Read The Procrastination Equation Online
Authors: Piers Steel
The Procrastination Equation (31 page)
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Thompson, C. (2007). Clive Thompson thinks: Desktop orb could reform energy hogs. Wired, 15.08.
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Lohr, S. (January 10, 2008). Digital tools help users save energy, study finds. New York Times.
Minosi, A., Martinola, A., Mankan, S., Balzarini, F., Kostadinov, A., & Prevostini, A. (2003). Intelligent, low-power and low-cost measurement system for energy consumption. Paper presented at the International Symposium on Virtual Environments, Human-Computer Interfaces, and Measurement Systems, Lugano, Switzerland
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Aarts, H., Dijksterhuis, A., & Dik, G. (2008). Goal contagion: Inferring goals from others' actions—and what it leads to. In J. Y. Shah & W. L. Gardner (Eds.), Handbook of motivation (pp. 265–280). New York: Guilford Press.
Gollwitzer, P., & Bargh, J. (2005). Automaticity in goal pursuit. In A. J. Elliot & C. S. Dweck (Eds.), Handbook of competence and motivation (pp. 624–646). New York: Guilford Press.
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Lopez, F., & Wambach, C. (1982). Effects of paradoxical and self-control directives in counseling. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 29(2), 115–124.
Mulry, G., Fleming, R., & Gottschalk, A. C. (1994). Psychological reactance and brief treatment of academic procrastination. Journal of College Student Psychotherapy, 9(1), 41–56.
Ziesat, H. A., Rosenthal, T. L., & White, G. M. (1978). Behavioral self-control in treating procrastination of studying. Psychological Reports, 42, 59–69.
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Economists actually refer to a version of stimulus cuing as mental accounting, which deals with how easily we categorize the world into discrete domains. This tendency also helps to explain the success of Christmas Clubs.
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Surowiecki, J. (February 14, 2006). Bitter money and Christmas clubs. Forbes.
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Ashforth, B. E., Kreiner, G. E., & Fugate, M. (2000). All in a day’s work: Boundaries and micro role transitions. The Academy of Management Review, 25(3), 472–491.
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Locke, E., & Latham, G. (2002). Building a practically useful theory of goal setting and task motivation: A 35-year odyssey. American Psychologist, 57(9), 705–717.
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For example, as the management training group RapidBi documents on their website (http://www.rapidbi.com/created/WriteSMARTobjectives.html), the S.M.A.R.T. acronym has dozens of variations. However, people already invariably add a time frame when giving examples of specific goals. For example, RapidBi suggests that people should indicate “When do I want this to be completed?” when creating specific goals. Similarly, a typical definition for attainable goals is that they be “realistic.” Take a look at almost any book or example on the topic.
Tayntor, C. B. (2001). Incorporating six sigma concepts into systems analysis. In P. Tinnirello (Ed.), New directions in project management (pp. 161–172). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press LLC. http://www.topachievement.com/smart.html
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Prendergast, C. (1999). The provision of incentives in firms. Journal of Economic Literature, 37, 7–63.
Schlinger, H. D., Derenne, A., & Baron, A. (2008). What 50 years of research tell us about pausing under ratio schedules of reinforcement. The Behavior Analyst, 31, 39–40.
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Hall, P. A., & Fong, G. T. (2003). The effects of a brief time perspective intervention for increasing physical activity among young adults. Psychology and Health, 18(6), 685–706.
Miller, R. B., & Brickman, S. J. (2004). A model of future-oriented motivation and self-regulation. Educational Psychology Review, 16(1), 9–33.
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Engber, D. (May 15, 2008). The unfinished stories: All the stuff we never got around to including in the special issue. Retrieved from http://www.slate.com/id/2191420/
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Amabile, T. (2001). Beyond talent: John Irving and the passionate craft of creativity. American Psychologist, 56(4), 333–336.
Wallace, I. (1977). Self-control techniques of famous novelists. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 10(3), 515–525.
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http://www.rescuetime.com/dashboard; http://manictime.com/
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Ouelette, J. A., & Wood, W. (1998). Habit and intention in everyday life: The multiple processes by which past behavior predicts future behavior. Psychological Bulletin, 124(1), 54–74.
