Contrary to popular belief, procrastination is not something that rose as the internet became a more popularized tool within society. Instead, it stems down to ancient civilizations, many, many moons, from today. Though procrastination temporarily brings relief and a sense of happiness to an individual, research has actually shown that in research settings, people who procrastinate tend to feel greater levels of stress.
As the subject of “procrastination” became much more talked about in society, it sparked many interests. Procrastination, now, does not purely refer to delaying the completion of something. Instead, a term called “true procrastination” is coined, and refers to failing to self regulate, in which there is an important task that is intended to be complete, but is delayed voluntarily by an individual despite knowing the results will be devastating. This means that procrastination has long “advanced” from simply having poor time-management skills.
This brings forth the question “why do people procrastinate?” There are many misconceptions nowadays, where people state that procrastinating brings pressure, which actually increases the quality of their performance, but is that really the case? Researchers have shown that despite being in an assessed or recreational environment, chronic procrastinators behave in a similar manner. An inference was then made that procrastinators do this act of procrastinating as a lifestyle because they would rather want people to believe they lack in their effort, rather than in their ability. However, there are also scientists and psychologists who object to this theory, stating that procrastinators procrastinate because they prioritize events that allow them to feel happy. These two different arguments are later both found to be partially true, in which the temporary feeling of euphoria a procrastinator obtains prevents them from viewing things in hindsight in order to objectively view and compare the importance of certain activities.
Recently a branch has been concerned with procrastination — neuropsychology. This explores the topic of “procrastination” well beyond cognition, personality, and emotion, and really studies the behavior. An experiment has been made where correlation has been found between procrastination and 9 subscales of executive functioning: impulsivity, self-monitoring, planning and organization, activity shifting, task initiation, task monitoring, emotional control, working memory, and general orderliness. However, as the results are only correlative, no causal relationship can be established. However, studying emotions and procrastination brought a completely different light to this controversial topic, one that is almost more positive, when compared to the ones previously discussed. This theory suggests that procrastination occurs for short-time mood boosts and that blocking distraction from being accessible is a strategy that can be used.
In conclusion, procrastination is a very subjective and controversial topic that has many approaches. It really depends on an individual how they are refraining from getting distracted and how they will work effectively. There are countless strategies on the internet, but after all, everyone interprets things differently and therefore it is crucial for one to develop their own, or find a strategy that suits them best.
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Written by: Erin Zhang
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References:
Jaffe, E. (2013, March 19). “Why Wait? The Science Behind Procrastination”. APS. Retrieved
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