Do not close the tab or save this article for later. If you are a procrastinator, your first instinct might be to think, “I’ll read this later.” But will you?
You may ask, “Why do I put things off?” There are reasons behind the decision to delay action, and science can explain them. We have all put off a project until later; sometimes we wait because we don’t care enough, or just get lost working on something else. Have you ever resorted to cleaning because you don’t want to begin grading an assignment or replying to an email? Elliot Berkman and Jordan Miller-Ziegler at Get Pocket attempt to break down the neuroscience of why we procrastinate – and how we can overcome this inclination.
To Do, Or Not To Do
It seems like a simple choice: do you start the project, or do something else? Sometimes that ”something else” can be another project, doing something fun, or doing nothing at all. The decision is driven by how much we value completing the project. That is called “subjective value.”
“And procrastination, in psychological terms, is what happens when the value of doing something else outweighs the value of working now.” – Get Pocket
The way to combat this feeling is to boost the subjective value of working now instead of thinking about the allure of doing something else. There are many forces that diminish the value of working in the present, so you may need to remind yourself of why it’s important and meaningful to complete the task.
The Distant Deadline
It is not a secret that people can be a little irrational, especially in the value we place upon things. There is no reasonable match between objective value and subjective value. Procrastination can depend on the objective or subjective value placed upon a task. Have you ever heard of “delay discounting?”
“Delay discounting is a factor in procrastination because the completion of the project happens in the future. Getting something done is a delayed reward, so its value in the present is reduced: the further away the deadline is, the less attractive it seems to work on the project right now.” – Get Pocket
Basically, people may discount the value of completing something ahead of time, because the satisfaction is less attractive to them. A workaround for this is to imagine the deadline is closer than it actually is. Vividly imagining a future reward reduces the possibility of delay discounting.
No Work is “Effortless”
Let’s be honest, working on a project can be unattractive because of the simple fact it takes work and effort. There are reasons people choose to work on the easier projects rather than the difficult ones. Therefore, it’s an interesting prediction that people procrastinate more the harder the work.
“That’s because the more effort a task requires, the more someone stands to gain by putting the same amount of effort into something else (a phenomenon economists call opportunity costs). Opportunity costs make working on something that seems hard feels like a loss.” – Get Pocket
So, how do you manage the unpleasant tasks? Reduce the pain of working on an undesirable project. Breaking it down into more familiar and manageable pieces is an effective way to reduce procrastination.
Your Work, Your Identity
Task completion is a product of motivation rather than ability. It depends on how we value the task and its worth. You can possess great talent yet lack the motivation to apply that talent. Writer Robert Hanks describes procrastination as, “a failure of appetites.” An appetite can be closely related to our daily lives, our culture, and our sense of who we are as a person.
Hanks says, “So how does one increase the subjective value of a project? A powerful way – one that my graduate students and I have written about in detail – is to connect the project to your self-concept. Our hypothesis is that projects seen as important to a person’s self-concept will hold more subjective value for that person.” – Get Pocket
Hanks believes that procrastination stems from the failure to understand how to identify with your future self. The goal is most relevant for that future self, so you need to understand how to maintain a positive self-concept. This means that your goals should be closely connected to your identity so they will take on more value in the present.
In the end, the key to battle procrastination is to connect the project to a life goal or core value. Identifying immediate sources of value can help to fill the lack of subjective value placed on a project and lead you towards conquering procrastination.