Procrastination

Home > Family and Consumer Science > Time Management > Procrastination

The tendency to delay or avoid tasks or activities that need to be completed, and the techniques and strategies for overcoming procrastination.

- "Procrastination is the act of unnecessarily and voluntarily delaying or postponing something despite knowing that there will be negative consequences for doing so."
- "Delays in everyday chores or even putting off important tasks such as attending an appointment, submitting a job report or academic assignment, or broaching a stressful issue with a partner."
- "It is often perceived as a negative trait due to its hindering effect on one's productivity, associated with depression, low self-esteem, guilt, and feelings of inadequacy."
- "However, it can also be considered a wise response to certain demands that could present risky or negative outcomes or require waiting for new information to arrive."
- "Students from Western cultures tend to procrastinate in order to avoid doing worse than they have done before or failing to learn as much as they should have."
- "Students from non-Western cultures tend to procrastinate in order to avoid looking incompetent or demonstrating a lack of ability in front of their peers."
- "In cultures that have a multi-active view of time, people tend to place a higher value on making sure a job is done accurately before finishing."
- "In cultures with a linear view of time, people tend to designate a certain amount of time on a task and stop once the allotted time has expired."
- "A study of the behavioral patterns of pigeons through delayed gratification suggests that procrastination is not unique to humans but can also be observed in some other animals."
- "There are experiments finding clear evidence for 'procrastination' among pigeons, which show that pigeons tend to choose a complex but delayed task rather than an easy but hurry-up one."
- "Procrastination has been studied by philosophers, psychologists, and more recently behavioral economics."
- "It is a common human experience involving delays in everyday chores or even putting off important tasks."
- "Associated with depression, low self-esteem, guilt, and feelings of inadequacy."
- "It can also be considered a wise response to certain demands that could present risky or negative outcomes or require waiting for new information to arrive."
- "Putting off important tasks such as attending an appointment, submitting a job report or academic assignment, or broaching a stressful issue with a partner."
- "It is often perceived as a negative trait due to its hindering effect on one's productivity."
- "Students from Western cultures tend to procrastinate in order to avoid doing worse than they have done before or failing to learn as much as they should have."
- "Associated with depression, low self-esteem, guilt, and feelings of inadequacy."
- "Procrastination has been studied by philosophers, psychologists, and more recently behavioral economics."
- "A study of the behavioral patterns of pigeons through delayed gratification suggests that procrastination is not unique to humans but can also be observed in some other animals."