This document summarizes information about procrastination from a presentation by Dr. Timothy Pychyl, an expert on procrastination. It defines procrastination as voluntarily delaying tasks despite expecting negative outcomes. Everyone procrastinates sometimes, but not everyone is a chronic procrastinator. Common causes of procrastination include perfectionism, fear of failure or success, feeling overwhelmed, and using tasks to regulate mood. The document recommends recognizing procrastination patterns and using goal setting, accountability, and the Pomodoro technique to start tasks in bite-sized chunks to overcome procrastination.

1. PROCRASTINATION
By Hilary Finch

3. Prof. Tim Pychyl
Dr. Timothy Pychyl is an associate
professor in the department of
psychology at Carleton University. His
research focuses on procrastination.
He has numerous publications, a website,
a blog, podcasts, and comic strips
For more information about his research, visit www.procrastination.ca

4. … ENOUGH TO BREAK THE ICE!

5. Procrastination: The Musical

6. What is Procrastination?
Derived from the latin verb: procrastinare
pro – forward motion
crastinus – belonging to tomorrow
To “put off or postpone until another day”

7. Tomorrow (noun)
A mystical land where 98% of all human
productivity, motivation, and
achievement is stored.
- Unknown

8. Procrastination is
the art of keeping up
with yesterday
Don Marquis

9. Procrastination is the
thief of time
Edward Young

10. Never put off till
tomorrow what you
can do the day after
tomorrow just as well
Mark Twain

11. Who Procrastinates?
Everyone procrastinates
BUT
Not everyone is a procrastinator

13. Why do People Procrastinate?
• Perfectionism
•
• Feeling inadequate •
• Undeveloped study •
skills
•
• Aversion to discomfort
• Resentment
Being overextended
Lifestyle issues
Fear of success/failure
Overwhelming
Negative emotional
states

14. Procrastination involves a voluntary, irrational,
delay despite the expectation of a potential
negative outcome.
(Mohsen Haghbin)

15. Psychologists define procrastination as...
The gap between intention and action

16. This is an example of Self-Regulation Failure
a.k.a.
Short-Term Mood Repair
“Giving in to Feel Good”

17. Personality (me)
Nature of our goals and
intentions (the task)
Self-Regulation
Failure
Cognitions and beliefs
(the way I think)
Self-control and willpower
(lack of willpower)

18. Personality
“I don’t know
where to start”
“I just don’t
want to do it”
Conscientiousness
Impulsivity
(Resistance)
“It will never be
good enough”
(Fear of Failure)
Perfectionism

19. Flavours of Procrastination
Arousal Avoiders Decisional

20. Types of Procrastinators

22. “It’s not fun”
THE TASK
“It’s too hard”
Task Aversiveness=
Dreading the displeasure of doing the task
1.
Lack of Meaning  lack of enjoyment,
fun, pleasure, passion, self-identity
1.
Lack of Structure  lack of autonomy,
control, initiation, uncertainty

23. PERSONAL
PROJECTS
ANALYSIS

24. Lack of Willpower
Willpower is like a muscle...
the more we exercise it, the
stronger it gets!
It is also a limited resource!

25. The Way We Think
1. Irrational Beliefs
a. “I’m not smart enough to do this”
b. “Studying won’t help”
2. Self-Deception
a. “I’ll feel more like doing it
tomorrow”
b. “There’s plenty of time, it can wait

26. Effects of Procrastination
Procrastination is more than the cost of a few
“all nighters” in the dorms of universities
a. performance
b. emotional and mental well-being
c. physical health
d. relationships

27. So if procrastination occurs
because of the way we think…
To beat it, we need to THINK
about how we THINK.
“Metacognition”

28. Recognizing Procrastination
1. Admit that you WILL procrastinate!
(it’s inevitable)
1. Identify the cost of procrastinating
or the benefits of completing the
task on time
1. Forgive yourself!

29. 3 Steps to Managing Procrastination

30. 1. Plan and Set Goals
Plan goals
Plan time
Plan resources
Plan the process
Plan for distractions
Plan for failure

32. Intention to Action
Implementation Intentions:
“When X occurs, I will do Y, resulting in Z”
X= Social cue
Y= The task
Z= Result

33. 2. Create Obstacles
“If you find a path with no
obstacles, it probably
doesn’t lead anywhere”
- Frank a. Clark

34. 2. Create Obstacles
- Multi-tasking is a myth!
- Choose a designated workspace that
you feel motivated in
- Bring only the tools you need for the
task
- Use internet blocking apps such as antisocial
- Leave post-it note reminders on your
most common forms of procrastination

35. Once concentration has been broken, it takes
at least 15 minutes to get back into the “work”
state of mind

36. Minutes Turn into Hours

37. Accountability Chart

38. Realistically evaluate your work by
tracking your progress, hour by hour

39. Record your Procrastination

40. 3. Just Get Started!
How do you eat an elephant?

41. ....One bite at a time!

42. 3. Just Get Started!
Divide the task into bite-sized chunks
Intro
Conclusion
Research
Discussion
Divide the task into 5, 15, or 30 minute portions

44. Pomodoro Technique
•
•
•
•
•
Choose a task to work on
Set a timer for 25 minutes
Work on the task until the timer goes off
Take a 5 minute break
Reset the timer and repeat
After 2 hours, give yourself a longer break

46. In Conclusion…

47. Resources
• Pychyl, t.a., and flett, g.l. (2012). procrastination and selfregulatory failure: An introduction to the special issue. journal of
rational-emotive and cognitive-behavior therapy. DOI:
10.1007/s10942-012-0149-5
• http://www.brianrlittle.com/topics/research/personal-projectsanalysis/
• http://www.counselling.cam.ac.uk/selfhelp/leaflets/procrastina
tion
• http://www.mentalhealth.ualberta.ca/en/~/media/mentalheal
th/docs/hintsprocrastination2012.pdf
• www.procrastination.ca
• http://httpserver.carleton.ca/~tpychyl/PYCHYL%20procrastination%20pres
entation%20march%2019%202012.pdf
• http://www.watchwellcast.com/