7 Causes of Difficulty Setting Time that is Often Not Realized
YOGYAKARTA - Managing time may sound easy, but in practice it is not always like that. When work piles up, messages keep coming in, and various affairs must be completed at the same time, you start to feel time-pressed. This condition often makes someone feel less disciplined or even lazy.
In fact, it's hard to manage time doesn't always relate to someone's will or character. Research even shows that time management problems have nothing to do with how hard you try. Here are some of the most likely causes of difficulty managing time.
Causes of Difficulty Setting TimeResearch has found that difficulty in managing time is rarely related to a person's character, but to certain patterns that can be identified. Quoted from Toggl.com, the following are 7 causes of difficulty in managing time:
Not knowing where the time is spent.One of the reasons for difficulty in managing time is not having a clear picture of daily time use. As a result, a person can feel that they have spent most of the day on important work, even though in reality the time is divided into various other activities.
A study published in PLOS One in 2025 found that study participants overestimated the duration of their work by 78 percent of the observed time. Their median report reached 1.45 hours for every one hour of actual work time. The findings suggest that perceptions of time use can differ quite a bit from actual conditions.
Postponing work due to emotional avoidanceProcrastination is often considered a sign of laziness, but the cause can be related to emotional conditions. A person may delay a task because the work causes anxiety, boredom, self-doubt, or a feeling of being overwhelmed. Getting away from the task then gives a sense of relief for a while so that this habit continues to repeat itself.
Fuschia Sirois, professor of psychology at Durham University and author of the book Procrastination: What It Is, Why It's a Problem, and What You Can Do About It, explains, "We are actually not avoiding the task itself, but rather avoiding the negative emotions associated with the task."
Not having a system to prioritizeWhen all the work feels urgent, attention is usually focused on the thing that requires the most response. The problem is, something that is most urgent is not necessarily the most important thing. As a result, work with a deadline can continue to shift other work that actually has a greater impact.
This phenomenon is known as the urgency effect. Research shows that people tend to prioritize urgent but less important tasks over important but not urgent tasks. Without a clear priority system, the work list is ultimately more controlled by pressure than the actual needs.
Too much taking jobs.Difficulty managing time can also arise when a person receives too many new jobs or requests. The term Planning fallacy was coined by Kahneman and Tversky to describe our tendency to underestimate the time it takes to complete a task.
In addition, the desire not to disappoint others can also make it difficult for someone to say "no" to a given task. As a result, the more commitments that come in, the less time is left to complete the work well.
Perfectionism disguised as high standards.The desire to produce work of a high standard is basically not a problem. However, perfectionism can be a hindrance when someone feels they have to produce something perfect for themselves to be considered successful. Fear of failure or being imperfect can make someone reluctant to start a job.
Fuschia Sirois explained, "If you are highly motivated and your entire sense of self-worth depends on how well you complete this task, then the fear of failing, the fear of the results not being good enough, or the fear of disappointing others can be strong enough to make you not even want to start it. "
Disturbing environment of focusNot all time management problems come from individual behavior. Physical environments such as coworker conversations and people's traffic around the workplace can interfere with concentration. Plus from digital environments such as notifications, emails, social media messages, etc.
Gensler Research Institute in the 2025 Global Workplace Survey found that 89 percent of workers routinely experience interruptions at work. Meanwhile, Microsoft's 2025 Work Trend Index found that workers experience interruptions in the form of meetings, emails, or messages every two minutes on average during working hours.
ADHDFor some people, the habit of procrastinating and having trouble managing time can be a symptom of a neurological condition. A study published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology found that adults with higher symptoms of ADHD tend to procrastinate much more often than those with milder symptoms.
ADHD affects the brain's executive function, which is the thinking ability we use to plan, prioritize, and start a task. If the problem persists and is difficult to overcome even though you have tried various approaches, you can consider professional help.
Those are the seven most likely causes of your difficulty in managing time. You can start by recording your time usage for a week and pay attention to the work that is most often delayed. From there, you will begin to recognize patterns that make the day feel cramped, but the work that is really important is actually ignored.
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