Procrastination

What is it?Why do we suffer from it?

How may we be able to control it

What is Procrastination?

A bit more complex than delay

• Delay is not procrastination• Pro = forth/in favor of , Crasinus = of

tomorrow• Prudence, Patience, Prioritization is not

procrastination• Delay of intended tasks which is– Needless– Voluntary– Harmful

How prevalent is it?• Saying I don’t procrastinate, is like saying I don’t lie,

or I have never been rude to people

• 95% admit to procrastinating

• About 1 in 5 are chronic procrastinators

• Has its own brand of humor

• Has been vilified in every major religious system

How does it affect us?Chronic Procrastinators have any of the below:• Poorer health• Poorer finances• Poorer employment records• Cost of procrastination (just to the US)

estimated at 1.1 tn $ (Conservative estimate).• More likely to marry, but more likely to

separate than divorce• Poorer social life

Why do we procrastinate?

The Procrastination Equation

• Procrastination is the crutch of the avoider and the bane of the impulse driven

Motivation/ Probability to work ˭

Expectation X Value

Impulsiveness X Delay

Mood RepairTask Aversiveness

Negative Emotions

Procrastination

Temporary Mood Uplifting

Affective Forecasting: Why Tomorrow Never Comes

• After winning a lottery, winners were as happy as before

• Same with accident survivors• Focalism: Underestimation of the effect of

other events on our feelings in future• Presentism: Overweighting the present in

predicting future

Errors of Thinking• Temporal discounting in rewards• Temporal counter-discounting in effort• Planning Fallacy• Self Handicapping• Catastrophising, magnification• Convenient Dissonance Reduction/

Rationalisation• All or nothing/ Perfect Setting

Motivation Action/ Effort

A Behavioral Perspective

• Immediate small punishers vs Cumulatively significant reinforcers

• Immediate small punisher vs Delayed major punisher

• Immediate small punisher vs Delayed major reward

How do we control it?

Analyse the causes of ProcrastinationExpectation X Value

Impulsiveness X Delay

• Expectation: Low expectation of success despite great value

• Value: No great incentive/ Negative value

• Impulsiveness: Not being able to delay gratification

• Delay: Very large delay

Expectation

• Make a list of skills needed to succeed

• Evaluate honestly on skill set

• Honestly evaluate past work

• MINDFULNESS

Value

• Value in effort

• Construe value differently

• Build coping skills

• SET PERSONAL GOALS

Impulsiveness

Delay

• Set shorter goals

• Keep a daily journal

• Construe delay in perspective

Focal Areas

For long term goals, its better to focus on activities

For particularly aversive short term activities, its better to focus on goals

Habit Formation

• Teaching old dogs new tricks

• Change routine

• Small beginnings regular Repeats

• Periodic upgrades

• Leads to Neural Pathway Changes

Set Firm Implementation Intentions

• Implementation intentions are statements of the type:– If I don’t feel good about doing an important

work, then I am going to do it immediately

– If I tell myself there’s lots of time, then I will remind myself that this is a form of self deception

Thank You