{"id":127967,"date":"2024-08-12T08:10:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-12T12:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=127967"},"modified":"2024-08-12T09:30:20","modified_gmt":"2024-08-12T13:30:20","slug":"solving-the-procrastination-puzzle-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/solving-the-procrastination-puzzle-book\/","title":{"rendered":"Solving the Procrastination Puzzle: Book Overview & Takeaways"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Do you put off work that needs to get done? What’s the book Solving the Procrastination Puzzle<\/em> about?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Solving the Procrastination Puzzle<\/em>, psychologist Timothy A. Pychyl contends that you aren\u2019t procrastinating because you\u2019re bad at managing your time<\/a>. Instead, you\u2019re procrastinating because you haven\u2019t learned how to handle your emotions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read below for a brief Solving the Procrastination Puzzle<\/em> book overview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Overview of Solving the Procrastination Puzzle<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

All of us know (some of us quite intimately) what procrastination is. This counterproductive but irresistible tendency tempts us into putting off a task to get some benefits now<\/em> in exchange for some costs later<\/em>. In his book Solving the Procrastination Puzzle<\/em><\/a> (2013), psychologist and professor Timothy A. Pychyl explains that by telling yourself \u201cI don\u2019t feel like it\u201d and putting a task off until later, you prioritize how you feel in the short term over the goals you want to achieve in the long term. In doing so, you\u2019re knowingly sabotaging your own progress, and you might not even realize why you\u2019re doing it. Pychyl contends that procrastination is less of a problem with managing our time and more of a problem with managing our emotions<\/strong>. Without learning to handle the emotions that cause you to put off your tasks, you\u2019re stuck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pychyl spent his career researching procrastination and how it affects our well-being. He retired from his position as an associate professor at Carleton University in Ottawa in 2022, and in 2023 he created a procrastination-focused series<\/a> for the popular Waking Up meditation<\/a> app. Pychyl sees procrastination as a puzzle you have to solve: You have to understand each of its pieces and how they fit together. Pychyl contends that if you can identify what emotions are causing you to put off the tasks you chronically delay, then you can start to see your procrastination habit\u2014and a realistic path to curtailing it\u2014more clearly.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Is Procrastination?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Throughout the book, Pychyl corrects some common misconceptions about procrastination\u2014like the idea that we procrastinate because we\u2019re bad at managing our time or the belief that to kick the procrastination habit<\/a>, we have to put a stop to any kind of delay that slows our progress toward our goals. In this section, we\u2019ll take a look at how Pychyl explains what procrastination <\/strong>is<\/em><\/strong> and how he explains what procrastination <\/strong>isn\u2019t<\/em><\/strong> (making a useful distinction between procrastination and other, more productive kinds of delays). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Procrastination Isn\u2019t About Time, But Emotions <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Procrastination is a choice to postpone a task you need to complete, even though you know that negative consequences will follow<\/strong>. Pychyl explains that when you choose to procrastinate<\/a>, you deliberately make a decision<\/a> that sabotages your progress toward your goals. But your knowledge that there will be consequences doesn\u2019t make the habit any easier to overcome. That\u2019s because procrastination isn\u2019t rational: Instead, it\u2019s driven by emotions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ve likely heard that procrastination results from a failure of the cognitive capacity psychologists call self-regulation<\/em>: the ability to manage your emotions<\/a>, attention, and behavior so you can work toward your goals or act according to your values. Pychyl contends that procrastination is specifically a failure of <\/strong>emotion regulation<\/em><\/strong>. He explains that you procrastinate because you want to feel positive emotions<\/a>, and you achieve that by avoiding tasks that make you feel negative emotions about your work or yourself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We associate all kinds of negative emotions with the tasks we procrastinate on<\/strong>. For example, you might put off reading a proposal at work because you anticipate being bored by it. Or you might delay assembling the desk your partner asked you to build because you\u2019re worried you\u2019ll struggle with the instructions\u2014being defeated by an Ikea desk would be pretty humiliating. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By avoiding negative emotions, we get to feel better temporarily. However, as Pychyl points out, we typically feel bad about procrastinating, so we don\u2019t get to opt out of negative emotions altogether. Nonetheless, we choose to \u201cfeel good\u201d for the moment<\/strong> by both avoiding an unpleasant task and imagining ourselves accomplishing that task some other time\u2014like \u201clater\u201d or \u201ctomorrow.