PROCRASTINATION

We have just celebrated a number of festivals in the last few days. In India festivals come with lot of preparation of different kinds but the most important of them during Diwali is preparation of sweets and delicious food.The pleasure with which these are served and received tends to make many gain weight and they keep eating promising themselves to start dieting after the festiwal. but does that happen?

We often come across such examples where people find it difficult to pursue important tasks they plan to do. For e.g., one might solemnly pledge to follow a exercise routine  or get rid of a bad habit from the very next day. But sadly for most of us, the decision of starting from ‘the next day’ is taken every day till we settle for ‘we will one fine day, when the time is right’.

Can such a behaviour be attributed to sheer laziness and poor planning? Not quite. It is what is called ‘Procrastination’. Widely understood as the act of delaying or postponing tasks, procrastination is a very common behavioural attribute found in humans from time immemorial and across all age groups. The trait found a mention as ‘ Akrasia’ in Greek philosophy and the modern name has been derived from two Latin words, the prefix ‘pro’ meaning forward and ‘cras’ meaning tomorrow.  

Procrastination may be understood as the unnecessary and unwanted delay against one’s better judgement, be it decisional, implemental, or lack of timeliness, even with the realisation of being worse off because of it. We see children putting off their homework or assignments till the last minute, studying for an exam only the day before. Adults are seen pushing the completion of a task till the very last day. We know doing so is a bad idea, and yet we do it anyway. It may essentially be seen as an irrational behaviour—it doesn’t make sense to do something you know will have a negative consequence; delaying some intended course of action, being fully aware that it might be disadvantageous. But we still end up doing it.

We all procrastinate, not just with things we have to do or should do, but also with things we really want to do. Procrastination exists in almost every aspect of our daily lives - academic, professional, financial, even health management. It isn’t a lack of intention to do stuff, it is the difficulty of following through on that intention. At the beginning of each session, students resolve to be more punctual and finish work well before the deadline so as to avoid last minute hassle. Every 1^st of January sees people starting their new year with strong determination of getting fitter, saving more, quitting a bad habit, etc. But more often than not, a couple of months down the line and we get back to our old ways.

The book that I am currently reading, ‘Predictably Irrational’ by Dan Ariely talks about the hidden forces that shape our decisions. Dan Ariely, a professor and researcher of Behavioural Economics at Duke University talks about various psychological experiments (and corresponding conclusions) that he conducted over years with various groups of college students. To study procrastination, he divided students into three different groups. All of them were in the same semester and had the same assignments to submit. The difference was in the deadline for submission of those assignments. The first group was allowed to decide their own deadlines at the beginning of the session and then stick to them. The defaulters in this case were levied with a moderate punishment. The second group was given no deadlines or punishments. All they had to do was submit all assignments before the end of the semester. For the third group, strict deadlines and hefty punishments for defaulters were dictated. At the end of the semester it was found that the third group which had firm deadlines dictated were the best performers in terms of punctuality and the quality of submissions. The second group (with no deadlines) were the worst performers and the first group finished in the middle. What the results suggest is restrictions, in the form of deadlines or bad grades imposed from above are the best cure.  

Procrastination seems self - sabotaging, it hits our productivity, causes the quality of our work to suffer, increases stress and leaves us feeling guilty. So then why do so many of us do it? The causes are varied, and often differ as per the nature of a task. Understanding the specific reasons is crucial and also the key to beating it. Procrastination being a psychological decision is usually based on personal preference and opinions. E.g. One common reason is avoidance. People often procrastinate when they are averse to a task they need to perform. If a certain task is unappealing or boring, they are more likely to want to avoid doing it. The way to tackle such procrastination is by focusing on ‘doing’ instead of ‘avoiding’. Writing down the task and specifying a time limit, seeking help from people around us by asking them to check on us, promising self a reward on completion of such tasks can be ways to tackle it. Students usually end up not completing their homework or preparing for an examination because they do not enjoy it. In such cases tight restrictions as suggested in the above experiment are the best way to tackle. (An example of taking help from people around).

