procrastination article hwo fall 2012

Fall 2012 HEALTHWISE OTTAWA 3736 HEALTHWISE OTTAWA Fall 2012

What Are YOU Waiting For? Procrastination Deconstructed

Working with Chelsea, Quebec artist Paul Mason, Pychyl has also created a series of cartoon strips called Carpe Diem, which are included in his book. The cartoons gently lampoon the rationalizations of the procrastinating college student featured in the strips.

When you are procrastinating, you are wasting the most valuable thing you have, which is time, says Pychyl.

Viktor Frankl, who was famous for his book Mans Search for Meaning, wrote in his autobiography that he struggled with procrastination. I found this fascinating because it seems to me that procrastination is a deeply existential issue. It is about getting on with life. Thats why I think every world religion has the idea of sloth as a sin.

You know, the one thing that is truly a limited resource in life is our time. You and I will run out of time.

Pychyl practices what he preaches, making the most of his own time. He once considered making theology a career, and can claim five university degrees to his name. He also worked as a tennis instructor and a wilderness guide before managing the canoe and kayaking operations of a local business. Now 56, he enjoys dog mushing and keeps a team of huskies at his homestead near Carp.

Managing Our Emotional HealthPychyl defines procrastination as the voluntary delay of an intended action, despite knowing that were going to be worse off for that. Procrastination to him is about emotional regulationits about giving in

Illustration: Paul Mason

By Debra Huron

Just because Dr. Tim Pychyl is an expert in procrastination doesnt mean hes an expert in avoiding the tasks on his to-do list. The Carleton University professor of psychology, author, podcaster, and Psychology Today blogger admits that even he sometimes though rarely procrastinates. Its part of human nature, he explains.

Procrastination is short-term mood repair, he says, though procrastinating today on a given task doesnt mean were going to feel any more like doing it tomorrow. And thats why Pychyl employs many strategies to avoid falling prey to it.

My father used to say to me, even as a little boy: Its good that you know that. What are you going to do with that knowledge?

This philosophy has motivated Pychyl (a name that rhymes with Mitchell) to write the kind of pithy and practical book that people who procrastinate can read in an hour or two. He set himself to the task during a 2010 sabbatical from teaching at Carleton University. The result: The Procrastinators Digest: A concise guide to solving the procrastination puzzle [available at www.procrastinatorsdigest.com].

We love to read about our problems rather than fix them, Pychyl says. But I wanted to get the gist of why we procrastinate into this book and give people a strategy so they could deal with it.

Seizing the Day!When you hear Pychyl talk about his specialty and his research, and when you read The Procrastinators Digest, it becomes clear that the mind behind the message understands the need for compassion in dealing with the foibles of the human spirit.

Procrastination at work

Illustrations: Paul Mason

www.healthwiseottawa.com


impugn people with these labels. On the other hand, sometimes you can own the label because you can see it in yourself and others see it in you.

Pychyl believes that considering the flip side of labels involves understanding how we do not have enough nuanced words for delay. We seem to use the term procrastination for everything, he says.

For example, if someone wisely delays doing something in a situation where they need to wait to act, thats not procrastination, he explains. So, imagine that at the end of a day, you say to yourself, Im a terrible procrastinator because I didnt do this or this or this. Well, thats a horrible thing to say to yourself if, in fact, your son was sick and you needed to spend time with him and other things had to wait. The failure to act wasnt because you were procrastinating. It was because you had other priorities.

Not every form of delay is procrastination, he asserts, nor should it be labelled as such. True procrastination occurs when we fail to self-regulate. Its a weakness of will. Its not the necessary delay associated with rational planning and setting priorities.

Paying the PriceWhen we do procrastinate, feeling ashamed about it is a common reaction perhaps as common as feeling ashamed after weve eaten a large bag of jujubes. Its a natural feeling. People who tend to procrastinate are also likely to berate themselves for it, as if its a crime against oneself.

Is it?

One of the things people dont realize about procrastination is that others pay a price, says Pychyl. I like to call it second-hand procrastination, just like second-hand smoke.

He gives the example of the dad who has a report due the next day, but who has procrastinated completing it at work. Now its urgent and hell have to spend the evening doing it at home. Who suffers? Not just the dad; itll also be the kids, because they wont get to see their father. Nor will his friends, whom hed planned to get together with later that evening.

[He] thinks, Oh, it only affects me. Im the one with all the stress. Well, no: youre breaking social commitments, and so I think we also have to see that it has repercussions for others. HWO

to feeling good, giving in to short-term rewards. If we could learn to manage our emotions more effectively, we would be able to apply reason to the way we manage ourselves, he says.