\u201d The problem is that this doesn\u2019t happen just once: Procrastination becomes a habit, one prompted by the thoughts or feelings we associate with a task<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not Every Delay Is Caused by Procrastination<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Before we dig further into what causes procrastination<\/a> and how you can overcome it, Pychyl contends that it\u2019s important to learn to tell the difference between procrastination and more productive kinds of delays<\/strong> that can temporarily impede your progress toward your goals. He points out that it\u2019s sometimes necessary to put a task on the back burner, for all kinds of practical (and rational) reasons. To work toward your most important goals or fulfill the obligations of your most significant roles, you often have to put one task ahead of the other things on your agenda<\/strong>, handling the most important or most time-sensitive things first. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prioritizing inevitably leads to putting off some tasks, but Pychyl emphasizes that\u2019s not the same thing as procrastination. For example, you might have to push back a project at work to stay home with your child when they catch the flu. You\u2019re delaying something you need to do, but you\u2019re doing it to take care of something more important. Pychyl says these delays don\u2019t qualify as procrastination. Procrastination only happens when we deliberately put off a task that we could (and should) begin right away<\/strong>. You can recognize procrastination because you\u2019re not putting the task off for a rational reason: Instead, you don\u2019t feel like getting started on it, so you defer it until \u201clater\u201d or \u201ctomorrow.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why Is Procrastination Harmful?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re reading this guide, you probably realize that procrastination comes with some costs. Pychyl contends it\u2019s important to be aware of the specific ways your procrastination habit works against you<\/strong>. After all, procrastination keeps you from putting your limited time to the best possible use, and this can have a cascade of consequences. In this section, we\u2019ll consider three ways that procrastination can sabotage you: by hurting your ability to do your best work, increasing the negative feelings you experience, and undermining your health and well-being. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It Chips Away at Your Ability to Get Things Done<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Making a habit<\/a> of putting things off hinders your ability to do and be your best<\/strong>. Pychyl warns that when you give in to procrastination and delay working on the tasks that your partner, your boss, or your friends are depending on you to complete, you don\u2019t put your best effort into fulfilling your obligations. He warns that it\u2019s easy to disappoint yourself or somebody else and regret it later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pychyl argues that if you aren\u2019t able to find the time to do the things you said you would, procrastination can undermine your relationships with the people you care about most<\/strong>. It can also make you regret missing out on things you always wanted to do but never got around to doing, like taking the trip you and your partner have always talked about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you keep putting a task off, you might find yourself in the final stretch before the deadline with little time left to do a good job. Pychyl explains that procrastination often reduces the quality of the work you ultimately do<\/strong>. This can feel like an acceptable trade-off because it seems to lower the stakes, too. (If you do a good job, you manage to perform well even when working at the last minute. And if you do a poor job, you can just attribute it to the lack of time left to complete the task, and move on.) But no matter how you justify it to yourself, procrastination still keeps you from doing your best work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It Results in More Negative Feelings, Not Fewer<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

You might recall from the previous section that the desire to avoid negative emotions often drives procrastination. Pychyl warns that this rarely works out the way we expect it to: Procrastination doesn\u2019t really make you feel happier, even in the moment<\/strong>. He explains that when you know you should be working on a task you\u2019ve delayed, you probably feel mixed emotions about it. One of the most common is guilt (which you feel when you know you\u2019re doing something that conflicts with your sense of what\u2019s right or wrong for you).