Most people tend to think of procrastination as a problem with managing the slightly negative emotional reactions that come from diving into the work we need to do, suggesting that most procrastination behaviors are efforts to avoid the negative feelings associated with tackling a challenge, or finishing a manuscript, etc.
As a PhD student studying emotion regulation, I have convinced myself that I am much more aware of the influence of feelings on behavior than the average person (because you never know when a personal experience might drive a hypothesis).
Here’s my insight:
I tend to think the real problem with procrastination is in delaying gratification, not in avoiding the efforts associated with work. For the most part, I like writing, but when I’m dragging my feet on a manuscript, its because the reward doesn’t come NOW, as I’m writing. Only afterward, upon completion. In the moments (think a flow state) that I’m making steady progress, I never procrastinate.
So here’s what I think is reaaaaly going on.
Procrastination is a problem with managing positive emotions, and to defeat procrastination, you have to fight a constant battle with those incremental positive emotional stimuli that line up over the course of a day to defeat you.
Each procrastination behavior is nothing more than an indulgence in the next positive thing that’s most accessible.
For example(s),
I anticipate the slightly positive feeling that comes from checking email a third, forth, fifth, sixth time, and indulge.
I anticipate the positive feeling of taking a break, and I indulge.
I anticipate the positive feeling with reading another blog post, and I indulge.
I anticipate the positive feeling of reading a book, and indulge.
I anticipate the positive feeling of writing a blog post, and indulge.
So how do you manage the indulgences? Stay tuned for next time where I’ll provide some strategies. . .
