Why Do We Procrastinate? - Rebecka Skarstam, Triple Helix Cambridge

The Triple Helix Cambridge

The Triple Helix, Easter 2009 >

Why Do We Procrastinate? <>
Rebecka Skarstam


Note From Jim: This is a very good summary of academic reserarch conducted on the subject of procrastination. For more information on the topic, search my blog for (1) posts containing the label of "goals", (2) for posts containing the key word "Pychyl" and (3) for posts containing the label "human performance" . You will also find related materials at my blog under the compendium of information collected under stored links for the catagory of "Goal Setting, Goal Pursuit, & Goal Attainment". Best - Jim.>

Excerpts: >

According to Timothy A. Pychyl, director of the Procrastination Research group at Carleton University “Procrastination is a needless, often irrational, voluntary delay of an intended action (or task) even when we know that this delay will most probably compromise ourperformance or task completion itself.” >

Studies done among teenagers show that the environment may be the main influence as procrastinators are more likely to have authoritarian parents [4]. However, a study done on monkeys indicates that there might be a genetic contribution as well. >

An estimated 40 percent of all people have experienced financial loss due to procrastination [6] and procrastination endangers health both in terms of the detrimental effects of increased stress and the delayed treatment of other health condition. >

In spite of the negative effects of procrastination, many procrastinators say that the habit is an advantage to them [8]. When asked why they procrastinate a common answerwas “I work better under pressure” However, this seems to be nothing more than self-deception for most people, as procrastinators generally produce inferior work to those who do not procrastinate [8].

Another misconception among procrastinators is that procrastination allows people to do the maximum amount of work with minimum amount of effort or pain [8]. It is true that when deadlines are distant, procrastinators have reduced stress levels and suffer less from illness than nonprocrastinators. However, this advantage is counteracted towards the end of the assignment when the effects of stress are reversed. Overall, people who start on time feel better and are in better health than those who procrastinate and start later [8]. >

But though fighting procrastination is difficult, it is not impossible, and in researching the phenomenon scientists have found several ways of minimising the habit. >

A study made at Hofstra University showed that people who made “implementation intentions” —goals with specification on when and where the task will be performed were up to eight times as likely to follow through on their commitment [9]. >

Another group found that when asked to reply to a questionnaire, students were more likely to reply and did so more quickly when the questions were concrete rather than abstract. This is in agreement with the action-identification theory, which states that individuals are more likely to execute a difficult task by thinking of the task on a more specific level and indicates that a person will procrastinate less if he or she is structuring the work in a more concrete way [10]. >

If you are already setting concrete implementation intentions, breaking the task up into smaller chunks and setting more goals might be your salvation. Dan Ariely and Klaus Wertenbroch asked their students to set their own deadlines and then awarded penalties for papers that were turned in late. Though setting the deadline for all papers at the end of the period would have given maximum amount of time for task completion, students who set evenly spaced deadlines generally scored better than those who did not [11].

Procrastination is due to a failure of self-control and new research shows that this can be reversed by increasing the expectancy of success or by receiving affirmation in the form of positive feedback [12,13]. >

Finally, remember that procrastination endangers your health and finances and that the thought of the task is often more daunting than the task itself. In fact, a study published in 2000 showed that students’ perceptions of a task often change significantly for the better when they are actually doing it [6]. In the end, Nike’s “Just Do It” might be a good place to start if you want to live a procrastination free life. >

Access complete 2 page article: http://www.wiltshireyouth.org/journal/issue/7/why-do-we-procrastinate/pdf or at http://www.wiltshireyouth.org/journal, Issue 7, Easter 2009, "Why Do We Procrastinate? ">
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- Jesus College, University of Cambridge, Cambridge U.K. >

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http://dreamlearndobecome.blogspot.com This posting was made my Jim Jacobs, President & CEO of Jacobs Executive Advisors. Jim also serves as Leader of Jacobs Advisors' Insurance Practice.