Procrastination

Slide on, even procrastination (Latin procrastinatio, postponement ', composition of pro, for' and cras, tomorrow '), completion blockade Aufschiebeverhalten, Erregungsaufschiebung or action Procrastination is the behavior when necessary but also as unpleasant, work to move again and again, rather than to do. Sliding is considered poor work habit. Three criteria must be met in order for a behavior to be classified as procrastination: counter-productivity, lack of necessity and delay.

Characteristics

Some people tend personality due to later initiation of action; they succeed only with great overcoming, activities that are perceived as boring to take (and their profit only secondarily or long term arises ) in attack. Here, the victims of the expenses they incur by moving personal disadvantages are quite aware of what triggers discomfort or even fear, but in turn aggravate the negative feelings as in- action - kicking or even impossible. A vicious circle can arise by repeatedly summarizes the intent to do the unpleasant tasks at any given time - but this can pass by ignoring the pressure feeling of fear and finally the shame again and again. The In - Action -kicking is undermined with each run and on.

Just by getting new intent, behavior - by more self-discipline - to improve, the problem of procrastination can not be solved many times. It is more effective decomposing tasks into small steps to prevent procrastination. In rare cases, procrastination can occur in the context of mental disorders (eg depression) and psychological counseling or treatment shall be displayed to raise the self-regulation levels. In a survey conducted in the U.S. (1999 ) reported that 40 % of respondents said that their disadvantages have arisen because of their procrastination already, 25 % of them suffered from chronic postponement of action. Eliyahu M. Goldratt coined in his book The critical chain for the phenomenon of Aufschiebeverhaltens and poor work planning the term student syndrome. He transferred so that his Theory of Constraints on project management.

Causes

The unpleasant feelings that keep those affected by a task arising, inter alia, by unclear priorities, poor organization, impulsivity, lack of care, aversion tasks by boredom, anxiety and perfectionism. Cognitive seen often takes place a dysfunctional distortion from the person concerned: poor assessment of times, overestimate the effect of future motivational states, underestimate the relationship between a task and the feelings that are related to these in conjunction. In addition, the attitude can be based on that work only bring something if you " mood " was in the.

Further explanations will be seen in a lack of attention and increased impulsivity. This can cause the person in search of stimuli or arousal is, can not be influenced by cues or is unable to delay rewards. ( The latter is just the opposite behavior compared to delayed gratification. )

Likewise, fear of failure and neuroticism may play a role, the anxiety itself, inter alia, in Discomfort - Fear that one's own well -being is at risk - who express lack of self- efficacy and self- esteem, external- variable attribution of success and avoidance of feedback and self-knowledge.

For procrastination also a psychodynamic model of explanation exists. This provides for the postponement as a symptom of personality disorders and neurotic conflicts in the areas of fear ( of failure, success, alone, close, rejection ), anger / rage, perfectionism, dependency / powerlessness, shame and self-worth. Other possible explanations provide the PSI theory ( Kuhl ) or the presence of ADD / ADHD or Asperger's.

Treatment approaches

Procrastination is not considered a mental disorder according to DSM -5 or ICD 10 Accordingly, there is so far little systematic treatment approaches aimed at the treatment of isolated push-on symptomatology. A current, manualized approach consists of different modules ( Punctual start, Realistic Schedule, Time restriction and condition management) which, individually or can be connected to a self-observation using a work diary in combination.