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In recent years, procrastination has been a hot topic for psychologists to investigate because of its many hypothetical causes. There isn't one known explanation that induces this behavior, but it is physiologically associated with a part of the brain called the prefrontal cortex. In the prefrontal cortex, our brain deals with planning, impulse control, complex thought, and filtering what we pay attention to.
--Sigmund Freud, a famous neurologist, attributes his Pleasure Principle and Reality Principle as an interlocking connection to procrastination. The Pleasure Principle is an idea that young people pursue pleasure and evade pain in order to satisfy their body and mind's needs. When these young people get older, they gain maturity by denying themselves this instant enjoyment that they crave and learn to cope without it in the Reality Principle. (Sounds great for most procrastinators that feel relieved about their issue, but this is only a psychoanalytic theory and it doesn't make delaying your life okay.) When a person dislikes a task, the obvious choice is to prolong working on it and fulfill their Pleasure Principle by doing something more appealing, like playing video games or watching Vampire Diaries instead of starting your homework. Procrastinators would rather avoid aversive or difficult tasks, and put them off until the next day to ‘try again,' even though eventually they'll be abandoned.
--A hidden psychological disorder may also be the cause of your procrastination, believe it or not. ADHD, or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, is a condition that mainly affects children who have trouble with literally concentrating. Students with ADHD have particularly a hard time focusing on their school work. Depression is a mood disorder when a person chronically feels sad :(. Depressed students with a low sense of self-worth might not see the point in completing a task because they feel like even if they finish it will be a failure.
--Many people engage in procrastination because of impulsiveness, a trait that mdual more prone to do something hastily and without prior thought of its implications.
-- The various anxieties we experience throughout our lives are always stressful and worrisome, but procrastination gets involved as a coping mechanism when we cannot determine whether to "fly or fight" in a situation.
--A reason I definitely relate with is that I work best under pressure, when a deadline is inching towards me and adrenaline rushing through my blood or the eventual negative judgment boosts my motivation to finish a task on time. This intense fear of failure or rejection is attributed with the concept of perfectionism aakes an indivis an obstacle during procrastination. Some scientists believe procrastinators like me who are also perfectionists constantly evaluate their outcomes in life as negative, and so they delay such events in response. Dr. Steel, however, disagrees with this justification and instead thinks real perfectionists worry about tasks more, to the point that they accomplish them, while procrastinators have a planning fallacy. His research didn't find that procrastination has to do with the stereotypical reasons like general rebelliousness, neuroticism, or laziness. Dr. Steel noticed that the strongest predictors of this phenomenon were involved with procrastinator's inability to have organization, avoid distractions, and maintain self-control and the motivation towards completing a challenge rather than meeting an expectation. Dr. Steel went further to propose his own theory of Temporal Motivation, which I urge you to further read into!
-The planning fallacy is probably what drives most students towards procrastination. We just don't know how to plan right! Whether you're taking too long to finish analyzing your research, or you expect to finish everything in one sitting (both I am guilty of doing), you have to change your ways. Procrastinators need to treat their ‘student syndrome' and learn time management, because obviously time is what is being underestimated here.
-Remember my bit about instant gratification? If a task isn't immediately rewarding, procrastinators tend to find a more engaging activity.-Procrastinators are self-handicapping dreamers... Their lack of confidence, combined with high ambitions create an unrealistic want for heroic success that results in excessive planning. The person becomes a divided self---someone who wants to satisfy more than one aspect of their personality, whether it be diligence vs. relaxation, but cannot fulfill the contradiction. Basically, as game theorist Thomas Schelling puts it, the different ‘you's' in yourself are "different beings, jostling, contending, and bargaining for control." One of me wants to finish a blog post on time like I am supposed to, and another me wants to go to Pinkberry and eat a frozen yogurt because I am hungry.
RESULTS:
But is that cup of fro-yo really worth it? The horrible outcomes of procrastination show that they are not, and if someone living with this bad habit continues to delay, they will never be able to climb out of the deep hole of crisis they've buried themselves in. Stress from all of the work burdening your back, the debt piling to the ceiling and the judgment of your colleagues is one thing. The guilt of the disappointment and shame, and personal productivity loss, leads chronic postponers to go without help because of the social stigma they imagine. Most people believe procrastinators are lazy, with low willpower and ambition less, which isn't always the case.
The outlook isn't hopeless, however, if you try to treat your own charity case in its early stages. If you are way behind, though, don't give up! Look at your situation, and don't tell yourself you'll fix it. Get up from the computer screen to fix your problem. A scientific answer would be to become aware of the human ‘power hours,' when our internal circadian rhythms are most ready for challenges, between 10 AM- 2 PM. I'd say avoid too much commitment, and stay consistent with your passions until you reach your goals. Complete small tasks to finish the bigger ones, and become so organized you cannot lose track of time. Think of your future, not your present, and you'll be fine. But don't worry, because everyone procrastinates at one point...the important part is when to know enough is enough!
Leave your thoughts/questions/comments or answer a discussion question: What is the evolutionary role of procrastination? What is Steel's Temporal Motivational Theory, and do you believe a mathematical equation can explain procrastination? What is the connection between the six stages of the emotional/avoidance oriented and procrastination? What do you think procrastinators should do to fix their problem, have any tricks?
References:
- Freud, Sigmund. "Beyond the Pleasure Principle;" International Psycho-Analytical, 1922; Bartleby.com, 2010.
- Maryasis, Jenny. Procrastination: Habit or Disorder?
- Pelusi, Nandi. "The Lure of Laziness." Psychology Today,
- Surowiecki, James. "What we can learn from procrastination." The New Yorker,
- King, Margaret. "The Procrastination Syndrome, Innovative Leader Volume 7, Number 11
- http://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/guide/attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder-adhd
- Steel, Piers. "The Nature of Procrastination: A Meta-Analytic and Theoretical Review of Quintessential Self-Regulatory Failure" American Psychological Association Bulletin, 2007, Vol. 133, No. 1, 65-94
- "We're Sorry This is Late, We Really Meant to Post it Sooner: Research Into Procrastination Shows Surprising Findings", Science Daily
- Why we Procrastinate and How to Stop, Science Daily
Of course, after saying this, list-making can be a form of procrastination...
Thanks for commenting, what do you other guys think about Rasha's idea?
Anyways, I am a procrastinator myself, and I am always glad to learn more about the phenomenon, especially if it takes the guilt off my back :)
According to what I have read so far, in order to get rid of procrastination, you need to turn the tasks into habits. teach yourself how to do them automatically without needing to negotiate with yourself.
in order to do that, you need to manipulate the settings in your vicinity in order to lessen the thought process entailing "whether or not" questions. for example, if you have a test, do the trivial tasks, print out the material, lay it out on your desk with all the equipment you are gonna need. this way, when you go back to the desk, you'd need less initiating power... all you'd have to do is sit down, and get started.