Procrastination pattern

Many of us are maybe familiar with putting off tasks, or going over deadlines, which are labelled as procrastinating. Why do people procrastinate? Does it only bring disadvantages, or does it also have some benefits?

Habits and solutions

Over the past couple of decades, academia has been considering procrastination as a worthy subject for research. With studies, analyses, and even a book of philosophical essays being published during this period of time. Procrastination typically refers to a bad habit that lowers productivity, and holds people back from fulfilling their potential.

Procrastination can cause the Brain to having unpleasant thoughts, and adversely affect psychical health. Experts revealed that someone with a habit of procrastinating tends to eat less, sleep less, and drink more compared to those who do tasks on time. Procrastination is even associated with the possible appearance of anxiety disorders.

Procrastinating can help to improve some situations, when the benefits of delaying an action outweigh the risks of hastily moving forward. In these cases, procrastinating allows time to reflect on setbacks, learn from them and then incorporate the lessons in future work. When “strategically procrastinating” you can avoid threats, become more innovative, and discover creative solutions. French Mathematician Poincare explains how his breakthroughs occur while travelling on the bus, or walking by the seaside.

Incubation

Psychologists would seem to agree, with strong evidence that creative insights are  more likely to occur after a period of “incubation”. A time in which whilst focusing on something entirely different from the job at hand, the brain works away behind the scenes. This could include taking a walk, doing household chores or having a shower. Even our procrastinating at work such as watching funny YouTube videos , drinking coffee, might be helpful for a certain problem solving – provided it is done in moderation.

Essentially, incubation effects refer to the idea that setting a problem aside for a while, helps creative thoughts and problem solving. Unconscious processes are working on the problem while the individual is not consciously thinking about the problem.

Modern procrastination

These days, people understand procrastination not only as the “putting off” of something until a deadline, but also undertaking other, less important tasks as a means of avoiding the more important ones. Procrastination rarely involves doing nothing, but it does involve doing other thing momentarily. It is quite different from working on something slowly or over a long period of time.

Procrastination can be helpful to make better decisions, if intuitive reasoning is properly managed. A scientific research by Chu and Choi in 2005, found that active procrastinators are not paralyzed by worry. They also have lower stress levels, exhibit less avoidant tendencies, and have healthier self-efficacy.

Psychologist Adam Grant, from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, argues that people who “put off” solving a task for a little while are often able to come up with more original ideas about how to solve that task, than people who get started on their work right away.

Channel your procrastination into something useful, put a commitment to every task to maximize the final result. Start with small steps to frequently work on a desired target, and create a fail-safe environment, switching off from distractions and any disruptions. Those points might be essential to create an active procrastinating process.

Sources used during this writing  

• De Paola, M., & Scoppa, V. (2015). Procrastination, academis succes and the effectiveness of a remedial program. Journak of Economic Behaviour & Organization, 115, 217-236.
• Chu AH, Choi JN. Rethinking procrastination: positive effects of “active” procrastination behavior on attitudes and performance. J Soc Psychol. 2005 Jun;145(3):245-64. doi: 10.3200/SOCP.145.3.245-264. PMID: 15959999.
• Krause, Kathrin & Freund, Alexandra. (2014). How to Beat Procrastination The Role of Goal Focus. European Psychologist. 19. 132. 10.1027/1016-9040/a000153.
• Abbasi, Irum & Alghamdi, Nawal. (2015). The Prevalence, Predictors, Causes, Treatment, and Implications of Procrastination Behaviors in General, Academic, and Work Setting. International Journal of Psychological Studies
• https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20210319-why-procrastination-can-help-fuel-creativity
• https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00215/full
• https://www.alodokter.com/hentikan-procrastination-raih-semangat-kerja