Actually, the Psychology Today story talks about these very points. That procrastination is not actually a problem of planning or time management; rather, it is a problem of self-regulation. Two paragraphs I find very relevant to myself:
"3. Procrastination is not a problem of time management or of planning. Procrastinators are not different in their ability to estimate time, although they are more optimistic than others. "Telling someone who procrastinates to buy a weekly planner is like telling someone with chronic depression to just cheer up," insists Dr. Ferrari.
"4. Procrastinators are made, not born. Procrastination is learned in the family milieu, but not directly. It is one response to an authoritiarian parenting style. Having a harsh, controlling father keeps children from developing the ability to regulate themselves, from internalizing their own intentions and then learning to act on them. Procrastination can even be a form of rebellion, one of the few forms available under such circumstances. What's more, under those household conditions, procrastinators turn more to friends than to parents for support, and their friends may reinforce procrastination because they tend to be tolerant of their excuses."
In other words, that authoritarian parent is so dominant in the child's mind that the child's own voice of self-regulation -- I need to get this done, so I should do it now -- doesn't develop properly. All of the energy is spent following, resisting or coping with the authoritarian parent's demands.
Do you think this could be so? I can see many traces of it in myself. I had a super-strong dad who loved us to distraction but who totally fit this description. And I have tried time-management tricks over and over again; they work, but only for a while. Ironically, when I think about what this article says -- that I need to work on my self-regulation -- I am getting more done. I need to react to my own voice that tells me I need to do something, rather than react to the shadow of voices past against whom I was rebelling.
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Actually, the Psychology Today story talks about these very points. That procrastination is not actually a problem of planning or time management; rather, it is a problem of self-regulation. Two paragraphs I find very relevant to myself:
"3. Procrastination is not a problem of time management or of planning. Procrastinators are not different in their ability to estimate time, although they are more optimistic than others. "Telling someone who procrastinates to buy a weekly planner is like telling someone with chronic depression to just cheer up," insists Dr. Ferrari.
"4. Procrastinators are made, not born. Procrastination is learned in the family milieu, but not directly. It is one response to an authoritiarian parenting style. Having a harsh, controlling father keeps children from developing the ability to regulate themselves, from internalizing their own intentions and then learning to act on them. Procrastination can even be a form of rebellion, one of the few forms available under such circumstances. What's more, under those household conditions, procrastinators turn more to friends than to parents for support, and their friends may reinforce procrastination because they tend to be tolerant of their excuses."
In other words, that authoritarian parent is so dominant in the child's mind that the child's own voice of self-regulation -- I need to get this done, so I should do it now -- doesn't develop properly. All of the energy is spent following, resisting or coping with the authoritarian parent's demands.
Do you think this could be so? I can see many traces of it in myself. I had a super-strong dad who loved us to distraction but who totally fit this description. And I have tried time-management tricks over and over again; they work, but only for a while. Ironically, when I think about what this article says -- that I need to work on my self-regulation -- I am getting more done. I need to react to my own voice that tells me I need to do something, rather than react to the shadow of voices past against whom I was rebelling.
November 10, 2008 - 9:21amThis Comment
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