From there, if we can muster the volitional strength for one more step, that is, to “just get started,” we will find that we had more self-regulatory strength in reserve than we realized. Our perception can fool us at times, and this self-deception can really be our own worst enemy.
Here are some strategies that you might use to muster what feels like the “fumes” left in your own willpower gas tank.
The “willpower is like a muscle” metaphor is a good fit, as the capacity for self-regulation can be increased with regular exercise. Even two weeks of self-regulatory exercise has improved research participants’ self-regulatory stamina. So take on some small self-regulatory task and stick to it. This can be as simple as deliberately maintaining good posture or using your nondominant hand to eat. The key element is to exercise your self-discipline. You don’t need to start big, just be consistent and mindful of your focus. Over time, you will be strengthening your “willpower muscle.”
Sleep and rest also help to restore the ability to self-regulate. If you seem to be at the end of your rope, unable to cope and unwilling to do the next task, first ask yourself if you are getting enough sleep. Seven or eight hours of sleep is important for most of us to function well.
A corollary to sleep and rest is that self-regulation later in the day is less effective. Be as strategic as possible, and don’t look to exercise feats of willpower later in the day. (Rachel may have to rethink the timing of her workout or use alternative strategies, suggested below, to help her get off the couch when she is already “running on empty.”)
A boost of positive emotion has been shown to eliminate self-regulatory impairment. Find things, people, or events that make you feel good to replenish your willpower strength.
Implementation intentions can be added to this list of willpower boosters. Make an implementation intention as a plan for action. As you know, this takes a specific form: “In situation X, I will do behavior Y to achieve my goal Z”; or “If this happens, then I’ll do this” (anticipating possible obstacles to your goal pursuit). The effect of these intentions is to put the stimulus for action into the environment and make the control of behavior a nonconscious process. A couple of studies have demonstrated that the automatic nature of the effects of implementation intentions counters the effects of self-regulatory depletion. Let’s take the example where research participants had to control their emotions during a humorous movie (suppressing their laughter). As you will recall, they are usually less capable of doing a subsequent experimental task that requires self-regulatory strength, such as solving a series of anagrams. However, for participants randomly assigned to an “if . . . then” implementation intention manipulation, who prepared by saying to themselves, “If I solve an anagram, then I will immediately start to work on the next one,” this depletion effect was eliminated (they solved as many anagrams as the group who were not depleted beforehand). This is an interesting result with clear implications for how we can strengthen our flagging willpower at the end of a long day. An implementation intention may well be the thing that gets you to exercise in the evening, even though you usually feel much too tired to begin. Note: This research underscores my focus on just get started. I think Rachel might be more successful with her evening exercise if she had the implementation intention of “If the kids are in bed, then I will go directly to the treadmill.” Once she starts, she might discover that she has the motivation and energy that she needs.
Self-regulation appears to depend on available blood glucose. In some studies, even a single act of self-regulation has been shown to reduce the amount of available glucose in the bloodstream, impairing later self-regulatory attempts. Interestingly, just a drink of sugar-sweetened lemonade eliminated this self-regulatory depletion in experiments. Even though this research hasn’t always been replicated, the message is clear: Don’t get hypoglycemic; your self-regulation will suffer. Keep a piece of fruit (complex carbohydrate) handy to restore blood glucose.
Be aware that social situations can require more self-regulation and effort than you may think. For example, if you are typically an introverted person but you have to act extraverted, or you have to suppress your desired reaction (scream at your boss) in favor of what is deemed more socially acceptable (acquiesce again to unreasonable demands), you will deplete your willpower for subsequent action. These social interactions may even make it more likely that you will say or do something you will regret in subsequent interactions. Getting along with others requires self-regulation, so you will need to think about points 1–6 to be best prepared to deal with demanding social situations.
Finally, so much of our ability to self-regulate depends on our motivation. Even on an empty stomach, exhausted from not enough sleep and pushed to the limit for self-regulation, we can muster the willpower to continue to act appropriately. It is difficult, but it can be done, particularly if we focus on our values and goals to keep perspective on more than just the present moment. In doing this, we can transcend the immediate (and temporary) feelings we are having to keep from giving in to feel good, which lies at the heart of so much self-regulatory failure.
9
What’s Bred in the Bone: Personality and Procrastination
My personality might put me at risk, but I can adapt.
FIONA AND DAVID HAVE been married for more than ten years now. Fiona’s friends describe her as organized. Typically, she’s the planner in their group, and they know that they can really count on her. When there’s something to be done, she does it right away. David sets high standards for himself. He is also very self-critical. He seems to hear his parents’ voices echo in his mind whenever he approaches a task, saying, “It could be better.” When faced with a task, David always seems reluctant to get started. Fiona and David are very similar when it comes to household tidiness (they are both quite particular, even fussy), but they can drive each other crazy at times when it comes to scheduling and doing tasks.
