We all do it. Procrastinate, that is. People delay everything from writing up research, to starting their diets, to postponing cleaning their rooms or calling their grandmothers. According to Dr. Piers Steel, a professor at the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary, “52% of students indicated having a moderate to high need for help concerning procrastination.” It is estimated that 80%–95% of college students engage in procrastination, and approximately 75% consider themselves procrastinators.
While procrastination is especially widespread among students—and especially among college seniors—it is also widespread among the general population, chronically affecting 15%–20% of adults. According to a study published in the Journal of Educational Psychology, the criteria for this sort of behavior includes acts that are “counterproductive, needless, and delaying.”
Chronic procrastinators may have difficulty seeking support due to social stigma and the belief that task-aversion is caused by laziness, low willpower, or low ambition. On the other hand, some regard procrastination as a useful way of identifying what is important to one personally.
While many of us will grudgingly admit to procrastinate, the common causes for procrastination—many of which are rooted in psychology—are none too surprising. Common causes include task aversion, laziness, belief that one works best under pressure, low self confidence, feeling of control or being stubborn, impulsiveness, fear of failure and/or success and perfectionist expectations.
Additionally, the pleasure principle, or the inability to delay instant gratification to do a more unpleasant task (i.e. study for a history final) often governs one’s thought process during procrastination.
The planning fallacy is another culprit—a situation in which people miscalculate or underestimate the time required to analyze research. Many students devote weeks to gathering research for a term paper, but are unable to finish writing it because they haven’t left enough time for subsequent stages of the assignment.
Consistent with the notion that procrastination is strongly related to impulsiveness, the prefrontal cortex is believed to play a vital role in procrastination. The prefrontal cortex is the area of the brain responsible for executive brain functions such as planning, impulse control, and attention, and decreases distracting stimuli from other brain regions. Damage or low activation in this area can reduce an individual’s ability to filter out distractions, leading to poor organization, inattention and increased procrastination.
People have a host of reasons why they justify their own procrastination which allows them to continue engaging in this not-too helpful behavior. Some of the common ones include:
Avoidance: We avoid the location where the task takes place (e.g., a student avoiding going to university).
Distraction: We engage or immerse ourselves in other behaviors or actions to prevent awareness of the task (e.g., Internet surfing)
Trivialization: We reframe the intended but procrastinated task as being not that important (e.g., “I’m putting off going to the dentist, but you know what? Teeth aren’t that important”).
Downward counterfactuals: We compare our situation with those even worse (e.g., “Yes, I procrastinated and got a B, but I didn’t fail like she did”).
Humor: Making a joke of one’s procrastination.
External attributions: We’re procrastinating due to factors beyond our control (e.g., “I’m procrastinating because the assignment isn’t fair”).
Reframing: Pretending that getting an early start on a project is harmful to one’s performance and leaving the work to the last moment will produce better results (e.g., “I’m most creative at 3:00 AM”).
Denial: Pretending that procrastinatory behavior is not actually procrastinating, but a task which is more important than the avoided one.
Valorisation: Pointing out in satisfaction what we achieved in the meantime while we should have been doing something else.
Procrastination is believed to have a negative impact on academic performance. For example, self-report measures of procrastination on the assessment itself were negatively associated with grades. Also, procrastination can have a negative spillover effect on larger levels. A survey by H&R Block indicated that procrastinating on taxes costs people on average $400 because of rushing and consequent errors.
Clearly, procrastination is a viscous cycle that leads to stress, anxiety, guilt, health problems, a decrease in personal productivity, social disapproval, and impedes normal functioning. And even once the task is accomplished (i.e., the student receives decent grade), it reinforces the cycle, which makes it all the more debilitating.
The benefits of not procrastinating include peace of mind, a feeling of strength and purpose, and healthy feeling of being in charge of your life. Newfound freedom is found by reducing procrastination and starting tasks earlier in advance. A foolproof method to reduce procrastination is following certain guidelines:
1) Recognize that you’re procrastinating
2) Work out WHY you’re procrastinating
3) Adopt anti-procrastination strategies
Anti Procrastination strategies include:
Do everything opposite! Tell yourself: this isn’t so hard, it won’t take long, and I am sure that I can learn while I’m doing it.
If you struggle with perfectionism then turn to self-reassurance. Remember; its impossible to get rid of all mistakes. Remind yourself that great writers, poets, artists at one time or another completed their work; therefore, it will be okay to say that yours is done also.
If you delay a task because of anger realize that you are the one who looses, not the professor or boss that you are “getting even” with. Think about your future.
If you get easily frustrated, get help from someone who can show you how to solve the problem.
If you experience self- doubt, practice accepting compliments about your work performance by simply saying, “thank you.” Remember to compliment yourself for work accomplished.
Self-impose meaningful deadlines. Map out your course work and give yourself deadlines by when to complete small portions. This is actually easy and effective.
One step toward ending a bad habit is recognition and practice. By adapting these strategies today and not waiting until tomorrow, you allow yourself to take one more step in the direction of success!