Have you ever put off important tasks until the last minute or after the deadline by consistently creating excuses for not finishing them on time? During their college years, most people have experienced delaying assignments or studying for an exam until the very last minute and have ended up staying up all night to meet deadlines. The act of delaying a task or intended course of action until the last minute is referred to as procrastination. According to Joseph Ferrari, author of “Still Procrastinating: The No Regret Guide to Getting It Done,” about 20% of adults in the United States are chronic procrastinators (American Psychological Association, 2010). Piers Steel (2007) estimated that the majority of college students frequently procrastinate their school-related work at least some of the time. While most people know that procrastination is a bad habit that negatively affects daily life, why does a significant portion of the population still procrastinate? Several studies suggest that procrastination actually results from fear of failure, motivational issues, and self-handicapping (Gruman et al., 2017).
Whenever we see others or find ourselves putting tasks off until the last minute, even when there is plenty of time left until the tasks are due, we often think that the delay occurs because of laziness or irresponsibility. I remember repeating bitter words to myself, such as “Stop being lazy!” whenever I delayed the tasks I should have done much earlier. However, studies have shown that people tend to procrastinate because of their fear of failure and the impact that failure has on their self-concept (Gruman et al., 2017). Another study suggested that when people focus more on the outcome of a goal, such as passing an exam, the possible consequences of failing become more vivid, thus escalating the fear of failure. In addition, when the expectation for the completion of a task is high, this fear of failure would likely increase, making us unable to even begin a task by delaying until the last moment.
Another factor that plays a key role in procrastination is motivation, which is deeply related to self-regulating behaviors (Gruman et al., 2017). When someone is motivated to do a particular task, this often becomes effortless and even enjoyable; thus, procrastination may not occur. For example, a child who is motivated to play a video game will not procrastinate this activity while procrastinating on homework assignments because he or she is less motivated to do homework than play video games. Previous research suggests that students who tend to be more intrinsically motivated are better at effectively managing their time and are able to devote their cognitive attention and efforts toward learning (Burnam et al., 2014; Howell & Watson, 2007). Hence, we can assume that people tend to procrastinate on tasks that they are not intrinsically motivated to do in the first place.
Other than the fear of failing and lack of motivation, there is also a common strategy that chronic procrastinators often use, called self-handicapping, which refers to the creation of barriers to successful performance for a task prior to its achievement in order to have an excuse for future failure (Gruman et al., 2017). By doing this, people can blame something other than their own ability to complete a task when facing failure. This strategy does not only reduce the cost of failure; it also emphasizes the value of success when success occurs despite the handicap. For example, a student puts off preparing for an exam because he thinks it is impossible to get a good grade, no matter how hard he studies. By deciding to go out with friends and delaying studying for an exam until the last moment, he can later justify that he failed his exam because he did not have enough time to study instead of harming his academic self-concept.
As you noticed after reading this blog, we do not put things off just because we are lazy; instead, we tend to procrastinate when we want to avoid failure, are not motivated enough to do a specific task, or desire to protect our self-esteem and self-concept through self-handicapping prior to potential failure. We need to understand that there is much complexity in the reasons behind the act of procrastination, which is why we find it challenging to stop procrastinating. It is clear that simply saying, “Stop being lazy! I should stop procrastinating starting today,” may not be an effective method to curb procrastination. Instead, creating environments that emphasize individual effort and mastery of a task rather than actual ability and performance or developing short-term, more easily achievable goals may be more effective at changing procrastination-related behavior.
References
American Psychological Association. The Psychology of Procrastination: Why People Put Off Important Tasks Until the Last Minute. 2010.
Burnam, A., Komarraju, M., Hamel, R., & Nadler, D. R. (2014). Do adaptive perfectionism and self-determined motivation reduce academic procrastination? Learning and Individual Differences, 36, 165–172
Gruman, J., Schneider, F., & Coutts, L. (Eds.) (2017). Applied social psychology. SAGE Publications, Inc, https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781071800591
Howell, A. J., & Watson, D. C. (2007). Procrastination: Associations with achievement goal orientation and learning strategies. Personality and Individual Differences, 43, 167–178
Krause, K., & Freund, A. M. (2014). How to beat procrastination: The role of goal focus. European Psychologist, 19(2), 132-144. doi:https://doi.org/10.1027/1016-9040/a000153
Steel, P. (2007). The nature of procrastination: A meta-analytic and theoretical review of quintessential self-regulatory failure. Psychological Bulletin, 133, 65–94
Tags: Blog10Entry, psych424
I struggle with procrastination. Even when I think I plan enough time for things, I somehow am always left scrambling last minute. I like that you address how procrastination isn’t always due to being lazy. Once I identified some of the causes and triggers for my procrastination, I started trying to work with it instead of against it. As hard as it is, over time it becomes easier. While chronic procrastination can be something you might have to work against your entire life, having some structure to tackle it can help immensely. Below is a website with some insight on how to “hack” procrastination.
https://www.additudemag.com/adhd-procrastination-strategies-do-more-feel-great/#:~:text=Action%20Step%3A%20When%20staring%20at,a%20timer%20for%20five%20minutes.
I am definitely a chronic procrastinator. It doesn’t matter what the task is, it will be done at the very last minute and it will be done phenomenally. I have been a procrastinator since grade school. I’ll never forget that infamous California mission project and running around the art supply store two days before it was due. This may have been the turning point in my academic career. I noticed when pressure is applied, my work comes out better, faster and pretty darn good if you ask me. Ever since that project, majority of my schoolwork is completed within a few hours of it’s due date. We learned there are students who say “they like working under the pressure of an approaching deadline and feel that they produce far better work” (Gruman et al 2016). Procrastinating may not work for everyone but it definitely works for me.
Reference
Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (Eds.). (2016). Applied social psychology : Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. SAGE Publications, Incorporated.
Great post and very relatable!
I know I have definitely been one to procrastinate and feel like I can’t focus to get an assignment done. For me it does seem to come down to motivation and what the driving force is to complete the assignment. I usually have to remind myself what my overall goal is and why I am working towards that goal. This helps me to re-center my thinking and find the intrinsic motivation that is needed. I also think the environment that I learn in is very important for motivation and to keep procrastination at bay. I one hundred percent prefer learning in person to online learning; it is more engaging and I am able to ask the teacher question and engage with other students to hear their perspective. Overall, it provides a more well rounded learning environment and keeps my goal and motivation right in front of me.
One teaching strategy that can create a more interactive environment is problem-based learning, this “places the responsibility on students to access necessary information, to structure and achieve learning goals, and to monitor their understanding of the material” (Gruman et al., 2017). The results of this research have found that problem-based learning environments keeps students intrinsically engaged and more curious and interested in furthering their knowledge of the subject. These students reported that they used more problem solving and critical thinking, they collaborated more with their peers and were appreciative of working with their classmates (Gruman et al., 2017). In my opinion these types of environment completely keep procrastination away, because you are fully engaged by learning with other individuals and everyone has a different perspective to bring to the group. It is an empowering learning experience where you can help one another and gain a deeper understanding of the material. Because you are so engaged and motivated procrastinating does not even enter your mind.
Reference
Gruman, J.A., Schneider, F.W., & Coutts, L.A. (2017). Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.