Issue
The example above highlights the notion of individual differences. We might think of Fiona as conscientious and David as a perfectionist. This approach to personality is based on the concept of personality traits.
Traits are terms that psychologists use to summarize the way we typically act. Traits describe something about how we expect a person to act in most situations. Of course, how we actually behave depends on both personality and situation, but for the moment, I want to focus on personality traits.
Certainly, procrastination has been shown to be related to personality traits. Some people are more prone to procrastinate, and a contributing factor is personality. This is particularly true when the situational pressures to engage in a task in a timely manner are not strong. When the situation is not pushing us to act in a certain way (for example, a supervisor actually monitoring our actions), our personality will have a great deal of influence on our behavior.
The examples above provide two very common traits related to procrastination, but in different directions. Fiona’s conscientiousness—that is, the fact that she is typically organized, planful, and dutiful—is a trait that is highly negatively related to procrastination. The more we are conscientious, the less we typically procrastinate.
In contrast, David is an example of a socially prescribed perfectionist. Yes, there are different varieties or types of perfectionism. The one we need to focus on is the socially prescribed perfectionist, because it is most strongly related to procrastination. Socially prescribed perfectionists believe that others hold unrealistic expectations for their behavior and that they cannot live up to these expectations. They experience external pressure to be perfect and believe that others evaluate them critically. This leads them to internalize these expectations and be self-critical as well (that “little voice in David’s head” is an example of this internalized criticism).
Contrasting Fiona and David like this shows how personality can be a resilience or risk factor for procrastination. We
need to take this into account in our own lives.
Would you say that you have a procrastination-prone personality?
To answer this question, you need to have a little more information about which personality traits have been shown to be associated with procrastination. Some of the key traits that are related to procrastination are listed below. I just need to make one more comment before you review this list.
There are potentially thousands of personality traits. Personality psychologists have simplified these into a superstructure of traits known as the “Big Five.” Much like the three colors of the color wheel, the Big Five are said to be the primary traits. Other traits are a part of these five or a blend of them. You can remember the five traits with the mnemonic CANOE: Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, Neuroticism, Openness (to Experience), and Extraversion.
Of course, in a digest-type book, I cannot explain each of these in detail, and it is really not that important because our focus is on procrastination. Research pioneered by Henri Schouwenburg (University of Groningen) and Clarry Lay (York University) has revealed that only two of these traits have meaningful relations with procrastination—Conscientiousness and Neuroticism (which is also known as Emotional Instability). I discuss these first below.
The other traits that I discuss below are related to the Big Five traits, but I address them separately because they deserve special consideration given their relation to procrastination. For example, impulsiveness is sometimes discussed as part of low emotional stability, sometimes extraversion. In any case, it is not necessary to focus on these definitional issues. Just think of these traits as aspects of our personalities.
INSTRUCTIONS
For each of the traits below, rate yourself from “Not at all like me” to “Exactly like me” on how much you think the trait describes you.
1. Conscientiousness
Highly conscientious people are described as responsible, scrupulous, persevering, and fussy or tidy. You can see how this trait is negatively associated with procrastination and might be considered a resilience factor against unnecessary delay. The various facets of the trait as measured in popular personality tests include: Competence (efficient), Order (organized), Dutifulness (not careless), Achievement striving (thorough), Self-discipline (not lazy), and Deliberation (not impulsive).
2. Emotional instability
Emotional instability is the alternative wording of the trait of Neuroticism. People who score high on emotional instability can be described as nervous, worrisome, or anxious. The various facets of the trait as measured in popular personality tests include: Anxiety (tense), Angry hostility (irritable), Depression (not contented), Self-consciousness (shy), Impulsive (moody), and Vulnerability (not self-confident)
3. Impulsiveness
A person who scores high on impulsiveness tends to act before thinking. This trait reflects low self-control, especially in the presence of potentially rewarding activities. Impulsivity reflects less ability to consider the consequences of one’s actions.
4. Self-efficacy
This trait represents the belief that we are able to do what is necessary to achieve a desired outcome. It reflects self-confidence and competence.
5. Self-esteem
Self-esteem is how we feel about ourselves. It is our appraisal of our self-worth. Another way to think about it is the extent to which we perceive ourselves as being relatively close to being the people we want to be.
6. Socially prescribed perfectionism
As I noted, socially prescribed perfectionists believe that others hold unrealistic expectations for their behavior. They believe that others expect them to be perfect, and they can feel compelled to try to live up to these expectations.
