If you clicked on this story, you might also enjoy "The Age of Persuasion" on CBC radio. No podcast yet unfortunately, but streaming audio is available. (See right margin.)
This article is a mulligan stew of observations and opinions about several different problems that have earned the label "procrastination."
I fit the profile of what Ferrari calls an "avoidance procrastinator." Pychyl and Steel have got my number.
Schraw, on the other hand, seems to be guilty of post hoc, ergo propter hoc (thank you Aaron Sorkin). I do not procrastinate to have a better mental life; I do it because the alternative seems worse. To quote Pychyl, I feel lousy about a task so I walk away to feel better. I don't feel good, understand. Just not as bad.
Here's what I know - I hope it helps any other avoidance procrastinators who are reading:
Most of my task avoidance is based on uneasiness about the task; uneasiness caused (or multiplied) by not fully understanding the parameters and/or goals of the task.
That's it. For me, that's the key.
It is difficult - nearly impossible - to do my taxes each year. However, it is easy to do the various steps involved in doing my taxes, when I have a prepared list of the steps involved, and the order in which they should be carried out.
Clean out the garage is another good example of a task that I will never be able to do. But I have no problem doing the various small tasks that are hidden inside the phrase "clean out the garage" as long as someone can tell me what they are.
And this is the problem. I seem to lack the Project Planning gene that allows other people to break large, vague projects into smaller tasks. When I get help with this, and can approach a big project as a bunch of smaller tasks arranged in logical order, I have no problem. (Well, I still have the problems of laziness, perfectionism, distraction, etc., but no more than regular people.)
The trouble comes when the assignment lacks clarity.
This, I believe, is why procrastinator students in Schraw's study chose a detailed syllabus versus "a rough sketch of the assignments" -- not because "such specificity allowed for 'planned' procrastination" but because this approach removes the task ambiguity that triggers "my" type of procrastination.
Finally, saying, "Just do it" to a procrastinator is like saying, "Cheer up" to someone who's clinically depressed.
