Procrastination – Are you focussing on what you value?

December 9, 2008
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“If just thinking about tomorrow’s job pricks the hair on the back of your neck or compels you to do something more trivial, you are probably procrastinating.”  That is the definition proposed in this article in Scientific American http://www.sciam.com/subscribe/index.cfm?lsource=friendmail

There are many reasons people procrastinate.  Psychologists suggest 4:

1.       Avoidance of something we perceive to be unpleasant

2.       Indecision over what to do

3.       Arousal (thrill of working under pressure)

4.       Fear of failure (not leaving enough time provides an excuse for poor performance)

For me, I usually know when my procrastination devil is in the room.  I catch myself not doing the one thing I knew I needed to do today.  Instead, I go searching for distractions – smh.com, twitter, email, and food are excellent sources of distraction.  When that happens, I have to stop and try to figure out what is going on.  Psychologist, Timothy A. Pychyl has created a formula to help determine the utility (desirability) of a task:

Utility = (E * V) / (P * D)

Numerators:  E = Expectancy to succeed – if I don’t expect to succeed, why would I start at all? V = Value of task – if I don’t value the task or the expected outcome, why would I do it?  (more on this below)

Denominators:  P = Personal tendency to delay (self control, impulsivity) – how well do I keep my personal derailers in check? D = Delay (time) until reward or punishment

There are lots of tricks for avoiding procrastination around strengthening the denominator – self control, time management, etc.  But, here is my challenge to you…What about the Expectancy and Value?  If there are lots of tasks on your list that you aren’t excited about, why are they there?  Why are you choosing to focus on things that aren’t important to you?  According to Pychyl “procrastination is about not having projects in your life that really reflect your goals”.  Is this you?  If so, what is it that you would get excited about?  Maybe it’s time to set some goals around that. 

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