Procrastinators

[MolotovCocktail]

Has anyone ever wondered about the psychology behind procrastination? Its something we all do without thinking about it, but I sometimes wonder what mechanisms are responsible for such a thing. Especially since we all know that it doesn't really do us any good. I personally find that it is a temporary solution to anxiety...

[padren]

Has anyone ever wondered about the psychology behind procrastination? Its something we all do without thinking about it, but I sometimes wonder what mechanisms are responsible for such a thing. Especially since we all know that it doesn't really do us any good. I personally find that it is a temporary solution to anxiety...

 

I often find I procrastinate when I have a subconcious resistance to what I have to do, or at least how I expect I need to go about it. If you don't like doing certain repetative tasks, you either accept them as nessesary, or subconciously desire a better solution, and resist doing it "the same old way" because you know doing that will put you right back where you were before.

 

I suspect usually this sense of resistance rarely finds better solutions and ends up costing more energy than it is likely to potentially save, but its important to try to adapt in order to advance.

 

Secondarily, it is a way of avoiding stress when you just don't want to deal with it, on the off chance you'll be in a better position to deal with the stress later. Rarely works either though, I suspect.

[iglak]

I often find I procrastinate when I have a subconcious resistance to what I have to do, or at least how I expect I need to go about it. If you don't like doing certain repetative tasks, you either accept them as nessesary, or subconciously desire a better solution, and resist doing it "the same old way" because you know doing that will put you right back where you were before.

 

i find that i procrastinate for the same reasons, although i imagine the application of those reasons is different.

 

for example:

the reason i dropped out of (US)college (a year ago) is because i found that i disagreed with many things about how the education system works. at the time, i didn't consciously recognize my disagreements for what they were; they were subconscious resistances coupled with an intuitive understanding that a much better method exists.

my personality is such that i can never accept anything as necessary. as such, i subconsciously desired a better solution, and resisted going through school "the same old way" because i knew that it wouldn't ever end up changing. since then i've been progresively becoming less depressed.

 

consequently, i believe procrastination is a natural instinct that should be listened to, and is very close, psychologically, to fear. procrastination is perhaps even just an extention of fear. both seem to keep the person out of potentially harmful situations.

 

as another example, i always hated taking showers. i still do. i often only take a shower once a week (i can do this because i don't excercise regularly, and rarely sweat). however, there was one time that i visited a friend who had a shower filter. when i took a shower at his apartment, i felt really good. the water felt really good, and i immediately wanted to take showers more often. unfortunately, i was told about the shower filter before i took a shower, so i can't be entirely sure if the results were instead caused by my thoughts. but, i'm fairly sure what i was feeling was real. after all, chlorine and other tap water additives can easily be absorbed through, or heavily irritate, the skin.

additionally, i always procrastinated about washing my hair and brushing my teeth. that is, until i found a healthfood shampoo that didn't leave an aftertaste in my mouth, and a healthfood toothpaste with very few chemicals and no fluoride.

 

 

 

 

of course, this doesn't say anything about the type of procrastination that's pure laziness.

except in circumstances where laziness is caused by depressing conditions, and procrastination takes the person away from those depressing conditions.

[Morkeliph]

Has anyone ever wondered about the psychology behind procrastination? Its something we all do without thinking about it, but I sometimes wonder what mechanisms are responsible for such a thing. Especially since we all know that it doesn't really do us any good. I personally find that it is a temporary solution to anxiety...

Well, a source of animal data shows "procrastination" behavior, if you want to label it as such. On fixed ratio schedules of reinforcement, particularly with higher ratio requirements, you often observe what has been termed the "post-reinforcement pause." Experiments have shown that the length of the pause in responding between reinforcer receptions is directly related to the aversiveness of the upcoming ratio requirement. For example, in a multiple FR10, FR100 schedule, shorter pauses we be observed following reinforcer reception after the 100 response requirement than after the 10 response requirement. Additionally, on a multiple FR10, FR10+shock schedule (where in the second component response contingent mind shock is super imposed upon the FR10 schedule of food reinforcement) you see a similar effect; longer pauses prior to initiating responding on the FR10+shock than on the standard FR10.

 

These findings suggest that the expression of a post-reinforcement pause is due to avoidance of aversive events in the upcoming ratio requirement. This is fairly easy to compare to human procrastination because generally procrastination results from the avoidance of completing some aversive task.

