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Procrastination

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In psychology, procrastination refers to the act of replacing high-priority actions with tasks of low-priority, and thus putting off important tasks to a later time. Some Psychologists cite such behavior as a mechanism for coping with the anxiety associated with starting or completing any task or decision.[1] Other psychologists indicate that anxiety is just as likely to get people to start working early as late and the focus should be impulsiveness. That is, anxiety will cause people to delay only if they are impulsive.[2]

Schraw, Wadkins, and Olafson have proposed three criteria for a behavior to be classified as procrastination: it must be counterproductive, needless, and delaying.[3] Similarly, Steel (2007) reviews all previous attempts to define procrastination, indicating it is "to voluntarily delay an intended course of action despite expecting to be worse off for the delay."[4]

Procrastination may result in stress, a sense of guilt and crisis, severe loss of personal productivity, as well as social disapproval for not meeting responsibilities or commitments. These feelings combined may promote further procrastination. While it is regarded as normal for people to procrastinate to some degree, it becomes a problem when it impedes normal functioning. Chronic procrastination may be a sign of an underlying psychological disorder.

Etymology

The modern term comes from the Latin word procrastinatus, which is the past participle of procrastinare derived from pro- (forward) and crastinus (of tomorrow).[5] Though descriptions of procrastination appear in ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman texts, it first appears by name in the English language in 1548 Oxford English Dictionary.[6]

Causes

Psychological

The psychological causes of procrastination are in debate. Drawing on clinical work, there appears to be a connection with issues of anxiety, low sense of self-worth, and a self-defeating mentality. On the other hand, drawing on meta-analytical correlational work, anxiety and perfectionism have no connection or at best an extremely weak connection with procrastination. Instead, procrastination is strongly connected with lack of self-confidence (e.g., low self-efficacy), disliking the task (e.g., boredom proneness), but especially impulsiveness.[2] These characteristics are often facets of the personality trait conscientiousness while anxiety and irrational beliefs (such as perfectionism) are aspects of the personality trait neuroticism. Accordingly, Lee, Kelly and Edwards (2006) indicated that neuroticism has no direct links to procrastination and that any relationship is fully mediated by conscientiousness. [7]

Physiological

Research on the physiological roots of procrastination mostly surrounds the role of the prefrontal cortex.[8] Consistent with notion that procrastination is strongly related to impulsiveness, this area of the brain is responsible for executive brain functions such as planning, impulse control, attention, and acts as a filter by decreasing distracting stimuli from other brain regions. Damage or low activation in this area can reduce an individual's ability to filter out distracting stimuli, ultimately resulting in poorer organization, a loss of attention and increased procrastination. This is similar to the prefrontal lobe's role in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, where underactivation is common.[9]

Mental health

For some people, procrastination can be persistent and tremendously disruptive to everyday life. For these individuals, procrastination may be symptomatic of a psychological disorder such as depression or ADHD. Therefore, it is important for people whose procrastination has become chronic and is perceived to be debilitating, to seek out a trained therapist or psychiatrist to see if an underlying mental health issue may be present.

Perfectionism

Traditionally, procrastination has been associated with perfectionism, a tendency to negatively evaluate outcomes and one's own performance, intense fear and avoidance of evaluation of one's abilities by others, heightened social self-consciousness and anxiety, recurrent low mood, and "workaholism". According to Robert B. Slaney[10] adaptive perfectionists (when perfectionism is egosyntonic) were less likely to procrastinate than non-perfectionists, while maladaptive perfectionists (people who saw their perfectionism as a problem; i.e., when perfectionism is egodystonic) had high levels of procrastination (and also of anxiety).[11] Accordingly, meta-analytic review of 71 studies by Steel (2007) indicate that typically perfectionists actually procrastinate slightly less than others, with "the exception being perfectionists who were also seeking clinical counseling."[12]

Academic procrastination

More specifically, a 1992 study showed that "52% of surveyed students indicated having a moderate to high need for help concerning procrastination".[13] It is estimated that 80%–95% of college students engage in procrastination, approximately 75% considering themselves procrastinators.[14]

One source of procrastination is underestimating 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 have to review many contradictory opinions before they can offer their own perspective on the subject. Despite knowing how to consult resources, they struggle to perform their own analysis.[15]

"Student syndrome" refers to the phenomenon where a student will only begin to fully apply themselves to a task immediately before a deadline. This negates the usefulness of any buffers built into individual task duration estimates. Students also have difficulties when self-imposing deadlines.[16]

