PROCRASTINATION: A PSYCHOLOGICAL WORLD

Commonly, students procrastinate whenever they do something that isn't enthusiastic in

their favor. Procrastination is something frowned upon in our society since we grew up to
learn that productivity would give us a brighter future. But could there be more to
procrastination? Is procrastination a behavior that all should avoid? If we desire to avoid the
temptation to sit down and scroll through our feed, what are the possible solutions to turn
away from procrastination and finish our due projects? Can procrastination be beneficial -- if
used wisely -- in contrast to productivity? Procrastination could be an effect on our
psychological means, which we are unaware of.

First of all, procrastination is an act of delaying or postponing, often an irrational behavior

done by students or workers alike. According to a UK survey held in January of 2020,
among a thousand people, only 15.6% claim they never procrastinate, while a total
percentage of 84% had experienced this behavior. Research also shows that males are
more likely to become more procrastinative than the opposite gender. But at the end of the
day, procrastination isn't a scientific discovery. It has been human nature for generations.

I have asked people, specifically my close friends, regarding their issues with
procrastination. They would reply with laughter since they knew that procrastination is an
ordinary human behavior, not knowing the psychological expense this behavior offers.
Procrastination leads to problems, and those problems lead us to stress and anxiety. But
then again, those stress will also lead us back to procrastination. And many would wonder
what the real cause is for procrastination and the answer is pretty simple: emotions and
distress.

There are many causes of procrastination. Chronic procrastination could lead to an

unhealthy mind and sometimes would result in anxiety or be a result of ADHD. But emotions
or distress are possibly the real cause of this. Professors of psychology had said that
procrastination is a way of coping with negative emotions or mood provoked tasks such as
insecurity, anger, self-doubt, and more. An article in The New York Times had said: "In a
2013 study, Dr. Pyschyl and Dr. Sirois, both professors of psychology, found that
procrastination can be understood as 'the primacy of short-term mood repair … over the
longer-term pursuit of intended actions.'" Ironic as it is, we procrastinate to "rest" or to make
ourselves feel better, but the consequences of avoidance will be something our future
selves would have to worry about.

If such procrastination were to increase, mental problems, as well as physical health,

would also begin to arise. Chronic procrastination not only affects one's productivity but also
would result in chronic stress, psychological distress, symptoms of depression and anxiety,
and even hypertension and cardiovascular disease.
 There are ways to get out of procrastination. Annie Passarello from Oregon State
University listed ten different strategies for overcoming procrastination. Some of these are
making a to-do list, self-bribery, and do two things at once. Some would also suggest doing
the Pomodoro technique in which one would work for 25 minutes and then resting for 5
minutes after, then after every four Pomodoros, they take longer breaks. But of course,
there would be moments when we would also procrastinate in doing these simple things. As
a procrastinator myself, I would do a different method although it doesn't apply to everyone.
Take your work to a different perspective and see the exciting thing in it. It would be
strenuous, especially if it were unentertaining. But finding something worth looking for will
get me out of procrastination.

Although given a bad reputation, procrastination has its benefits. In some cases,
procrastinating would provide us a different view of things and would help us clarify what to
do with our projects. There would also be two types of procrastination: active and passive.
We are mostly familiar with passive procrastination since we all do it in some ways or form
to avoid a task at hand. Active procrastination, on the other hand, would prefer to work
under pressure and use their control of time and self-efficiency to their advantage, which is
extremely helpful to students or workers.

To conclude it all, procrastination is something that we all had done and foretold. Whether
we procrastinate on academic projects or simple chores, procrastination is human nature,
though sometimes, it could lead to psychological effects. Is procrastination bad? In some
cases, yes, it is. But if somehow learned to be used wisely and purposefully, then
procrastination might have some pro to its name.

CITATIONS:

“Why You Procrastinate (It Has Nothing to Do With Self-Control) (Published

2019).” The New York Times, 2020, www.nytimes.com/2019/03/25/smarter-

living/why-you-procrastinate-it-has-nothing-to-do-with-self-

control.html#:~:text=Over%20time%2C%20chronic%20procrastination

%20has,chronic%20illness%20and%20even%20hypertension.

Jaffe, Eric. “Why Wait? The Science Behind Procrastination.” APS Observer, vol.

26, no. 4, 2013, www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/why-wait-the-

science-behind-procrastination.
 “Rethinking Procrastination: Positive Effects Of.” The Journal of Social

Psychology, 2010, www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3200/SOCP.145.3.245-

264.

Procrastination Solutions. “Procrastination Solutions.” Academic Success Center,

26 Aug. 2013, success.oregonstate.edu/procrastination-solutions.

“Procrastination Statistics UK 2020 (And How to Stop Procrastinating).” Micro Biz

Mag, 9 Jan. 2020, www.microbizmag.co.uk/procrastination-statistics/.

DeMers, Jayson. “Can Procrastination Actually Be Good for Your Productivity? |

AllBusiness.com.” AllBusiness.com, May 2020,

www.allbusiness.com/procrastination-good-productivity-128360-

1.html#:~:text=Procrastination%20can%20be%20a

%20productivity,ultimately%20make%20you%20more%20productive.

“Why Not Procrastinate? Development and Validation of a New Active

Procrastination Scale.” The Journal of Social Psychology, 2010,

www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3200/SOCP.149.2.195-212.

Beutel, Manfred E., et al. “Procrastination, Distress and Life Satisfaction across

the Age Range – A German Representative Community Study.” PLOS ONE,

edited by Ulrich S Tran, vol. 11, no. 2, Feb. 2016, p. e0148054,

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0148054. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?

id=10.1371/journal.pone.0148054