[1veedo]

I didn't think this had anything to do with procrastination. Their pattern of behavior is dependent on the schedule used. In variable ration you get constant positive response because the more they respond, the more reward they get. But in fixed interval, they lean that they wont get a reward until after a certain amount of time has passed, so they don't do anything until they know they can be rewarded.

 

This could have something to do with procrastination but I just don't see the link here.

[ecoli]

 

It's about energy... Does the amount you gain from performing the task outweigh the benefits of ignoring it? Usually it does, but we like to spend a lot of time weighing this carefully. Thus, procrastination insues.

[Diana]

One of you said that people do something at a time when they will be rewarded for it, so if you put it off until the very last minute but still get it done you feel like you really accomplished some great feat.

 

In some cases, I believe it's a way to cause drama in one's life. People who are used to chaos create drama because it's all they know. Procrastinating can be caused by that need for drama as well, I believe.

 

I am not a procrastinator, nor do I subscribe to their way of thinking, so I find it's all just driven by laziness for the most part. But there are many reasons for it.

[Genecks]

I can't remember the exact terms in accordance to modern psychology, but I believe I have an answer to this question.

 

It has to do with the nervous system and how your psychology is at the moment. For instance, let's say you put yourself in the illusion that right now is wartime. Someone is coming after you, and that person is not going to stop.

 

You're mentally primed: You're facing death

You're psyched: You've got to fight to avoid death

You have a reason to keep going: The reason makes you work hard.

 

I can't remember the term, but I think it has to do with "inhibited psychology." Someone correct me, because I'm pretty sure i'm using the wrong term.

 

In other words, the body and mind is so relaxed, you need to bring it to a new stage of alertness and need. How to do that? A good way is exercise.

 

I would do pushups and crunches inbetween study breaks in order to keep alert and active. I needed to keep my mind psyched, and my body's flow of adrenaline active.

 

To say the least, the body is relaxed. The mind is relaxed. You need to bring them out of a state of relaxation. The trick is finding a way to do that. Mostly, it's about staying determined with a one-track mind.

 

To me, there is a difference between a person who wants to do the work and the person who does not want to do the work. A person who wants to do the work but procrastinates might have a form of ADD/ADHD; otherwise, the person might be going through an inhibited stage: the person isn't psyched enough to do the work.

 

The person who doesn't want to the work simply procrastinates, because he she simply does not want to do the work. It's pretty cut and dry on that way. Otherwise, the person doesn't have much of a reason to do the work.

 

I'm sure rewards come into play somewhere, but I wouldn't put too much emphasis on it. People who understand the rewards of work may or may not do the work, depending on the person's view of the reward.

[Diana]

 

I'm sure rewards come into play somewhere, but I wouldn't put too much emphasis on it. People who understand the rewards of work may or may not do the work, depending on the person's view of the reward.

 

Could it be that procrastinators don't understand that a job well done is its own reward. They aren't giving themselves the internal 'pat on the back' so if no one else is either they may just think most things aren't worth doing at all....everything they do is done only when it absolutely has to be done so they won't get into trouble or lose their job, for example.

[MolotovCocktail]

I can't remember the term, but I think it has to do with "inhibited psychology." Someone correct me, because I'm pretty sure i'm using the wrong term.

 

In other words, the body and mind is so relaxed, you need to bring it to a new stage of alertness and need. How to do that? A good way is exercise....

 

 

Good point there. When one is in a relaxed state I can see how they may be more prone to procrastination (e.g. Couch Potatoes, Internet Browsing, etc.) Exercize certainly helps, but I'm wondering if the environment has something to do with it as well. For example, in a quiet place such as a bedroom or even out in the open field one is more prone to a relaxed state of mind then, say, an office. However people in an office will still procrastinate, and they are certainly not in a relaxed state of mind.

[Diana]

I

To say the least, the body is relaxed. The mind is relaxed. You need to bring them out of a state of relaxation. The trick is finding a way to do that.

 

I've seen highly energetic people who still procrastinate. For some, it's a matter of prioritizing....or should I say, not prioritizing, not having organized minds. They are scatterbrained, for lack of a better term....but they can still seem hyperactive or energetic at the same time.

 

Just an observation.