Another common reason is Perfectionism. Perfectionism often tends to develop an ‘all or nothing’ approach, turning people so afraid to make mistakes that they end up taking no action at all. In such cases, we should remind ourselves that it’s better to make mistakes and learn than to not attempt doing something altogether. People who resist challenges are highly prone to procrastination. When people feel that there is a mismatch between the difficulty level of a task and their own competence, i.e. the task is too difficult for them to handle, they procrastinate. We often find people saying, what if I fail or I’ll do it when the time is right. Staying trapped inside one’s own comfort zone usually leads to stagnation. The trick here is to start easy, gather self - confidence and break the task down into smaller, more manageable tasks. On the other hand, people also tend to procrastinate if they feel a task is too easy for them. The belief and at times over confidence of a task being way too easy makes people push it to the last hour. 

Another very important reason is time inconsistency. Time inconsistency refers to the tendency of the human brain to value immediate rewards more highly than future rewards. We usually tend to give up on our long term goals for immediate gratification, leading us to procrastinate. That piece of our favourite sweet will lure us and win over our intentions to lose weight. And sadly, soon after the act, we feel ashamed of doing it. Resisting temptation and instilling self - control are general human goals but repeatedly failing to achieve them is a source of much of our misery. This brings me to another important cause - making decisions in an exhilarated state of mind. Decisions made in a hot state of mind are usually the wrong ones and at times difficult to follow through. E.g. If we have vowed to save when in a cool state of mind, buying a new pair of shoes just because we got excited by seeing how good it looked and not because we needed them, is a wrong decision. In such cases we usually procrastinate with our decision of curbing unnecessary expenses. Similarly, if we decide to learn a new instrument only because we saw our favourite actor playing it, the chances of procrastination increase. The decision was made in an excited state of mind, and following it through with a cool state of mind (which eventually we will get back to) is highly improbable. One answer to such problems is looking out for self - control mechanisms and committing to them in advance. E.g. if we are unable to exercise alone, we should do it in the company of our friends, using peer pressure as a self - control mechanism. The other way could be actively procrastinating on making decisions when in an excited state of mind.

Confusing isn’t it? Yes, procrastination doesn’t always need to be our enemy. If exercised with a conscious mind, it can actually improve results and happiness. Researches show that active procrastination helps eliminate unnecessary tasks. If we have been procrastinating on a task for some time, we might look at it and not remember why it's even on our to-do list. This gives us an opportunity to re-evaluate our preferences and reconsider whether it's still important or relevant. At times, procrastination improves creativity. If we have a big, important task ahead, it's natural to procrastinate because the task is daunting. What we might not realize is that even when we're not actively working on that task, our mind is subconsciously collecting ideas and processing things to prepare us for it. Which means that when we actually sit down to do the job, we have a lot more ideas on how to go about doing it.

Procrastination might actually help in making better decisions. Sometimes we keep on delaying a decision because we're not entirely sure which the right choice is. The rational mind and intuition say opposite things, and we can't quite figure out which one to listen to. That's when procrastination becomes a saviour. It buys us time to think about all the options and their pros and cons and once the deadline arrives, making an informed decision becomes much easier.

How do we then decide when to and when not to procrastinate? In situations where procrastination leaves us feeling discouraged and overburdened, it is time to take action. When during our most productive moments, figuring out ways to stop procrastinating makes us feel satisfied and accomplished, it is time to take action. But what needs to be remembered while making these decisions is being fully aware of the course of action, even when the action is procrastination.

To conclude I would say, procrastination is majorly an undesirable trait, a problem so deeply embedded in our behaviour that solving it is a lifelong process. The only way this prospective hurdle in the path of our success can be fought is if we recognize and admit our weaknesses and utilize available tools for keeping it in control. Being continuously aware of, setting realistic goals and striving to change bit by bit will eventually help us make new and healthier habits.