Wednesday, January 30, 2008
The Science of Procrastination: Researchers Tackle Willpower and our Ability to Control it
Study Hacks: "We all know the feeling. Some days, you have a project you know you need to work on, but find it impossible to summon the energy needed to close your e-mail and get to work. It seems so simple. Click the “X” in the corner. Open the word processor document. Start typing. But you might as well be considering knocking off a quick triathalon. Your leaden, sluggish, no-motivation mood overwhelms."
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3 comments:
From my personal experience, I've found that I am less likely to procrastinate if I have more tasks that need to be done, so this article provided some nice insights as to why this happens. I think that this happens because if I am doing more tasks, I force myself to schedule them and be more organized, whereas if I only have a few things, there is much less motivation (as the arictle suggests).
I find it interesting the comparisons between self control over procrastinations and distractions and being an athlete. I never would have thought that it was a muscle that you could exercise on a daily basis but that is definitely something to think about and keep in mind.
Self control is a really difficult concept. This article seems to only skim the top. There is so much more to gaining self control than exercising it (not that people shouldn't exercise their self control or that practicing self control won't improve it). For example, having to be on the top of your game all day, having pressure of your every move being watched, and every piece of work being evaluated. As the article said, you will run out of gas and there is no way to avoid it. Self control is something you have to work for and have to work to maintain.
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