The real cause of procrastination and a sure way to stop all postponed

Have you ever sat at the laptop to finish an important assignment, and then suddenly found themselves behind by hook or dishes or reading the article about the Chernobyl disaster? Or you suddenly realize that it is necessary to feed the dog, answer email, clean ceiling fans, bite, although it is now 11:00 in the morning... And then came the evening and your important job is still not done.

For many people, procrastination - is a powerful and incomprehensible force that keeps them from doing the urgent and important tasks. This is a potentially dangerous force that brings bad grades in school, problems at work, forcing to postpone the necessary treatment.

Study Case Western Reserve University, conducted in 1997, showed that the procrastination of students increases with increasing levels of stress, health problems and the number of low ratings at the end of semester.

But the reasons for which people prokrastiniruyut still unclear. Some researchers have linked procrastination to the lack of self-control and equate it to overeating, the love of gambling or shopping.

Others believe that the desire to postpone everything not associated with laziness and inability to manage their time, they can confirm the many smart and successful procrastinators.

It is said that procrastination may be associated with the way the brain works, and with the perception of time and self.

Location is actually taken procrastination and how to stop it? Let's try to explain it through science, comics and "The Simpsons."

The real origins of procrastination

Most psychologists consider procrastination dodging, defense mechanism that is activated when unpleasant actions. And people give up, to feel good.

Timothy Pickle (Timothy Pychyl), professor, student procrastination at Carleton University

This often happens when people are worried about the important tasks that they have to. To get rid of negative emotions, people prokrastiniruyut: include any video or open Pinterest. This allows them to feel better, but unfortunately, the reality is not going anywhere, and in the end they again face the problem.

When deadlines are starting preloading, procrastinators feel a strong guilt and shame. But first-class procrastinators, these feelings can become a new reason to postpone the problem, and it creates a vicious circle of self-destruction.

Tim Urban (Tim Urban), author of the blog Wait But Why, created remarkable funny explanations what happens in the brain of the procrastinator. Urban calls himself a master of procrastination. For example, once he began to write a 90-page certificate when before delivery was 72 hours.

Urban recently spoke at a conference TED with a story about his experience procrastinator. In his speech, he used his own drawings to explain the difference between life inveterate procrastinator.

He first described the human brain is not liable to procrastination. At the helm there should rationalist decision-making.

procrastinator brain looks similar, but there is a rationalist little friend. Urban called him a monkey instant gratification.

Monkey seems to be fun, but in the end there are many problems.

It lasts as long as everything gets really bad: your career goes ashes or you find yourself on the brink of expulsion from the uni. Then there is the panic monster that finally makes you do something about it.

there are different types procrastinators, Says Urban. Someone prokrastiniruet, doing useless things, such as looking for a fun SIFCO with cats. Others do seem to need to do - cleaned the apartment, working at a boring job, but never do what they really want.

To illustrate this, Urban used the Eisenhower matrix, named after the most productive US president.

Eisenhower believed that people should spend their time on what is truly important to them: the problem in squares 1 and 2.

Unfortunately, most procrastinators spend a little time on these squares, says Urban. Instead, they become fixated on the squares of 3 and 4, by doing things that may be urgent, but not important. Sometimes, when a monster panic takes over, they quickly look into the square 1.

Urban says that this habit is pernicious, because the road to the dream procrastinator - to implement it capacity expansion of horizons and work that he really proud - it goes through the square 2. Squares 1 and 3 can be useful when people survive a square 2 for those who are growing and thriving.

This is a personal opinion of Urbana about why we prokrastiniruemBut these assumptions are consistent with research scientists.

Psychologists agree that the problem procrastinators is that they give desire to get instant gratification, instead of focusing on long-term goals.

Important goals (in the first and second square) require a lot of effort, but in the long run it is their realization makes you safe.

This Homer Homer vs the future

Psychologists have other exciting models to understand the driving forces of procrastination. Some believe that procrastination is invincible because it is intertwined with a deep perception of time and the difference between what they call "the future and the present is."

Despite the fact that the person to whom you will be in a month, will be little different from you today, you're worried about it a lot less. People are focused on how they feel now, not in his future.

