Overcoming Procrastination/Causes

Procrastination is always based on a dysfunctional worldview, such as that "short term relief or pleasure is better than sacrifice for long-term rewards," along with irrational disregard for negative consequences. The procrastinator fails to engage in the appropriate course of action either due to a distraction of some sort or an inadequacy in their own behavior. Various distractions and incompetencies that can cause procrastination include, but are not limited to:

• Addiction
• Anxiety and fear
• Arrogance, pride
• Aversion
• Bad habits
• Discouragement
• Disorganization
• Distraction
• Family problems
• Fear of failure
• Feeling overwhelmed
• Frustration
• Illconceived goals and unconscious motives
• Indecision
• Lack of awareness
• Lack of morals
• Lack of time management skills
• Low ambition
• Low frustration tolerance
• Low self-esteem
• Low tolerance to stress
• Objective conflict
• Paranoia
• Perception of difficulty
• Poor attitude
• Poor self-control skills
• Poor study skills
• Rebellion
• Resentment
• Self-centeredness
• Self-deception
• Uncertainty

Expectancy-Value Theory

Laziness pays off today, work only tomorrow.

In motivational psychology, a mathematical formula can be used to "-value. This model is able to explain why we would rather be watching our favorite television program than writing the soon to be due term paper from your hardest college class, and it says that everybody is procrastinating, although each of us to differing degrees.

$U=\frac{P\times V}{D}$

where

U = the usefulness of the task.

P = Probability of profiting from the task

V = Value of the profit gained from the task

D = Delay between doing the task and receiving the reward for it

This formula is saying that:

• we prefer immediate rewards over delayed benefits
• we prefer bigger rewards over smaller prizes
• we prefer sure rewards over rewards that are only probable

The important question now is: Under what circumstances would someone put off their work? If the increase in U would be significant (e.g. when P, V or both values are high), every procrastinator stops procrastinating. By introducing an additional factor to the equation (S, the sensitivity of the subject toward the delay between action and reward), the behavior of different people could be compared.