So, how do you stop? For Wheatley, it’s all about getting your priorities straight.

Do something mindful

If you find that you’re at a point with your procrastination where you’re starting to feel paralysed or the overwhelm and anxiety you’re feeling is blocking you from completing the task at hand, ticking off another task on your to-do list is unlikely to help.

Instead, make time to do something mindful, physical or creative, like gardening or doodling. “This uses a different part of your brain that does not involve dwelling on spiralling thoughts,” says Wheatley. For me, that usually looks like meditating or exercising, both of which help me to get a healthy distance from my thoughts.

Understand the things that are essential and desirable

There are certain things we need to do – day to day, week to week – to keep our lives ticking along smoothly: washing our clothes, going food shopping, tidying up. There are also things we need to do because of external pressures, like our work. And then there are things we need to do to make ourselves happy and stop us from falling off the cliff edge and into the pits of overwhelm. It’s important to understand what these are (for me, it’s regular exercise and spending time with friends) and add them to your list.

“If you get to the point where you are procrastinating, then it’s likely you’re doing too many things that don’t make you feel good and not enough of the things that do,” Wheatley says. “Your to-do list should include those things that are essential – and these don’t have to be things you don’t want to do.”

Then figure out, especially day to day, what is desirable and what is necessary. Can you skip meal prepping until tomorrow and make a quick lunch to save time? Could you go one more day without doing a wash to make sure you meet your deadline? Can certain tasks be deprioritised to help you get through your more urgent work.

Assess where you are

Once you’ve identified the pattern (procrastination) and know what triggers it (eg overwhelm, anxiety) it’s a good idea to take some time to assess where you are and what you need. “Taking some time to think is something that ought to be on your to-do list, and it should be something that you re-evaluate every now and again,” says Wheatley.

When you’re going through a rough patch, you might need to prioritise more of the things that make you feel good. Or if you’re going through a particularly busy time at work, you’ll want to make sure you’re keeping on top of everything in that realm, while other, less essential things can move down the list.

“Your priorities will change depending on where you are in life,” says Wheatley. “It’s something that ebbs and flows with you and your circumstances. Things will happen that you can’t control, so you have to adjust the things that you can control.”

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Images: Getty

Too busy procrastinating to get anything done? An expert reveals how to get out of the ’procrastivator’ spiral