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Baumeister, R. F., Muraven, M. & Tice, D. M. (2000). Ego depletion: A resource model of volition, self-regulation, and controlled processing. Social Cognition, 18(2), 130–150.
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Diefendorff, J. M., Richard, E. M., & Gosserand, R. H. (2006). Examination of situational and attitudinal moderators of the hesitation and performance relation. Personnel Psychology, 59, 365–393.
Gollwitzer, P. M. (1996). The volitional benefits from planning. In P. M. Gollwitzer & J. A. Bargh (Eds.), The psychology of action: Linking cognition and motivation to behavior (pp. 287–312). New York: Guilford Press.
Silver, M. (1974). Procrastination. Centerpoint, 1(1), 49–54.
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Diefendorff, J. M., Richard, E. M., & Gosserand, R. H. (2006). Examination of situational and attitudinal moderators of the hesitation and performance relation. Personnel Psychology, 59, 365–393.
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McCrea, S., Liberman, N., Trope, Y., & Sherman, S. (2008). Construal level and procrastination. Psychological Science, 19(12), 1308–1314.
Wood, W., & Neal, D. T. (2007). A new look at habits and the habit-goal interface. Psychological Review 114(4), 843–863.
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Psychologist Peter Gollwitzer calls this process action planning and the resulting plans implementation intentions. Gallo, I. S., & Gollwitzer, P. M. (2007). Implementation intentions: A look back at fifteen years of progress. Psicothema, 19(1), 37–42.
Gollwitzer, P., & Sheeran, P. (2006). Implementation intentions and goal achievement: A meta-analysis of effects and processes. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 38, 69–119.
Gollwitzer, P. M. (1999). Implementation intentions: Strong effects of simple plans. American Psychologist, 54(7), 493–503.
Owens, S., Bowman, C., & Dill, C. (2008). Overcoming procrastination: The effect of implementation intentions. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 38(2), 366–384.
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Oaten, M., & Cheng, K. (2006). Improved self-control: The benefits of a regular program of academic study. Basic & Applied Social Psychology, 28(1), 1–16.
Oaten, M., & Cheng, K. (2007). Improvements in self-control from financial monitoring. Journal of Economic Psychology, 28(4), 487–501.
And more than a few proverbs:
“I say that habit’s but a long practice, friend, and this becomes men’s nature in the end.”—Aristotle
“Habit, if not resisted, soon becomes necessity.”—St. Augustine
“The chains of habit are generally too small to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.”—Samuel Johnson
“Habit is a cable; we weave a thread each day, and at last we cannot break it.”—Horace Mann
“Man becomes a slave to his constantly repeated acts. What he at first chooses, at last compels.”—Orison Swett Marden
“Habits are at first cobwebs, then cables.”—Chinese Proverb
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Wood, W., Tam, L., & Witt, M. (2005). Changing circumstances, disrupting habits. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88(6), 918–933.
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Grant, A. (2003). The impact of life coaching on goal attainment metacognition and mental health. Social Behavior and Personality, 31(3), 253–263.
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Matlin, E. (2004). The procrastinator’s guide to wills and estate planning. New York: Penguin Group.
Chapter Ten
1
Frincke, J. (2008). Job satisfaction. Alexandria, VA: Society for Human Resource Management.
Kaiser, R., Hogan, R., & Craig, S. (2008). Leadership and the fate of organizations. American Psychologist, 63(2), 96–110.
Sousa-Poza, A., & Sousa-Poza, A. A. (2000). Well-being at work: A cross-national analysis of the levels and determinants of job satisfaction. Journal of Socio-Economics, 29(6), 517–538.
2
Bass, B. M. (1998). Transformational leadership: Industry, military, and educational impact. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Eagly, A., Johannesen-Schmidt, M., & van Engen, M. (2003). Transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership styles: A meta-analysis comparing women and men. Psychological Bulletin, 129(4), 569–591.
Yukl, G. (2006). Leadership in organizations (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
3
Baltes, B., Briggs, T., Huff, J., Wright, J., & Neuman, G. (1999). Flexible and compressed workweek schedules: A meta-analysis of their effects on work-related criteria. Journal of Applied Psychology, 84(4), 496–513.
4
Tom was truly exceptional. In survey after survey and study after study, about three quarters of employees report that the worst aspect of their job is their immediate supervisor, and about two thirds of supervisors would be considered incompetent by any objective standards.
