Procrastination

Why do today what can be put off until tomorrow? The arch-nemesis of productivity, procrastination is the act of avoiding something that should be completed. Whereas procrastination is the maladaptive form of the behavior of prioritizing, this behavior has been shown to be one of those things that separate the “haves” and the “have-nots” in society. Productivity is a trait commonly found in the affluent and often found missing in those on the opposite side of the wealth continuum.

George S. Patton was fond of drilling “boldness, speed, simplicity” into those in his charge. It was epitomized by his quote that “executing an imperfect plan today is better than executing a perfect plan tomorrow.” The search for perfection often has diminishing returns, especially when coupled with the adage coined by a general in the American Civil War about being there “the firstest with the mostest.”

So, why do people procrastinate?

U =	E x V
	I x D

Whereas:

U is the desire to complete a task.
E is the expectation of success
V is the value of completion
I is the immediacy of the task
D is the personal sensitivity to delay.

Let’s take a quick look at how the variables relate to one another.

Expectation of success multiplied by the value of completion: What is the likelihood of task completion? What value does this task have once completed? If you believe that you have absolutely no probability at completing the task, it doesn’t matter what the value of completion is, because when zero is multiplied by anything the result is still zero. Likewise, if you have a high probability at success, but the task means nothing to you completed, then the result will be nothing. Both E and V are direct motivational factors: Expectancy is an internal variable and value is an external variable.

Immediacy of the task multiplied by personal sensitivity to delay: What is the priority of the task? How does delay play into your personal prioritizing skills? Immediacy and delay sensitivity are both subjective factors where your perception of the task might make it more important than I would. Likewise, I might be an impatient individual and have a high sensitivity to delay, and thus work diligently at task completion in order to ease my burden of having the task open. Someone else, on the other hand, might have a lower delay sensitivity which manifests itself as—yes—procrastination.

The numerator and denominators—that is the top and bottom results—must produce non-zero numbers. Having a numerator that is zero translates into “having zero parts of something,” while a zero denominator (bottom part of the formula) translates into “some parts of zero.” Certainly, if you have no parts of something or some parts of nothing, it still ends up being nothing.

Let’s take another step back: Presuming the top equation is the motivational function (internal and environmental), then motivation must come from the individual or the task must be enough to cause the motivation necessary for its completion. The bottom part of the formula are numbers that have subjective meanings—such that the perceived values can (and likely will) be different from person to person. Perception is the key word here: Have you ever heard the saying that “perception is reality?” The world is how each individual person sees it, not any differently. Your perception of utility or value of the immediacy of the task and how this fits into your priorities must be enough to complete the task.

Motivational factors divided by perceived value equals desire to complete the task. That’s straight enough. How can we harness this to get a better handle on our lives?

· Always maintain motivation: Internal motivation can be the single most important factor of all of this: Doing so can increase the value of the numerator in this equation such that if there is any value on the bottom—that is, there is any perception of value in the completion of the task alongside any non-zero delay—then the desire to complete the task will always be high.

· Quantify the value of the task: Is the task worth it? If it is worth doing, it is worth doing well and it is worth doing in a timely fashion. Keeping in mind this line of thought immediately can make the task at hand a priority and help to increase your delay sensitivity.

· Urgency: A sense of urgency is one of those traits that employers often look for but don’t often find. A healthy sense of urgency (not to be confused with the maladaptive form of urgency commonly known as impatience) can foster an environment in your life where procrastination is no longer a problem; and with procrastination no longer a problem, you no longer need to be studying the procrastination equation to get a better handle on a lack of urgency in your life!