Procrastination Is More About Managing Emotions Than Time, Says Study (bbc.com) 70
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the BBC: [A new study] identified two areas of the brain that determine whether we are more likely to get on with a task or continually put it off. Researchers used a survey and scans of 264 people's brains to measure how proactive they were. Experts say the study, in Psychological Science, underlines procrastination is more about managing emotions than time. It found that the amygdala -- an almond-shaped structure in the temporal (side) lobe which processes our emotions and controls our motivation -- was larger in procrastinators. In these individuals, there were also poorer connections between the amygdala and a part of the brain called the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (DACC). The DACC uses information from the amygdala and decides what action the body will take. It helps keep the person on track by blocking out competing emotions and distractions. The researchers suggest that procrastinators are less able to filter out interfering emotions and distractions because the connections between the amygdala and the DACC in their brains are not as good as in proactive individuals.
I'm not procrastinating (Score:3)
I'm just operating according to design specifications.
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Exactly. Were it not for procrastinators, we'd all have ben dead a long time ago.
Meh - Known 2,000 Years Ago (Score:5, Informative)
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Re:Meh - Known 2,000 Years Ago (Score:5, Interesting)
While science rediscovering things is somewhat embarrassing for the researchers involved, it is better than when these known things stay hidden from most people. In this case, they delivered additional evidence for a known thing, and that is proper, valuable scientific progress.
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The conclusion is not necessarily news, but it's good to finally have it scientifically validated.
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The discover is not the emotional component of procrastination, it's the physical component that can only be seen with a brain scan.
It's like how in physics many principals were known and thought to be true, but couldn't be proven and fully understood until the invention of particle accelerators.
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Nice that they see in brain structure the things we understand by introspective inquiry.
Also nice that, as our wiring is still similar, the philosophies of ancient times can be relevant.
And yes I’m going to go read those.
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If I were to read Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, et al. on other topics should I assume that they must be correct on those matters as well? The Romans were not fools. You don't get to create an empire and civilization like theirs by chance, but that
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Could you recommend some specific works that cover these subjects? I would greatly appreciate it if you could point out the sequence in which these materials should be read (if it matters).
Thank you in advance.
Procrastination isn't bad, failing to complete is (Score:5, Interesting)
This was an interesting article on how most discussions of procrastination stigmatize the action of putting tasks off, even in cases where doing so causes no harm. Studies seem to indicate that a large fraction of the population "procrastinates" while still successfully completing tasks. These people may have no problems with their lives beyond the stress of people who want them to do things sooner because those people can't stand to see people work at the last minute. Treating all procrastinators as if they "have a problem" probably causes more harm than it prevents.
https://www.psychologytoday.co... [psychologytoday.com]
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Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.
Careful consideration and a little bit of planning is not procrastination.
Re:Procrastination isn't bad, failing to complete (Score:5, Interesting)
Actually, it is my preferred approach to anything difficult that needs insight. The thing that happens is that some limited initial look at the problem subconscious keeps working on the problem and throws me ideas at a low rate. At some time I have everything needed for a good solution and can get to work very efficiently. I can start working on such things immediately, but it takes more work and the results are worse. Would not surprise me one bit if there were quite a few other people out there that use this approach as well.
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You have a point.
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At the same time, treating everything that way is foolhardy. There are some things you should spend a good deal of time thinking about or mulling over, but there's plenty of rote tasks that benefit in no way from being delayed. You're never going to really want to
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Exactly this. Throwing yourself at a problem unprepared usually is a recipe for a bad solution.
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Yes. Sometimes, inaction turns out to be the BEST course of action. Not everything is as important as it first seems. Sometimes, thinking about it--procrastinating--can make this clear.
Re: Procrastination isn't bad, failing to complete (Score:2)
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You know, I've thought for a while that procrastination has a little bit of an unfairly negative reputation. People treat procrastination as laziness, but in my experience, it's much more complicated than that.
I do agree that procrastination is often more about managing emotions than time. I don't know about the science from the article, but in my experience of my own procrastination and others', it tends to happen when there's some feeling of being overwhelmed. There's too much to do, there are two man
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Sure, leaving things until late can be a reason the job done is done poorly, and that should be addressed. However the the starting point should to evaluate the outcome and then if the outcome is poor figure out why - there are lots of poor outcomes that are not the result of leaving things until later, and focusing just on procrastination may have little or no bearing on the quality of the outcome.
Anyhow - I hear the author of the Psychology Today article promoting her book in a radio interview a few month
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However the the starting point should to evaluate the outcome and then if the outcome is poor figure out why...