Types

The relaxed type

The relaxed type of procrastinators view their responsibilities negatively and avoid them by directing energy into other tasks. It is common, for example, for relaxed type procrastinating children to abandon schoolwork but not their social lives. Students often see projects as a whole rather than breaking them into smaller parts. This type of procrastination is a form of denial or cover-up; therefore, typically no help is being sought. Furthermore, they are also unable to defer gratification. The procrastinator avoids situations that would cause displeasure, indulging instead in more enjoyable activities. They may not appear to be worried about work and deadlines, but this is simply an evasion of the work that needs to be completed.[17]

The tense-afraid type

The tense-afraid type of procrastinators usually feel overwhelmed with pressure, unrealistic about time, uncertain about goals, and many other negative feelings. They may feel a sense of malaise. Feeling that they lack the ability or focus to successfully complete their work, they tell themselves that they need to unwind and relax, that it's better to take it easy for the afternoon, for example, and start afresh in the morning. They usually have grandiose plans that aren't realistic. Their 'relaxing' is often temporary and ineffective, and leads to even more stress as time runs out, deadlines approach and the person feels increasingly guilty and apprehensive. This behavior becomes a cycle of failure and delay, as plans and goals are put off, pencilled into the following day or week in the diary again and again. It can also have a debilitating effect on their personal lives and relationships. Since they are uncertain about their goals, they often feel awkward with people who appear confident and goal-oriented, which can lead to depression. Tense-afraid procrastinators often withdraw from social life, avoiding contact even with close friends.[17]

Stigma and misunderstanding

Procrastinators often have great difficulty in seeking help, or finding an understanding source of support, due to the stigma and profound misunderstanding surrounding extreme forms of procrastination. One of the symptoms, known to psychologists as task-aversion, is often mischaracterised as laziness, a lack of willpower or loss of ambition.[18]

See also

2

References

  1. ^ Fiore, Neil A (2006). The Now Habit: A Strategic Program for Overcoming Procrastination and Enjoying Guilt- Free Play. New York: Penguin Group. ISBN 9781585425525. p. 5
  2. ^ a b Steel, Piers (2010). The Procrastination Equation: How to Stop Putting Things Off and Start Getting Stuff Done. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 9780061703614.
  3. ^ Schraw, G., Wadkins, T., Olafson, L. (2007). "Doing the things we do: A grounded theory of academic procrastination". Journal of Educational Psychology. 99 (1): 12–25. doi:10.1037/0022-0663.99.1.12.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ Steel, Piers (2007). "The nature of procrastination: a meta-analytic and theoretical review of quintessential self-regulatory failure" (PDF). Psycholgoical Bulletin. 131 (1): 65–94. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.133.1.65.
  5. ^ http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/procrastination
  6. ^ Oxford English Dictionary entry on "procrastinate"
  7. ^ Lee, D. G., Kelly, K. R., & Edwards, J. K. (2006). A closer look at the relationships among trait procrastination, neuroticism, and conscientiousness. Personality and Individual Differences, 40, 27–37.
  8. ^ Evans, James R. (8 August 2007). Handbook of Neurofeedback: Dynamics and Clinical Applications. Psychology Press. p. 293. ISBN 9780789033604. Retrieved 8 October 2010.
  9. ^ Strub, Richard L. (1989). "Frontal lobe syndrome in a patient with bilateral globus pallidus lesions". Archives of Neurology. 46 (9): 1024–7. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  10. ^ Robert B. Slaney is a professor of counseling psychology in Penn State's College of Education
  11. ^ McGarvey. Jason A. (1996) The Almost Perfect Definition
  12. ^ Steel, Piers (2007). "The Nature of Procrastination: A Meta-Analytic and Theoretical Review of" (PDF). Psychological Bulletin. 133 (1): 65–94. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.133.1.65.
  13. ^ R P Gallagher, S Borg, A Golin, K Kelleher (1992). Journal of College Student Development. 33 (4): 301–10. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  14. ^ http://my.ilstu.edu/~dfgrayb/Personal/Procrastination.pdf
  15. ^ Burka, Yuen (1983, 2008). Procrastination: Why You Do It, What To Do About It Now. New York: Da Capo Lifelong Books. ISBN 9780738211701. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  16. ^ Ariely, Dan; Wertenbroch, Klaus (2002). "Procrastination, Deadlines, and Performance: Self-Control by Precommitment" (PDF). Psychological Science. 13 (3): 219–224. doi:10.1111/1467-9280.00441. PMID 12009041.
  17. ^ a b Tucker-Ladd, C.E. "Ch. 4: Behavior, Motivation and Self-Control. Sect.: Procrastination, How to Stop Procrastinating". Psychological Self-Help. p. 76. ISBN 1-890873-00-4. {{cite book}}: External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)
  18. ^ Steel, Piers (January 2007). "The nature of procrastination: A meta-analytic and theoretical review of quintessential self-regulatory failure". Psychological Bulletin. 133 (1).
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