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, procrastination causes<\/a> you to feel an array of negative emotions later<\/strong>, when you have to deal with the consequences. Pychyl contends that deferring a task often results in more negative emotions than you\u2019d experience if you\u2019d just gotten started on the task, no matter how unpleasant it is. For example, as many undergraduates learn, if you wait to write a paper until the night before it\u2019s due, you\u2019ll spend the night feeling anxious, harried, or frantic\u2014and the next day feeling sleep-deprived and regretful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It Takes a Toll on Your Physical Health<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Research also shows that procrastination can have a harmful effect on your health and well-being<\/strong>. How is that possible? Pychyl explains that first of all, procrastination causes stress. (Just think of how stressful it is to write a paper the night before it\u2019s due!) But stress isn\u2019t just a feeling: Stress is a psychological, emotional, and physical reaction to the challenges you experience. Even when you create a stressful situation yourself by putting off until later something you should do now, that stress can have an impact on your body, and sometimes that impact can harm your health. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Pychyl, another reason that procrastination takes a toll on your physical health is that while putting off a few unpleasant tasks can seem harmless, procrastination isn\u2019t so innocuous when it involves health-related tasks<\/strong>. Skipping gym sessions, delaying the start date for healthier eating habits, pushing back your bedtime, failing to find the time for doctor\u2019s appointments, and delaying recommended health screenings all keep you from taking care of yourself to the best of your ability. Your health can suffer in the long run: After all, your blood pressure doesn\u2019t care that you always intend to exercise more or that you have a plan to start a new diet next month. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why Do We Procrastinate, and How Can We Stop?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Procrastination is frustrating because we know what it is and we can see how it hurts us, but we keep doing it anyway<\/strong>. In this section, we\u2019ll explore three forces behind procrastination: our desire for rewarding experiences, our trouble making realistic plans, and our lack of preparedness for obstacles and challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We Seek Out Rewards, and We Prefer Rewards Now Over Later<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The first reason we procrastinate is that we want to have experiences that our brains perceive as rewarding\u2014experiences that feel good rather than bad<\/strong>. According to Pychyl, this tendency explains two psychological causes of procrastination<\/a>: your preference for getting a reward now even if there will be costs later, and your preference for a reward now over a better reward later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We Choose a Reward Now, Even if There Are Consequences Later<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

One way that your brain\u2019s love of rewards causes procrastination ties into the insight, which Pychyl emphasizes throughout the book, that you often procrastinate so you can avoid confronting the uncomfortable emotions or thoughts that a task brings up. When you feel you\u2019ve sidestepped negative feelings, at least temporarily, that can feel rewarding<\/strong>. Procrastination becomes a habit when you do this over and over again, establishing a pattern of avoiding tasks so you can feel rewarded now and deal with the costs of those decisions later.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We Care Less About Future Rewards Than Present Ones<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

A second way that the reward circuitry in your brain trips you up, says Pychyl, is by incentivizing you to pick a reward now over an even better reward later<\/strong>. While it would feel rewarding to finish a project or achieve a goal later, your brain wants you to instead choose a much smaller, more immediate reward, like a half-hour spent scrolling through TikTok videos you\u2019ll immediately forget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Choosing a small reward<\/a> now instead of a big reward later doesn\u2019t quite make sense, so your brain also knows exactly how to convince you that your decision is sound<\/strong>. Pychyl points out that when you procrastinate, you know the decision to put off an important task doesn\u2019t align with your values or goals. This means you experience cognitive dissonance: the uncomfortable tension that arises from holding two conflicting ideas in your mind at the same time. (For example, those conflicting ideas might be \u201cI want to exercise more\u201d and \u201cI\u2019m not going to run today.\u201d) One way you resolve the tension and explain away the dissonance is by making excuses<\/a> about why now isn\u2019t the right time for the task\u2014but tomorrow will be different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re Bad at Planning<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The second reason we procrastinate is that we have trouble with planning<\/strong>. Figuring out how to accomplish everything on your to-do list<\/a> requires planning when and how you\u2019ll get things done. But most of us aren\u2019t very good at these kinds of plans. Pychyl explains that this puts you on a direct path to procrastination by making you think you really will feel like doing a dreaded task tomorrow and tripping you up when you estimate how long a task will take.