Don't Delay

Understanding procrastination and how to achieve our goals

Timothy A Pychyl Ph.D.

Resistance Can Control Us

Our thoughts can be our own worst enemy when it comes to goal pursuit. We think of many reasons not to act as we intended. How can we escape?

"Wash Your Bowl": Insight on Procrastination From a Koan

Here’s what I think is the most important insight about procrastination. It changed my life.

How Mindfulness Can Reduce Procrastination

Our minds have never been so distracted and procrastination so problematic as in this digital age. Fortunately, the solution is only a breath away. Let’s simply begin again.

COVID-19 and Fear in Our Children

Is the fear of others a potential effect of COVID-19 physical distancing and social isolation? Many parents are worried about their children’s development.

The Coronavirus and Travel Procrastination

As my wife contemplates travel for work and holidays, she’s suffering from what she calls “corona-astinating.” Is it procrastination or a wise delay?

Negative Emotions Today Predict Procrastination Tomorrow

New research demonstrates that how we feel today predicts procrastination tomorrow, but adaptive strategies could help increase productivity.

Do To-Do Lists Work?

Our recent study revealed lower procrastination with to-do list use, but it depends on list type and personality.

A Volitional Resource to Defeat Procrastination: Meaning

Not able to get stuff done? Procrastinating? Finding more meaning in your tasks and life may help you get going.

Procrastination: Motivation Deficit vs. Regulation Failure

Is your procrastination a problem with selecting the wrong goals – a lack of intrinsic interest – or is it a problem with self-regulation?

The Dominance Of Emotions In Our Lives

People spend a lot of time thinking, believing that reason rules. However, if you want to understand the human condition, emotion should be your focus.

I'll Feel More Like It Tomorrow

Sticking to our exercise intentions is tough. Too often our present self puts off the workout, believing that our future self is more motivated. Here's why.

Do Neurotic Extraverts Procrastinate More?

Emotionally intense people can swing between highly positive and highly negative emotions. Does this affect procrastination? I think it does.

Precrastination, Revisited

As the CEO—Chief Excrement Officer—around our farm, I’ve learned something about the notion of precrastination and how it relates to procrastination.

ADHD and Academic Procrastination: A Success Story

Although ADHD in children is typically associated with academic difficulties and procrastination, there is hope! Here's a success story and the strategies that made a difference.

Trying Versus Doing

Did you try to put on your pants this morning, or did you put on your pants?

How Sleep and Self-Control Relate to Wasting Time at Work

Sleep quality is related to many important health outcomes, but this recent study shows that it’s also related to wasting time at work, at least for those low in self-control.

ADHD and Procrastination

An update on the most recent research exploring the relation between ADHD and procrastination.

The Neural Signature of Procrastination

Using fMRI, researchers reveal brain differences related to action control and procrastination. Not surprisingly, it’s all about emotion.

An Essential Self-Regulation Strategy

Unable to resist cravings, we believe we’re weak-willed and that more effort is required. It's not. The key is understanding how we mis-regulate, not under-regulate, ourselves.

Too Soon? A Little More Delay Might Have Been a Good Idea

Can an author successfully write a book that is both an apology and an apologia for procrastination?

How Negative Thoughts Relate to Procrastination

Procrastination is a negative form of delay related to anxiety, depression, and psychological distress. Recent research puts special emphasis on the role of rumination.

What Best Predicts Goal Attainment?

How's that New Year's resolution diet going? Self-control letting you down? A recent study shows the experience of temptation and the resulting depletion are the real culprits.

Emotion Regulation Skills Reduce Procrastination

Procrastination is an emotion-focused coping strategy. We avoid some tasks in order to avoid the emotions they evoke. New research explains how to reduce procrastination.

Procrastination, Depression and Creativity

A brief post to highlight a recent podcast and a book that anyone troubled by procrastination will want to listen to and read, respectively.

Facebocrastination: New Research on the Perils of Facebook

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.

Culpably Unwarranted Delay: Is There an App for That?

Once it becomes clear that procrastination involves a mens rea (guilty mind), significant opportunities for intervention come into view.

The Poison Tendrils of Negative Emotions

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

Procrastination 101: It's Not About Feeling Like It

I don’t feel like it. I don’t want to. I’ll feel more like it tomorrow. Have you had these thoughts? Ever heard your children say these things?

Strength Versus Structure

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.

Mindful Emotion Regulation

Mindfulness-based therapies are very popular, and all have a common goal – adaptive emotion regulation. As such, they are a key route to reducing procrastination.

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