Now that you have reviewed some of the main personality traits that researchers have identified as traits associated with procrastination, you can see which is larger, your risk for or resilience to procrastination. To calculate each, you need to sum items together as listed below. For each item, write in the number you circled when reading above, then sum these for a total score out of a possible 30.
This simple scale is not scientifically valid, but it does provide you with a rough estimate of your vulnerability to procrastination from a personality perspective. These scores provide an index in terms of how your personality is contributing to or protecting you from self-regulation failure. Of course, given that you are reading a book about procrastination, I might assume that you are more at risk than resilient. You may find that your risk score is quite a bit larger than your resilience score. The question is, what can you do about this?
STRATEGY FOR CHANGE
Personality presents an interesting challenge when we think about self-change. By definition, we consider personality as the relatively enduring characteristics of the individual. They are not easily changed.
However, we do not have to change our personalities to succeed. We can act counter to our dispositions or traits. For example, there are many introverted individuals who can function well socially, speak in front of crowds, and engage others effectively in the workplace. It does take strategic effort at times, but we are successful daily “acting out of character.”
It is important to acknowledge that some psychologists believe that acting out of character, counter to our traits and disposition, can deplete our self-regulatory strength or willpower. As we discussed previously, willpower is a limited resource, so this is important to recognize. We will be investing our energies to act out of character to succeed. Everything noted earlier about bolstering our willpower will be important to take into account as you work to address your personality risk factors.
In terms of procrastination, it is possible to act out of character in terms of low conscientiousness or high impulsivity. The key thing is to be strategic, and as we have discussed, part of being strategic is making predecisions about how to respond before you face a situation. If you can be proactive like this, you will not rely so much on your personality and habitual ways of responding.
Remember the implementation intentions discussed earlier? These are intentions that take the form of “In situation X, I will do behavior Y.” Implementation intentions, as you may recall, are a form of predecision. You are deciding ahead of time what will be a stimulus for what response.
You may find implementation intentions useful again in terms of counteracting a habitual response that is part of who you are as defined by these personality traits. For example, if you are rather impulsive, your predecision with an implementation intention might be “If an alternative intention arises, such as an invitation to go out, I will say that I will make my decision in ten minutes.” This built-in predecisional delay may help to counteract the typical impulsive response to just get going.
I think it is clear by now that the key issue is this predecision. Knowing a little bit about your personality traits that may put you at risk to procrastinate, you can now act on that knowledge by deciding in advance how you will counter this habitual response.
For example, if you are impulsive, it is particularly important to reduce distractions in the surrounding environment when you are trying to work. Impulsive people have more difficulty resisting these distractions, even with implementation intentions. So, as I discussed in a previous chapter, part of your predecisional process can be to eliminate or reduce the distractions before you get down to work.
Similarly, if you tend to be disorganized, deliberately working on structuring tasks can be very important to reducing procrastination. This can be as simple as creating a “to do” list of subtasks that help you see the steps you need to take. It can also be the more challenging job of organizing your work area so that it is not so cluttered. But be careful: Some of us use this tidy-up job as our way to procrastinate! Once the desk is tidied, pencils sharpened, and new software downloaded onto the computer, we think, “That’s enough for today!” Procrastination draws on our abil
ity to deceive ourselves. We find excuses for just about any unnecessary delay.
The strategies above address the issues of impulsivity and conscientiousness. What about the worry and anxiety that define low emotional stability? What if we are worried that we don’t have the ability to do the task? What if we cannot tolerate frustration? This seems more serious, right?
Yes, some of us are prone to worry and self-consciousness, and many of us have irrational beliefs that make us prone to procrastinate. Our procrastination may be based on a fear of failure, for example. The route to self-change, both in the short term behaviorally and the long term in terms of stable personality change, is to challenge your worries and beliefs as they arise. When a task triggers thoughts such as “I can’t do this,” “I’m such a screwup,” “I don’t know how,” “I’m going to fail,” it’s absolutely essential that you challenge each of these beliefs. Why do you think they are true? What is the real risk of not succeeding when you try? Through this process, most of us realize that these are truly irrational thoughts, perhaps part of the habits we call personality, but not real in terms of the world around us.
In sum, I am arguing that these stable individual differences we call personality traits can contribute to our procrastination. We cannot make changes in these traits quickly or easily, but we can recognize our relative self-regulatory strengths and limitations. In doing this, we set ourselves up to act more proactively and consciously out of character as we may need to achieve our goals.
Perhaps most important to understand is that personality should not be an excuse. In fact, acknowledging and addressing our limitations can develop some of our greatest strengths.
Solving the Procrastination Puzzle Page 6