Psychology Today

A new study in the journal Computers in Human Behavior underscores the self-control challenges of social media. Learn about the effect of students' Facebook habit on well-being.

A recent research summary argues that negative emotions poison every aspect of successful self-regulation. Understanding this process is key to understanding procrastination.

Strength is important. We may even say it’s essential, but it’s not sufficient. It’s structure and routine that will save us when the going gets tough.

“I was just thinking in my head.” Have you heard anyone say that? I have, quite often. Not limiting ourselves to our own heads can help reduce procrastination.

"I am so lazy." What should we think of this?

We can all probably recall a time when we procrastinated but still managed to "pull it off." We may even know a high-achieving procrastinator. Memorable, but not typical.

I think there’s a certain irony with the notion of New Year’s resolutions. Typically, I hear people state vague goal intentions that lack any sort of resolve.

There’s an army of growth hackers working in the tech industry to hook you deeply into social media. Their job is to break down your self-regulation. The result? Procrastination.

My father has always been a source of wisdom in my life. Most recently, he gave me some of the most important anti-procrastination advice I have ever heard.

Do you ever put off doing the thing that would decrease your procrastination? An aversion to planning or adequately specifying what you need to do may be the problem.

Is pre-crastination, like its namesake, “procrastination,” another example of a suboptimal choice? In a recent series of studies, researchers posed a simple question: "Would people naturally prefer to pick up an object that could be carried a short distance rather than an object that would have to be carried a long distance?" The answer will surprise you.

One of my hobbies is amateur radio. I’m a “ham.” This week, amateur radio enthusiasts are marking Preparedness Week in Canada. Given how often I hear people talk about preparedness while doing not too much of anything, I think it might be better to co-celebrate Preparedness Week with National Procrastination Week. What might account for preparedness procrastination?

Students with learning disabilities face special frustrations with academic tasks. They report stress, anxiety, self-doubt, diminished persistence, lower expectations for success and negative emotions associated with school work. Of course, procrastination may also be a problem. A new study explores procrastination in relation to students with learning disabilities.

In a recent paper, some colleagues wrote, “The connection between mindfulness and improved emotion regulation is certainly an intuitive one…” I agree. What seems less intuitive to many people is how these also connect to our procrastination. In fact, I think understanding this is the central thing we need to understand about procrastination.