Pickle gives the example of the video from "The Simpsons». In one episode, Marge scolds her husband for what he had little contact with children.

- Once the children leave home, and you will regret that you do not spend more time with them, - she says.

- It is a problem of the future of Homer. Oh, I do not envy the guy - meets Homer, pours vodka into a jar of mayonnaise, whisk yourself creepy cocktail, drinks it and falls to the floor.

Taking long-term decisions, people tend to feel little emotional connection with his future "I". Even if I understand at a basic level, that in a year I'll be in exactly the same myself, I consider the future like a completely different person, and I believe that he does not benefit in any way from my actions present. And the problem I do not bring him.

Hirschfeld Hal (Hal Hershfield), business school psychologist in Los Angeles

Hirschfeld study supports this idea. The scientist did fMRI brain subjects, when they think of themselves in the present, about celebrities such as Matt Damon (Matt Damon) and Natalie Portman (Natalie Portman), and then about his future. Hirschfeld found that during the processing of information about yourself in the present and imagine the different areas of the brain were involved in the future. Brain activity of participants during the descriptions of yourself in ten years coincided with activity during the description of Natalie Portman.

Emily Pronin (Emily Pronin) of Princeton University received similar results in 2008. She made the participants a nasty mixture of soy sauce and ketchup and asked to decide how much they could drink, or other people.

One group decides for himself, the other - for other people, and the third - for itself within two weeks. Research has shown that people are willing to commit themselves to drink half a cup of disgusting swill in two weeks, but at the moment agreed to drink no more than two teaspoons.

Study Pickle has shown that people who are in closer contact with a future - and two months later, and after ten years - less prone to procrastination.

It turns out that procrastinators need to relate himself present and the future: it will help them to be happy in the long run.

In one study Hirschfeld used virtual reality technology to show the subjects, how they will look in old age. Then, all subjects were asked how they spent 1000 dollars. Those who saw his aged image, chose to invest in twice as likely participants are not looked on the "old self".

Interestingly, the US insurance companies use this knowledge to make more money. US bank Merrill Lynch launched a service Face RetirementWhere you can artificially age the photo.

How to return to productivity

What else can we do to avoid procrastination? Tim Urban believes that the typical advice, "Just stop to engage in useless things and get to work" sounds ridiculous.

If we encourage this, let's still advise people with obesity just do not overeat, people in depression - just do not be sad, and whales beached - just stay within the ocean. Inveterate procrastinators simply can not control their distraction.

Tim Urban (Tim Urban), author of the blog Wait But Why

Yes, it will not be easy, but there are several ways that you can help.

Scientists have found that one of the best ways to get rid of procrastination - forgive yourself for her appearance. IN study Pickle students who said they have forgiven myself for procrastination in the first exam, far less distracted during the second.

Researchers believe that it works because procrastination is associated with negative feelings. Forgiving yourself, you are reducing the sense of guilt, and thus all the reasons to delay getting smaller.

But best of all, as the Pickle says, to realize that you do not need a certain mood to perform tasks: just ignore your feelings and start to work.

"Most of us believe that the emotional state must comply with the problem, but it is not so - Pickle said. - You can rarely feel the working mood, and it's not a reason to postpone the case. "

Instead of focusing on feelings, think about your next step. Break the task into many small parts. For example, if you were going to write a letter of recommendation, the first thing you will need to have a document titled it and date.

Even if these steps seem insignificant, they are pretty important. Starting to fulfill the task, you feel better, a little raise their self-esteem, and it helps to cope with the procrastination.

Pickle believes that parents and teachers should teach children how to deal with procrastination at an early age: "When children begin prokrastinirovatMany teachers think they have a problem with the organization of time. In fact, they have no problem with the organization of the time, they have a problem with emotions organization. The child must realize that not all tasks will be interesting to him, and to come to terms with it. "

Nobody builds a house. Users simply lay the bricks again and again, and the result is a house. Procrastinators - big dreamers, they love to dream, to represent a large mansion, which once built. But what they really need is to be ordinary workers, which are sequentially stacked bricks on one another, day after day, until the house finally will not be built.

Tim Urban (Tim Urban), author of the blog Wait But Why

What are you doing with procrastination? How do you fight it?