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We Genuinely Think We\u2019ll Do It \u201cLater\u201d or \u201cTomorrow\u201d <\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Pychyl writes that you probably tell yourself that you don\u2019t feel like doing a task now, but you\u2019ll feel like it \u201clater\u201d or \u201ctomorrow.\u201d Almost every time, you\u2019re definitely wrong, yet you genuinely feel like you\u2019re right. That\u2019s because, in addition to having trouble planning, your brain also has trouble predicting how you\u2019ll feel in the future<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because of a cognitive bias<\/a> called focalism, you don\u2019t think about all of the factors that will affect your mood in the future<\/strong>. You might really think you\u2019ll feel like cleaning the house tomorrow night. But you\u2019re likely not considering how a long day of work will leave you tired and an evening helping your kids with homework will make you grumpy about having to relearn fractions. Plus, because of a bias called presentism, you assume that how you feel now is how you\u2019ll feel later.<\/strong> But this often isn\u2019t accurate. You likely feel a lot more enthusiastic about leaving the cleaning until tomorrow in the present (as you\u2019re making that decision) than you will in the future, when \u201ctomorrow\u201d is here and it\u2019s time to get to work.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We Underestimate the Time a Task Will Take<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Another problem that contributes to trouble with planning, and then to procrastination, is the inability to accurately predict how much time you\u2019ll need to complete a task<\/a><\/strong>. Pychyl explains that because of a cognitive bias called the planning fallacy<\/a>, you probably underestimate the amount of time each task will take. You might think it\u2019s reasonable to leave a task until Sunday, since it\u2019ll only take you two or three hours to get it done. But come Sunday, it might take you six or seven hours instead, far longer than you expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We Aren\u2019t Prepared to Deal With Obstacles Along the Way<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

A third reason we find ourselves procrastinating is that we don\u2019t prepare for even the most obvious things that might go wrong, <\/strong>according to Pychyl. You know yourself and know how you typically behave, but you likely don\u2019t use that information to your advantage. That leads to two causes of procrastination: neglecting to prepare for distractions and failing to see how your personality may prime you to delay your tasks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We Aren\u2019t Prepared to Deal With Distractions<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Pychyl explains that one of the most common obstacles that can throw you off when you work toward a goal is also one of the simplest: distractions<\/strong>. Whether they come in the form of colleagues knocking on your door or push notifications from your favorite social media app, distractions pull your attention away from what you need to do and make it harder for you to make meaningful progress. But as Pychyl notes, you probably don\u2019t prepare yourself to run this gauntlet of interruptions.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We Don\u2019t Recognize Personality Traits That Make Us Likely to Procrastinate<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Another obstacle that might stand between you and your goals\u2014and divert you toward procrastination if you don\u2019t prepare for it\u2014is more difficult to change: your personality<\/strong>. Pychyl explains that certain personality traits have been linked to procrastination. Three traits, in particular, seem to have a marked link to higher rates of procrastination: Neuroticism (the tendency to experience negative emotions more than other people), impulsivity (the inclination to make choices without thinking them through fully), and perfectionism (specifically the kind of perfectionism caused by your perception that other people have unrealistically high expectations of your performance).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Do you put off work that needs to get done? What’s the book Solving the Procrastination Puzzle about? In Solving the Procrastination Puzzle, psychologist Timothy A. Pychyl contends that you aren\u2019t procrastinating because you\u2019re bad at managing your time. Instead, you\u2019re procrastinating because you haven\u2019t learned how to handle your emotions. Read below for a brief Solving the Procrastination Puzzle book overview.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":128009,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,9,43],"tags":[1564],"class_list":["post-127967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books","category-psychology","category-self-improvement","tag-solving-the-procrastination-puzzle","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nSolving the Procrastination Puzzle: Book Overview & Takeaways - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In his book Solving the Procrastination Puzzle, Timothy A. Pychyl dives into the reasons you're procrastinating. 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