I usually post my blogs on Thursday. I thought about getting an early start on Wednesday, but not knowing what to write about, I decided to put it off until the next day. Yesterday, however, I was working on another study, (ironically about procrastination) and the blog took a backburner in my mind. So, here I am on Friday, a day late. Having procrastinated with my own blog, I’d thought I’d share some interesting things I learned about procrastination.

Here is how procrastination is defined: “to voluntarily delay an intended course of action despite expecting to be worse off for the delay.” So, while I knew I should have started this blog when I had time on Wednesday, I put it off waiting for divine inspiration, knowing that I might have less time to work on this if I waited. And it turns out that I’m not alone. Almost everyone procrastinates at some time: about 80%-95% of college students do, 75% even think of themselves as procrastinators, and in the general population 15-20% experience chronic procrastination. Most procrastinators, including myself, don’t like it. It can cause additional stress, disappointment for those who are relying on you, and even unnecessary rushing, sometimes causing mistakes to be made. (Apologies in advance for any errors in this blog, and for those of you waiting for this post).

It turns out there are some things you can do to lessen procrastination though. For example, the more likely you are successfully complete a task, the more likely you are to do it. Try breaking large tasks into smaller, more manageable and accomplishable pieces. A task that’s boring or unpleasant is also more likely to be put off until later. If it’s possible, try pairing not-so-pleasant task with a pleasant one – like doing the dishes while listening to the radio. Because procrastinators can be impetuous and easily distracted, for more demanding tasks, try to create a situation with little distraction. Turn off your cell phone, close your email, or isolate yourself in a room, then make a habit of doing this every time. Other things to try: write out a plan, set some short-term goals, and do something a little bit each day.

These are just a few ideas for my fellow procrastinators. You can also look forward to the upcoming study on procrastination which will come out next month. And for the future, I plan to take my own advice and not put things off even if it’s just one more day.

Further Reading:

(See Steel, 2007 for an entire review; or Science Daily for another article about this)