So for every one point increase on that measure, their chances of having poor heart health increase by 63%, and that's after accounting for a lot of other factors. It's basically saying, Hey, yeah, I'm struggling with this task. If we want to address any type of problem, we've got to know what the core cause is. A conversation with former psychologist Alice Boyes about why we keep postponing our work. You Are Not So Smart Mills: You also study perfectionism, which is a topic that we recently talked about on another episode of this podcast. Thanks for listening to the HBR IdeaCast. Episode 210: Why we procrastinate and what to do about it, with Fuschia Sirois, PhD. And then there are other countries where efficiency and productivity are highly valued. It will also help to be able to clarify your goalsdaily, weekly, monthly. Keeping your goals realistic and reassessing goals and strategies as needed. So if youre like that, then it is thinking about, Well, I need to this thing because I need to be reliable for somebody else. ALICE BOYES: Yeah. So what people want to do is look at the forms of procrastination with the most potential for major harm in their lives, that are causing them the most bother, and be really confident that theyve got strategies for dealing with those. Can lead to thoughts such as "I might as well not even try.". When we are novice drivers, we have to think carefully about checking the mirrors and all the steps. And there is indeed a connection. They think of it as being about daily habits. And push comes to shove when we actually do it, it's like, Wait a second. ALICE BOYES: Yeah, so its quite complicated. It doesn't have to be objectively an unpleasant task, but it's what our interaction with that task, the emotions that arise from that interaction and how it makes us feel and if it's something unpleasant and we can't quite work through those feelings, procrastination becomes a way to solve that, at least in the short run. Psychology of Procrastination: 10 Worksheets & Games (PDF) And that is a real challenge. I think about what I think could go wrong with the task. The psychology of motivation and procrastination - BBC Its incredibly successful. The real reason you procrastinate | WorkLife with Adam Grant (Audio I think especially if it's a task that's really creating a lot of stress and really frustration or anxiety or anticipated anxiety, sometimes that's not how we feel right now, but we're anticipating that as soon as we start working on those tasks, we're going to get frustrated and that's enough to keep us from going with it. The puzzling psychology of procrastination and how to stop it There are also variable factorsthings like our environment, our health that day, and other things that might affect our tendency to procrastinate. Emotions pretty much always come with thoughts and vice versa. In this way, youre setting yourself up for positive reinforcement, instead of the negative thoughts that usually accompany procrastination. Its the equivalent of the Instagram image of perfection. And we also think that it's going to last longer, we're going to be stuck in this state of frustration or stress or what have you as we're struggling with this task. Sirois: So yeah, I mean there's a lot of myths out there about why people procrastinate and the common wisdom out there is that, oh, teach somebody to manage their time better and they'll stop procrastinating, or give them better self-control or tell them they're lazy and crack the whip and get them going and that'll reduce it. So a really good way to find a system for you for approaching double tasks is when you successfully do a novel task, look at the system that you used to get it done. Then you need a snack. You'll gain practical knowledge you can put into action right away. But there are also a lot of other ways to use habits. CURT NICKISCH: For me personally, the idea of a pre-mortem and testing your assumptions is kind of attractive because I expect that could help a lot with things that always seem to take longer than you thought they were going to. And so we first think, Oh, well, no one likes doing boring tasks. So the idea is, okay, well, if you have habits of doing your boring tasks, then you wont need as much self-control to get those done. For best results, make your first step . This is simply not true. Just do it and you'll feel a lot better than you think you will. The Psychology of Procrastination: Why We Delay and How to - LinkedIn I have been researching and writing about procrastination for nearly twenty years. How does procrastination affect people's lives and their mental and physical health? Procrastination, Depression and Creativity | Psychology Today So lots of forms of problem solving benefit from an incubation period where you take a pause between when you hear the problem and when you start working on it. But it still creates a bit of a problem of not having a habit of getting on and doing that other thing. And then it turns into a big problem that could have been avoided. Ill just put that off and hope that it goes away.. So I sort of lay that out there because it's slightly different there. Et la procrastination on peut la trouver aussi chez les personnes qui souhaitent gurir. It is the act of delaying or postponing tasks that need to be accomplished. But there's tolerance for it too. Mills: Well, that's some good advice for you procrastinators who are listening to us today. "There hasn't been any convincing scientific evidence to say procrastination is the result of poor time management. So I think it can be quite mixed. What are you working on now? Lets start with better habits. A former reporter and editor for The Associated Press, Mills has also written for publications including The Washington Post, Fast Company, American Journalism Review, Dallas Morning News, MSNBC.com and Harvard Business Review. And then I think of one way to mitigate against each of them. CURT NICKISCH: Well, lets talk about the work setting a little bit in the sense of teams and organizational culture. One of the strategies that I often use myself is this idea of a task that youre avoiding, thinking about it in terms of your values. When we shift over and we look at adults who are now out in the workforce, they've got their degrees and they're out there just getting on with their lives, it's still fairly high in terms of the chronic procrastination. You can extrapolate out a little bit. They have a zero tolerance sort of policy for any sort of mistakes or anything not going correctly and so they tap out. Sirois is the author of Procrastination: What It Is, Why Its a Problem, and What You Can Do About It, published by APA Books in July 2022. You might be procrastinating when: There is a gap between your intention and action You feel like avoiding something You find yourself easily distracted You feel overwhelmed by tasks at the last minute You always feel rushed to complete a project
