That’s your starting point for Step 2.

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Step 2: Lower the Stakes

Next, we want to calm the threat response, without having to avoid the task entirely like we usually do.

You can’t force your limbic system to stop keeping you in “threat mode” through sheer willpower alone. That just makes your system shut down harder - and makes you less likely to ever want to do the task since it’s causing you so much distress.

But you can reduce how threatening the task feels. When you lower the threat level, then the avoidance response weakens, and you’re able to actually work on the task.

Here’s how to deal with each type of perceived threat:

For Identity Threats:

Separate behavior from identity before you start. Install a firewall between the task outcome and your worth.

Say out loud (unless you have people around): “I’m going to attempt [task]. If it doesn’t work out, that means I need to change my approach, not that I’m a failure.”

One of the most helpful mental reframes you can make is to start thinking of “failure” as just simply data. What worked, what didn’t work, and what you would do different next time.

When you stop thinking that outcomes determine your worth, then you reduce the perceived threat of the action, and you feel less resistance against starting it.

For example: “I’m going to write some new content for my social media account. If it doesn’t get much engagement, it means my message wasn’t compelling, not that I’m worthless.”

Research shows self-talk like this helps reduce negative feelings so you’re more likely to take action.

For Competence Threats:

Do 5-15 minutes of preparatory work that builds competence WITHOUT doing the actual task yet. This starts filling in your skill gaps without exposure.

Research the topic. Watch a YouTube tutorial. Read one article.

Then, immediately after, outline your first step.

It’s like leveling up before fighting a boss. If you’ve ever played the Pokémon games (Emerald is the best) then you remember having to level up a little before taking on the next gym. This is the same type of thing.

For example: Don’t write a full YouTube script yet. Spend 15 minutes skimming through 3 of your favorite creator’s videos to get a feel for their structure. Then your brain will have more information to work with, the perceived threat will be reduced, and you will feel better about starting a script outline of your own.

A quick note about being afraid to look dumb:

The smartest people I know aren’t afraid to ask “dumb” questions, take “dumb” action, or pursue “dumb” ideas. They focus on actually making progress instead of potentially looking stupid.

Besides - other people are too busy focusing on themselves to worry about what you’re doing.

For Overwhelm Threats:

Reduce the complexity to one clear next action. Not the whole project. Just the next step.

This may sound counterintuitive but... it doesn’t even necessarily have to be the “right” next step.

Finally getting something done is infinitely better than continuing to get nothing done.

I try my best to avoid using cliches but the saying “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” is 100% right. Checking off one little task can jumpstart your momentum toward finishing the entire project.

Instead of thinking “lose 50lbs”, think “go do one lift at the gym.”  
Instead of thinking “launch the business”, think “brainstorm 3 offer ideas.”  
Instead of thinking “create a content strategy”, think “list 5 topics I could talk about.”

Now, the next time you feel that familiar resistance, you can use the appropriate threat reduction strategy for that specific threat type. This will work way better for you than just “trying harder.”

This gets you started down the path - now Step 3 keeps you moving.

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Step 3: Support the Momentum

Now you need to make sure your brain doesn’t re-escalate the threat, knock you off course, and ruin your progress.

You do that by building supports. That means creating structures around the task that maintain a sense of safety even while you’re facing a potentially threatening challenge.

People generally make tasks too easy or too hard. We want to find the sweet spot, where you’re doing something challenging, but your amygdala isn’t freaking out.

Here are three ways to build supports:

1. Time-Boxing

Tell yourself: “I’ll work on this for 15 minutes. After that, if I want to stop, I’ll take a break without beating myself up about it.”

Instead of committing to finishing the entire thing, you’re just committing to start, and giving yourself an escape hatch if needed.

Ninety percent of the time, after that 15 minutes, you’ll find yourself continuing to work on the task for longer than you thought you would. The “I’ll quit after 15 minutes if I want to” escape hatch decreases the perceived threat, and with it, the resistance.

2. Try a Practice Run

If writing the real email feels risky, write a rough draft you’ll never send.  
If recording the video feels overwhelming, record a practice take just for you.  
If posting new content feels embarrassing, share it with one person you trust.

This approach lowers the stakes.

Your amygdala goes “this won’t hurt me.” The psychological trick is, once you have a first draft, editing it into a finished product feels way less threatening.

I started using this for short form video scripts. The first pass is always “this is garbage, no one will see it, I just want to get something on the page.” That reduces the resistance I feel about starting it. Then I edit that draft into something I’d actually publish.

3. External Validation Checkpoint

Something that works particularly well for competence threat type tasks is to plan a feedback checkpoint after you start but before you finish.

For example:

“I’m going to brainstorm a rough draft then show it to [person] for input.”

Now you don’t feel like you’re in the dark wondering if you’re doing it all wrong. You have a scheduled moment where someone will tell you “you’re on the right track” or “here’s how to adjust.”

These feedback checkpoints boost your brain’s emotional control system which helps keep you moving forward. Your brain gets reassurance that you’re not incompetent, the perceived threat drops, and progress continues.

Plus, if it turns out you actually were going the wrong way, you’ll find out earlier than you would have otherwise.

An important caveat here is you need to make sure you aren’t using “I need to get feedback before I move on” as a clever excuse to procrastinate about actually moving on.

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Your Challenge

Start simple.

For the next few days, every time you feel the urge to procrastinate, at least just try the threat identification question from Step 1:

”What am I afraid will happen if I do this task?”

Write down whatever answer that comes to mind.

After you collect a few data points, you’ll know which perceived threats hit your amygdala the hardest, and so you’ll know which solution from Step 2 to use.

Thanks for reading,

~ Joey Justice

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