You may think that procrastination is only about putting off unpleasant tasks, such as cleaning, meeting work deadlines or having difficult conversations. However, interestingly enough, it’s also common to delay doing things that bring you joy.
In a 2025 study published in PNAS Nexus, researchers set out to explore how the length of time since people last enjoyed an activity affects their willingness to return to it. They wanted to understand why people sometimes delay returning to things they love, even when given the chance.
Researchers conducted five experiments where participants faced choices about re-engaging with rewarding experiences.
For instance, in one of the experiments, participants had to decide to contact close friends after varying lengths of time without interaction. In another, the researchers studied people’s decisions about returning to everyday activities post the lengthy COVID-19 lockdowns.
Observing and studying the varying time gaps, researchers uncovered the psychological barriers that lead people to postpone returning, even when doing so could increase their happiness.
Here are two ways the “special occasion” mindset steals your joy, according to the 2025 study.
1. Always Waiting For The Perfect Moment
It’s natural to assume that when you’ve been away from something you love for a while, you’ll probably jump at the first chance to get back to it. But in reality, that doesn’t always happen.
Researchers of the 2025 study found that after long gaps, you’re more likely to keep postponing something enjoyable because you feel it has to be “extra special” to justify the delay. The catch is that the longer you wait or put something on hold in anticipation of the “right moment,” the more likely it is that you feel pressured to make it “worth the wait.”
People in the study were less likely to reconnect with close friends after a long silence than after a short one, even though it would have made them happier. The same thing happened after COVID-19 lockdowns: people delayed going back to activities they loved because they wanted the return to be a big occasion.
If you keep waiting for that perfect moment, you might get stuck in a trap because your supposed perfect moment will keep moving further away into the future. The more you wait, the higher the standard for “special” gets, making it even harder to take action.
One easy way to break this cycle is by reframing any opportunity to return as already special. In the study, when people saw even a small chance as meaningful, they acted sooner.
So, the next time you find yourself delaying something that brings you joy, remind yourself that there’s no better moment to act than the one when you actually feel like doing it. It’s as simple as that.
Send that text today instead of waiting for a long call, maybe play one song on the guitar now instead of waiting until you have an hour to practice or take a short walk instead of holding out for a perfect workout window. Keep reminding yourself that the sooner you start, the sooner you get your joy back.
2. Mistaking Preparation For Action
Another way you might be procrastinating happiness is by getting stuck in preparation mode. Say, you decide you’ll call a friend when you can set aside an hour, go back to your hobby after you’ve bought all the right materials or return to the gym when you can commit to a full program.
You might even make lists, research options or talk about your plans with others, but you’re not actually doing the thing.
It can feel productive because you feel like you’re “getting ready,” but the truth is you’re just adding more steps between now and the actual action. In this process, you add more conditions to the action and the more conditions you add, the harder it becomes to start.
The longer you wait, the more it feels like you need to be fully prepared before you can begin, which only pushes your goal further away.
The researchers of the 2025 study found that when people think their return has to be “special,” they skip simple opportunities for connection like sending a short message or grabbing a quick coffee. During COVID-19 reopenings, many avoided early chances to do things they enjoyed because they were holding out for a bigger, more memorable return.
In another 2018 study published in Frontiers in Psychology, researchers examined a specific aspect of procrastination called action onset delay; the delay in starting an intended action. This habit is about hesitating to start, even when the opportunity is there.
Researchers ran five studies with different situations. In some situations, they directly observed whether participants were pausing or lingering before starting a task and in others, participants chose between starting “now” or “later,” including situations that involved small preparatory actions needed for future tasks.
Across all studies, people with higher procrastination scores were more likely to postpone starting, preferring “later” over “sooner” even for tiny or simple actions.
In one instance, researchers observed when participants chose to have lunch. They could go sooner or later, with no constraints forcing a particular choice. The researchers wanted to see if procrastination tendencies would show up even in such a routine and low-stakes decision. Sure enough, those with higher procrastination scores tended to choose a later lunchtime, even when there was no benefit to waiting.
This suggests that procrastinators habitually delay starting actions simply because they prefer “later” over “now.” Additionally, it shows that procrastination can often operate at an automatic and low-level behavioral stage rather than just in big and deadline-driven tasks.
This matters because such unnoticed mini delays don’t just eat into your time, but can also shrink the space for moments that could have brought you joy, connection or a sense of progress. In this way, they often add unnecessary stress.
The fix here is to shrink the gap between wanting to do something and actually beginning.
For instance, instead of planning the whole dinner party, send the invite. Instead of waiting for a free afternoon, play your instrument for five minutes. The smaller and sooner you make the first move, the less room you leave for your brain to slip into procrastination.
Once you’ve built even a little momentum, gradually but surely, the enjoyment tends to follow. It just means that you will find joy not in the grand return, but in the little moments you stopped postponing.
Your Greatest Joy Is In The Present Moment
The most important takeaway is to remember that the special moment is not in the distant future. It is right here, in the now. The only place you can truly live, change anything or feel joy is in your present moment, because the future hasn’t arrived yet and the past is already gone.
Stop postponing happiness for some “perfect” time, because that perfect time exists only in your mind.
Instead of delaying happiness, remember that it can be woven into the ordinary, imperfect and even unexpected moments of life.
So, remember to start where you are, with what you have. Let joy grow from the simple moments you choose to embrace today. When you let yourself fully meet the moment without holding it against an expectation, you discover that it already holds everything you were hoping to feel, if not more.
How well are you embracing joy and thriving in life? Take the science-backed Flourishing Measure to find out.
