Week 6

Research Report

Question:

How procrastination affect one’s quality of life

Questions to ask myself: What is my stance: procrastination is bad thing. Why?

Research Question(s)

Can procrastination play a role in productivity?

• What does procrastination do to your happiness?

  • Effects on mental health: stress, anxiety, self-esteem.  

• How does procrastination harm your physical health?

• Does procrastination make you less motivated? (Effects of procrastination on creativity)

• Why do people procrastinate?

Methodology

List what methods you used to gain your information/data and why you chose those methods Did you conduct surveys, compare other research findings, collect data, design process work, conduct interviews?

• For this report, I collected my research through secondary sources such as through Scholarly articles, research papers, blogs

• Tertiary: articles, news article

(background/information) Definitions

Procrastination: “Researchers have taken several approaches to understanding procrastination. One commonly used definition of procrastination by Solomon and Rothblum (1984) states that it is a behavior, an act of needlessly delaying a task that usually produces feelings of discomfort.

Source: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.3200/SOCP.147.3.197-209?needAccess=true

Chronic procrastination: chronic procrastination is a continual sense of discomfort accompanied by an inability to regulate deep emotional triggers.

Source: https://www.choosingtherapy.com/chronic-procrastination/

Passive procrastination: involves postponing decisions or actions due to an inability to do things in a timely manner.

Source: https://solvingprocrastination.com/active-passive-procrastination/#:~:text=Active%20procrastination%20involves%20deliberately%20postponing,such%20as%20improved%20academic%20achievement.

Literature Review

Generate a series of questions, criticisms and area of interests, improvement and/or engagements

Procrastinators and doers have different brains — here's how you can find the benefit in all those times you get distracted

Lindsay Dodgson Oct 28, 2018

• People with poor action control, the procrastinators, had a larger amygdala on average. The amygdala is the region of the brain associated with controlling emotions like fear. It's also where the fight or flight response is initiated.

  • Higher amygdala volume appears more state oriented, tend to hesitate to initiate intention and delay beginning tasks without good reason

  • Procrastinators have fear centers light up more

• Sometimes result of being perfectionist, fear of project not working out the way you want it to be

Source: https://www.insider.com/procrastinators-and-doers-have-different-brains-2018-10

What Does Procrastination Do To Your Happiness?

By Sandip Roy

• Habitual procrastination could damage relationships, create an unflattering reputation of carelessness, and invite setbacks in career and work prospects. Procrastinators frequently resort to lies to reason out their delays, and are often found out, leading to disastrous consequences.

• The big culprit here is regret. It’s a story that goes around in a predictable circle: Procrastinators begin with hope, then go into anxiety, guilt and self-criticism, and end up in regret. Next project, same cycle.

• Three main areas we procrastinate in: education, career, health

  • Education: professors David Arnott and Scott Dacko did a study that defined procrastinators. Did research and found that people who procrastinated and handed the assignment later got worst marks.

  • Career: for someone that wants to leave their job but doesn’t and ends up in a cycle of lost soul swimming in circles. Someone that plans for something bigger and better but doesn’t do it

  • Health: Create health goals but never follow it and delay them year after year

Source: https://www.lifehack.org/382332/what-does-procrastination-your-happiness

Is procrastination making you unhappy?

By Sarah Treleaven

December 29, 2010

• A survey done by the Procrastination Research Group with over 10,000 respondents found that 94 percent reported procrastination has some negative effect on their happiness, with 19 percent indicating that the effect is extremely negative.

Source: https://www.chatelaine.com/health/is-procrastination-making-you-unhappy/

Why your brain loves procrastination

Susannah Locke

• using procrastination as avoidance to cope with emotions and many of them are unconscious emotions. See it as feeling good. Related to self-regulation skills

• definition of procrastination says it is a voluntary delay, but for many people it doesn’t feel voluntary. Feel like I have no control over it and can’t help themselves (trueeee)

• “Because it’s all about self-deception — you aren’t aware that it’s going to cost you, but you are. When there’s no more self-deception and you face yourself, you either shit or get off the pot. You’re either going to do it, or you’re not going to do it.

Source: https://www.vox.com/2014/12/8/7352833/procrastination-psychology-help-stop

How Procrastination Affects Your Health

By Camille Preston

Source: https://thriveglobal.com/stories/how-procrastination-affects-your-health/

• 2003 study - Fushia M. Sirois and colleagues found that procrastination was “related to poorer health, treatment delay, perceived stress, and fewer wellness behaviors.” 

• 2015 – concluded that procrastination is a factor that can lead to hypertension and cardiovascular disease (HT/CVD)

Procrastination and Personal Finances: Exploring the Roles of Planning and Financial Self-Efficacy

By Thor Gamst-Klaussen, Piers Steel and Frode Savrtdal

Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00775/full

• poor personal finances are linked to impulsivity and reduced appreciation of the long-term consequences of current choices, suggesting that at least some unhealthy financial behaviors are an example of procrastination

• study 1 showcases procrastination when people voluntarily delay planning or implement finance-related plans

  • both the results of lack of planning and symptom of procrastination

Why is procrastination good for you?

By Megan Gambino

July 12, 2012

• Interviews author of book: Wait: The Art and Science of Delay

• Historically not bad thing. Greeks and Romans generally regarded highly. Wisest leaders embraced it. Did not do anything but sit but think (unless they have to absolutely do it)

• Procrastination is good if you know how to manage delays

• Timing of decision: Question one is: what is the longest amount of time I can take before doing this? What time world am I living in? 

Ideas for the Discussion section

How do people deal with procrastination?

Is there a fix to procrastination?

Can I input how I deal with procrastination?

• Talk about how there is a difference in brain of a procrastinator and a doer

  • Showcases how it can be controlled/changed

  • Limitations, where the range is on how

• Talk about my research questions: how it has an impact on mental health

• Possible solutions that can help people stop/reduce procrastinating/procrastination

  • Rather than stopping procrastination, but to procrastinate better (procrastinate productively)

• As a designer how can we help someone to reduce procrastinating? (applications)

  • Maybe can create something that relate to help people how to do manage delays

  • Translate different exercises that can be translated and added into application

    • Put in research question

• How is procrastination used as a creative strategy? How it can boost creativity.

Recommendations when Designing to Address Procrastination: A Psychological Perspective

https://assets.pubpub.org/9ms44p1l/41573057244802.pdf

Ideas for the Conclusion section

• Summarize findings

• Wrap it up

(The Abstract and Reference section are done last and are not required by this week’s class)