Psychology of Procrastination

Tidbits of information, questions, studies, theories, and understandings about procrastination from a psych undergrad.

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Unraveling the "Cure": A Nature and Nurture Approach

As I think about all the different subjects I've read on psychological disorders and the generally balanced explanations for why disorders occur (nature and nurture), there is one thing that always bothered me. I have read on many occasions that genetic influences outside of our control are strong contributors to our behavior. This is a bit disconcerting to me because it subtly implies that we are neither at fault for our bad behaviors, nor do we have any control over changing them. But since most college books I have read are balanced in their approach, elements of environment both in childhood, adolescence, and our current environment as adults are said to play a factor in shaping our minds as well. The debate over which has a stronger influence over our behavior is fiercely contested, but I do not wish to touch on this matter. The important element here is that both genetics and environment influence our behavior.

If this is so, then how can one "unlearn" a genetic pre-disposition? Even though pre-disposition does not mean pre-determination (what you are potentially capable of becoming based on genetics doesn't mean you will actually become it), changing a behavior that you are genetically born with sounds like an impossible task.

As I mulled this over for a long time in my psychology classes, I came to a theory. If there is an approach to "curing" genetically pre-disposed chronic procrastination, it must include a technique that is continuous throughout the lifespan of a person. It reminds me of a quote by Zig Zagler when he said, "People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well neither does bathing. That's why we recommend it daily." Whatever the "cure" entails, it must have something in it that is a continual modification of behavior. If you combine this with three different aspects of what forms our behavior--thoughts, behavior, and emotions--you dissipate the procrastination from all four angles. Biology is curbed through lifetime repetitious exercises, negative self-talk which creates unrealistically negative beliefs about a situation changes the thought process, negative emotions that are either created by the negative thoughts or are learned from past experiences are uncovered and worked through, and finally behavioral modifications are altered by addressing the thoughts before the actions. My suspicion is that behaviors won't even need to be modified at all. The outcome will most likely end up being that the person stops procrastinating as a byproduct of working through the thoughts and emotions that precede the behavior in the first place. 

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PsychologyToday.com

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Procrastinators are made not born. Procrastination is learned in the family milieu, but not directly. It is one response to an authoritarian parenting style. Having a harsh, controlling father keeps children from developing the ability to regulate themselves, from internalizing their own intentions and then learning to act on them. Procrastination can even be a form of rebellion, one of the few forms available under such circumstances. What's more, under those household conditions, procrastinators turn more to friends than to parents for support, and their friends may reinforce procrastination because they tend to be tolerant of their excuses.

Procrastination: Ten Things To Know - PsychologyToday.com

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20% of the United States suffers from chronic procrastination - the daily struggle to lead a normal, productive life. We consider this an epidemic that deserves more attention. Our mission is to provide free information on procrastination, to support procrastinators, and to provide the best known methods of curing it available online.

http://chronicprocrastination.org/

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Overcoming Procrastination/Chronic Procrastination - Wikibooks

"Many individuals who consider themselves "chronic procrastinators" are actually suffering from an underlying mental health problem such asdepression or Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). These individuals often do not understand why they cannot "get it together", and can become resigned to a life of struggle, frustration, and underachievement. There is, unfortunately, widespread ignorance about this constituent to procrastination, even amongst mental health professionals, some of whom see procrastination as simply a "bad habit".

In addition, some people are predisposed to monotropism, a condition associated with autism in which there is a tendency to allocate attention to one task at a time, and to be less able than usual to multi-task or allocate segments of time for different priorities as may be needed. This may stem from many causes, including obsessional disorders and Asperger syndrome. To these individuals, tasks perceived as less important or less urgent may be excessively deferred behind other tasks which receive undue attention or priority."

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Overcoming_Procrastination/Chronic_Procrastination

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The beginning of my analysis for the question, "Why?"

There are several points I have been noting as I begin to think about this topic more. One point is that there can be several reasons why someone procrastinates. It doesn't have to be specific (although, it can be). It may be due to moderate to severe disorders such as agoraphobia, social anxiety, Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), perfectionism, depression etc. Other reasons not related to a disorder may be passive-aggressiveness, and resentment either towards an individual or just towards an idea. One possible theory is that because the "chronic" procrastinator is either not aware of this, or does not know how to properly deal with these feelings, the default behavior, which has been learned, is to alleviate it through procrastination.

Another point I want to make is that individuals who imagine what the task is going to be like in their minds before doing them are creating unrealistically negative perspectives on how much work, how difficult, or how scary a situation is going to be. An example of this is a person who is very moderately agoraphobic may not want to go to the grocery store because the person develops slight to moderate anxiety while being surrounded by other people. The person may believe that other people may be looking at them or watching them. Of course, generally speaking, this belief is unrealistic. Therefore, a suggested solution is to confront unrealistic perspectives and replace them with more realistic views. Although this is a rudimentary solution to a mental disorder, it may be enough to modify behaviors if the individual's disorder is moderate.

One thing mentioned by Heyman in his book, Addiction: A Disorder of Choice, is that people will tend to choose the more pleasurable routes for whether or not they continue an addictive behavior. An example is an individual choosing to intake a drug because of the pleasure experienced while taking it. Later on, that same person may encounter social stigma and may be threatened to be disassociated from the person's family. The individual then chooses to stop using the drug because the negatives of taking the drug are now outweighed by the negatives of stopping using the drug. Applying this to procrastination, a person may procrastinate on things because the negatives of doing the task are outweighed by the negatives of procrastinating on doing the task; however, if the circumstance is dire, then the individual may then start to do the task. An example of this is that an individual may procrastinate on filing taxes. Three years later, the IRS threatens the individual with severe consequences, so the person begins to file taxes. In this instance, the choice is based on which provides the most immediate benefit, and which provides the least amount of "suffering".

It is important to note that impulsivity has been correlated with procrastination. Perhaps people who procrastinate are basing their decisions on their immediate feelings with less value for feelings they will have in the future.

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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.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procrastination

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Fear and anxiety are the symptoms but what thoughts underlie those feelings? What keeps the fear and anxiety alive? The goal of this process is to determine how logical or illogical your thought patterns are and to correct them accordingly.

Dr. Kristina Randle responding to a procrastinator - http://psychcentral.com/ask-the-therapist/2011/05/13/anxiety-procrastination/

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The book I am skimming through for my paper on addiction. Interesting read.

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Is procrastination an addiction?

Currently, I'm writing a paper on addiction. It has come up that procrastination may be a form of addiction. Even though I have not researched this further, the simple notion seemed intriguing to me. As I research more about addiction for my paper, I am keeping my mind open to applying this to procrastination if possible. Maybe there are other solutions to "severe" procrastinators that aren't being looked into because it is not being considered an addiction. Personally, I do not lean on one side or the other, but I believe there is some valuable insight that can be gained by looking at this perspective.