In other words, look back to last Christmas or a previous family birthday, or ask friends and family for input on your shopping history. Of course, this means being honest with yourself, not a strategy typical of procrastinators as I've argued earlier (see Existentialism and procrastination (Part 2): Bad Faith for a discussion of self-deception and procrastination)
My closing comments
As with all procrastination, we have to take into account the person and the situation. Certainly, individuals who score high on trait measures of procrastination are more often found in the mall on Christmas Eve as Ferrari's research clearly demonstrates. In addition, situational influences such as busy schedules and better sale prices closer to December 25th contribute to our task delay.
In sum, holiday shopping delay is a mixture of needless and perhaps irrational task delay of an intended act that defines procrastination, as well as sagacious delay based on pressing priorities in our lives and a rational approach to saving money. In the end, you can only tell the procrastinating from the non-procrastinating shopper on Christmas Eve by the "sweat on their brow." The procrastinator will most likely be in a panic, full of self-loathing for once again leaving it all to the last minute for "no good reason." The last-minute shopper who has deliberately delayed to take advantage of those last-minute bargains will have a smug look and a feeling of satisfaction as this delay can really pay (that is, if they still have the size and color you're looking for!).
Blogger's note:
It's been an incredibly busy term at the university, and this has meant less time for my blogging. Of course, as we've just learned with optimistic time predictions in my post above, hope springs eternal, so my New Year's resolution is to make more time for my blogging n 2009! But, before we even get to next year, I'll post a blog with some thoughts on New Year's resolutions and possible strategies for successfully seeing these resolutions become more than good intentions.
References
Buehler, R., & Griffin, D. (2003). Planning, personality and prediction: The role of future focus in optimistic time predictions. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 92, 80-90.
Ferrari, J.R. (1993). Christmas and procrastination: Explaining lack of diligence at a "real world" task deadline. Personality and Individual Differences, 14, 25-33.
Pychyl, T.A., Morin, R.W., & Salmon, B.R. (2000). Procrastination and the planning fallacy: An examination of the study habits of university students. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 15, 135-150.
