Why Do We Procrastinate?

Procrastination Has Less To Do With Perfectionism Than A Lack Of Confidence, A Study Shows

(WebMD)  The reason we procrastinate may be more about confidence than perfectionism, a new study says.

Contrary to popular belief, procrastinators generally aren't perfectionists; instead, they're more likely to delay tasks they're not confident about, says researcher Piers Steel, Ph.D.

Steel is an assistant professor in the human resources and organizational dynamics department of Canada's University of Calgary.

"Essentially, procrastinators have less confidence in themselves, less expectancy that they can actually complete a task," Steel says in a University of Calgary news release.

"Perfectionism is not the culprit," he continues. "In fact, perfectionists procrastinate less, but they worry about it more."

Steel reviewed procrastination research from scholarly books, conferences, journals, and other sources.

His review appears in the January edition of the American Psychological Association's Psychological Bulletin.

Procrastination has been around ever since civilization began and "does not appear to be disappearing anytime soon," writes Steel.

So he boiled procrastination down to a mathematical formula.

The formula predicts procrastination based on a person's expectation of finishing a task, the task's importance, the person's desire to complete the task, and how soon the task needs to be done.

The formula suggests people are less likely to procrastinate if the task has to be done ASAP and they feel confident they are up to the task.

It suggests people are more likely to procrastinate if the task is less urgent, less appealing, or daunting to the person facing the task.

Other factors may also be involved, Steel notes.

For example, he points out that rebellious people may tend to procrastinate tasks given by authority figures; and depressed people may procrastinate due to low energy.

More research is needed on procrastination, and the sooner, the better, Steel concludes.

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SOURCES: Steel, P. Psychological Bulletin, January 2007; vol 133: pp 65-94. News release, University of Calgary.

[sy2502]

As a typical procrastinator, I agree with classicpro, it has nothing to do with confidence or fear of success or anything of that kind. First of all, I procrastinate stuff I hate to do. Second I work best when the time is short and the stress gets high. Put the 2 together and you'll see that procrastination is a way to make something you hate more interesting by adding the thrill of having little time left to do it. And by the way, I am in fact a very successful professional, so procrastination and success don't necessarily have anything to do with each other.

[feelfree1]

RE: "Why Do We Procrastinate?"

I don't have time to offer you a perfected response to that question right now. Maybe later.

[classicpro]

I would have to disagree with the findings published in this article. I have a tendancy to procrastinate from time to time and for me it has nothing to do with lack of confidence, or not knowing what to do. I work best under pressure, I like the challenge of having to be on my toes; I think it might have more to do with boredem than anything else.

[samthetvcat]

Let me think about this article and get back to you . . .

[olddog200]

I'll post a comment about this article very soon. Just give me a minute...

[samrthornton]

If I'm not mistaken, the report on procrastination discussed above was 5 years late. See:
http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/cnn_topstories/~3/74216812/index.html

[samrthornton]

If I'm not mistaken, the report on procrastination discussed above was 5 years late. See:
http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/cnn_topstories/~3/74216812/index.html