I suppose part of what I wanted to point out was, it's not just an issue of "poor outcomes". You could be really smart and talented, and still squeak by with a "good outcome" by throwing something together at the last minute. Still, it might be that if you'd given yourself enough time, you could have brought about an outstanding outcome.
And I wouldn't argue that we always need the most outstanding outcome possible, but I think there's an argument to be made that you shouldn't just muddle your way through
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"And I wouldn't argue that we always need the most outstanding outcome possible, but I think there's an argument to be made that you shouldn't just muddle your way through life, doing the bare minimum to accomplish acceptable outcomes."
Why not? Isn't that a moral argument?
I'm being a bit extreme, but I think it is important to examine the underlying assumptions when making judgements about others.
Fred is a happy person, and feels he has a fulfilling life. Fred does the bare minimum to accomplish acceptable
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Why not? Isn't that a moral argument?
Possibly. I suppose it depends on what you mean by "moral argument".
But what... are we forbidden from even entertaining moral arguments? And on what authority are you deciding that? Perhaps you should examine your underlying assumptions when making judgements about other people's arguments.
Please note that I said, "I think there's an argument to be made" and not "I'm about to tell you something absolutely unquestionably true." There's an argument to be made (really a few different arguments) that we s
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I've got a detailed rebuttle of why you're wrong (Score:2)
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but I'll post it later.
Good point. That was one of the things mentioned by the author in a radio interview - the way we joke about procrastination, and equate it with moral failings.
My procrastination is functional (Score:2)
No shit! Procrastination is about traumata! Duh. (Score:1)
The problem is that the reasons are generally not taken seriously, or ridiculed, because "I'm not that weak!".
But neurally, it's very simple: The stimulus threshold for actually starting to act is not reached, but the threshold for inhibiting it, is.
Because "just" doing it, i more painful that we like to admit. More painful than the perceived pain from waiting a little longer. Which is "far" in the distance anyway.
We say we "just" have to overcome it. But brains do not work that way! You cannot trick yourse
Re: No shit! Procrastination is about traumata! Du (Score:2)
Pretty much sums it up. (Score:2)
I would second that conclusion. I'm a grand-master at doing nothing "productive" and that correlates heavily with my creative drive which in turn correlates strongly with my nerd qualities and the notable need to do something useful when I'm compelled to do something. Nothing has me procrastinate more than having to deal with nonsense cause by others or circumstance.
That's also why my karma here is through the roof. ;-)
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I would second that conclusion. I'm a grand-master at doing nothing "productive" and that correlates heavily with my creative drive which in turn correlates strongly with my nerd qualities
The amygdala is also possibly responsible for profanity [harvardsciencereview.com]. Fuckin' A.
Interesting (Score:5, Funny)
I’ll have to take a look at that article later
Evolution, baby. (Score:2)
Obligatory "Oh look, a squirrel".
Emotions and probabilities too... (Score:2)
I procrastinate. A lot. And, yeah, part of it is simply the adrenaline rush from knowing something HAS to be done NOW or else. It helps to make a mundane task interesting.
But there's a very real probabilistic side to this for me as well. There is a non-trivial portion of my tasks that will simply go away if I wait long enough. Requirements or situations will change and suddenly that big "thing" that needed to be done by next week that I could have started 4 weeks ago just isn't relevant any more. If w
Vast amount of ignorance about motivation problems (Score:2)
Most of it is about avoiding emotions. Some people have far worse emotions in this domain and this is what causes their problems. Sometimes those emotions are easily resolved by a decent therapist and sometimes not.
A lot of clever people procrastinate because they were very good at it in school. They could do it all at the last minute and still get a decent mark. But there are several reasons that habit comes unstuck later in life:
1. Challenges are often harder.
2. Teams get irate.
3. There are more distr
You are correct (Score:2)
Thanks for the perspective. I'll include it in my book somehow. Still in planning stage, won't be out for years.
Who doesn't know this? (Score:2)
I've been a huge procrastinator all my life. It was never because I didn't have time to do something -- it was because I didn't want to do whatever the task in question was.
Unhealthy vs. healthy procrastination (Score:2)
Sometimes, procrastination is the best thing to do. Many tasks seem important at the time, but procrastination might make it clear that the task really didn't need to be done in the first place. This is healthy.
Unhealthy procrastination--waiting to do things that REALLY need to be done promptly--this is a problem.
Our tendency to procrastinate sometimes saves us from doing unnecessary work.