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Milgram, N. A. (1991). Procrastination. In R. Dulbecco (Ed.), Encyclopedia of human biology (Vol. 6, pp. 149–155). New York: Academic Press.
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Ainslie, G. (2001). Breakdown of will. Cambridge University Press.
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2006). Self-regulation and the problem of human autonomy: Does psychology need choice, self-determination, and will? Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 74(6), 1557–1586.
Vohs, K. D., & Baumeister, R. F. (2007). Can satisfaction reinforce wanting? In J. Y. Shah & W. L. Gardner (Eds.), Handbook of motivation science (pp. 373–389). New York: Guilford Press.
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Kivetz, R., & Keinan, A. (2006). Repenting hyperopia: An analysis of self-control regrets. Journal of Consumer Research, 33, 273–282.
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Tangney, J., Baumeister, R., & Boone, A. (2004). High self-control predicts good adjustment, less pathology, better grades, and interpersonal success. Journal of Personality, 72(2), 271–324.
Postscript
1
Carver, C. S. (2005). Impulse and constraint: Perspectives from personality psychology, convergence with theory in other areas, and potential for integration. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 9(4), 312–333.
Cervone, D., Shadel, W. G., Smith, R. E., & Fiori, M. (2006). Self-regulation: Reminders and suggestions from personality science. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 55(3), 333–385.
Mesoudi, A., Whiten, A., & Laland, K. (2006). Towards a unified science of cultural evolution. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 29(4), 329–347.
Tooby, J., & Cosmides, L. (2007). Evolutionary psychology, ecological rationality, and the unification of the behavioral sciences. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 30(1), 42–43.
2
Green, C. D. (1992). Is unified positivism the answer to psychology’s disunity? American Psychologist, 47, 1057–1058.
Staats, A. W. (1999). Unifying psychology requires new infrastructure, theory, method, and a research agenda. Review of General Psychology, 3(1), 3–13.
Stanovich, K. E. (2007). The psychology of decision making in a unified behavioral science. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 30(1), 41–42.
3
It is why one of my key articles is titled Integrating Theories of Motivation.
Steel, P. & König, C. J. (2006). Integrating theories of motivation. Academy of Management Review, 31, 889–913.
4
Wilson, E. (1998). Consilience: The unity of knowledge. New York: Knopf.
5
Gintis, H. (2004). Towards the unity of the human behavioral sciences. Politics, Philosophy & Economics, 3(1), 37–57.
6
Akerlof, G. A. (1991). Procrastination and obedience. American Economic Review, 81(2), 1–19.
Glimcher, P., & Rustichini, A. (2004). Neuroeconomics: The consilience of brain and decision. Science, 306, 447–452.
7
Kubey, R., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2002). Television addiction is no mere metaphor. Scientific American, 286(2), 62–68.
Young, K. (1998). Internet addiction: The emergence of a new clinical disorder. Cyberpsychology and Behavior, 1, 237–244.
8
Hancox, R., & Poulton, R. (2006). Watching television is associated with childhood obesity: but is it clinically important? International Journal of Obesity, 30, 171–175.
Vandewater, E., Bickham, D., & Lee, J. (2006). Time well spent? Relating television use to children’s free-time activities. Pediatrics, 117(2), 181–191.
9
Hall, L., Johansson, P., & Léon, D. d. (2002). The future of self-control: Distributed motivation and computer-mediated extrospection. Lund: Lund University.
2a
An ethical choice that Dr. Seligman struggled with, as he recounts in his book Learned Optimism. He discontinued this experimental method as soon as he had obtained the data he needed.
2b
As determined by four separate surveys of the Procrastination Assessment Scale—Students, which assesses twenty-six possible reasons for procrastinating.
2c
In fact, I wrote an article called “Integrating Theories of Motivation,” dedicated to doing better. Regularly assigned reading for university students around the world, the paper acknowledges that there are a hundred years of motivational science to draw upon conducted by an army of researchers. Let’s not let this go to waste.
2d
The strict equation also includes the addition of a small constant at the bottom, typically the number “1,” as in “Impulsiveness × Delay + 1.” This constant’s principal purpose is to prevent the equation from skyrocketing to infinity if impulsiveness or delay ever reaches zero.