Its not that he espouses reason over emotion. But he does feel that we all need to employ some emotional intelligence when it comes to recognizing what it is were feeling and how we can harness those feelings for positive outcomes. With procrastination, were reinforcing a behaviour through the negative thoughts we have surrounding it. And that reinforcement also contributes to a certain amount of self-deception.

Research shows that about 20 per cent of the population procrastinates to the point where procrastination has negative impacts on work, relationships, and how we thrive (not just survive) in life.

Even for those habitual procrastinators, the practice falls more into the realm of a psychological tic, Dr. Pychyl says, than into the definitions of mental disorders listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (or the DSM, as its known within the medical community). Pychyl says that the personality types most likely to procrastinate

are those who score lower on the conscientious-ness scale and higher on impulsivity.

I think procrastination is just one form of self-regulation failure, he explains. It belongs to a class of psychological issues like overeating, compulsive shopping, and problematic gamblingwhere people find themselves doing things against their own best interests, and theyre aware of that.

They say, I shouldnt be eating this, I shouldnt be buying this, I shouldnt be gambling, I shouldnt be putting this off, but they find they are unable to regulate their behaviour.

While some people claim procrastination is a good thing, Pychyl would argue that. Procrastinating means youre voluntarily delaying doing something you know yourself would be in your own best interest.

Eschewing Labels Can we call someone a procrastinator in the same way we might call someone a gossip or an exaggerator or a chronic liar?

Well, I think that labels are terrible things, says Pychyl. Labelling is never helpful. Its a little bit like calling someone lazy. We



choice over an irrationally short period of time. It is rational to say it will only take me a minute to check my email, but its irrational to think we can keep that to a minute, because a minute later, youre going to have to make the same decision. You know how this story ends. Hours later we wonder where the time went.

If I didnt have this technology, Id at least have to pick up a magazine and then it would be pretty obvious that Im not working. But if Im looking at a screen and Im still using technology, which is supposed to be a tool, it appears that Im working.

One more story...were working at our desk and we have a thought, Im going to get a snack all of a sudden, youre hungry. And maybe its stress-related hunger. Who knows? In any case, you go to the fridge and you think, Ill have that yogourt. And you pick up the yogourt and you see that the container has left a ring, which you dont normally clean, but today that ring bothers you for some reason, and you say to yourself, It will only take a minute to wipe up that ring. So you go to wipe the ring, but you realize the pickle jar is in the way and you actually grab the pickle jar, but its stuck. So, you think, It will only take a minute to wipe that pickle jar off and to clean this shelf.

Literally, 25 minutes later, youve got everything out of the fridge and a bucket of water on the floor to help you. And when your spouse walks by and comments, Are you cleaning the fridge? your answer will be, No, Im working on my report.

Healthwise Ottawa: We live in a world of high-level distraction...with phones ringing, mobile devices beeping, a TV in every room, an iPod in every ear. Do you think that life in Canada today creates more or less of a tendency for people to procrastinate?

Dr. Pychyl: You know, a lot of people say to me, weve always procrastinated. But I do believe that technology makes us more prone to procrastination. Its because everything is just a click away.

The Stories We Tell Ourselves (Q & A with Dr. Tim Pychyl)

Imagine Im at my desk, which is where a lot of procrastination occurs, and I dont feel like doing the work. I am confused and I dont know what to do next. This is invoking emotions in me that I dont enjoy...and I think: it will only take a minute to check my email or update my Facebook page. And because of that because its so easy and available we go there. And the next minute, we can make the same decision: it will only take me a minute to go to this link. So we find ourselves making this rational

Photo: Jamie Kronick

Canine Water Wellness.comThe health benefits of swimming

arent just for humans.

Improve your dogs quality of life.

Physical, mental and emotional benefits...

Tel.: (613) 236-6066 447 Cumberland St. Email: [email protected] Ottawa, Ontario K1N 7J8

Dr. Michel BastienDr. harry Prizant o p t o m e t r i s t s

gchutka / istockphoto

Member ThE CaNadiaN assOCiaTiON Of OpTOMETrisTs

Helping Families See Clearly Since 1913

Helping Families See Clearly Since 1913

services complete Family eye care

new Patients Welcome

Digital retinal Photography

laser surgery consultations

On-site lab

contact lenses & eye Glasses

Bilingual services


procrastination article hwo fall 2012

Documents