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by EndXA·7y ago·view on hn ↗
I find the article to be a bit misleading.

The title says that procrastination has "nothing to do with self-control", which is obviously an appealing sentiment.

However, the first paper that they reference says that "...if we have a great deal of self-discipline and dutifulness... we may exert the self-control necessary to engage in the task in a timely manner despite the lack of immediate reward or the negative mood that the task elicits. Procrastination, however, is the lack of this self-control, whether as a state or trait. Procrastination is the self-regulatory failure of not exerting the self-control necessary for task engagement... this failure at self-control may be the direct result of a focus on regulating moods and feeling states in the short term."

Overall, a better argument would be that a lack of self-control isn't the driving force behind our decision to procrastinate. Rather, what causes us to procrastinate are things such as anxiety or fear of failure, and a high degree of self-control is what allows us to overcome these issues.

If anyone is interested in learning more about the factors that can cause us to procrastinate, such as anxiety, perfectionism, and reliance on abstract goals, check out this article: https://solvingprocrastination.com/why-people-procrastinate/

4 comments
> Overall, a better argument would be that a lack of self-control isn't the driving force behind our decision to procrastinate. Rather, what causes us to procrastinate are things such as anxiety or fear of failure, and a high degree of self-control is what allows us to overcome these issues.

Hmm, I don't think so. I would say:

What causes us to procrastinate is that we are using it as a _coping mechanism_ for our anxiety (which is related to our fear of failure). But it is an ultimately unsuccesful coping mechanism -- it has short-term alleviation of the negative emotions we wanted to avoid, but in the long-term can make them worse (as well as interfering with accomplishing what we want to accomplish, which can itself trigger anxiety and fear of failure).

Thinking a "high degree of self-control" is what will help us overcome procrastination does not actually help us overcome procrastination -- in fact, it can also trigger anxiety and fear of failure (as we are failing to have enough self-control).

You don't overcome it with "high degree of self-control", you overcome it by recognizing the role it is playing, finding other ways to approach your anxiety (not trying to avoid it by procrastination), and by _self-compassion_, not self-blame for your lack of self-control.

What is in the article matches my experience and observation. It also matches Buddhist philosophy/psychology.

You can _disagree_ with the arguments of the article -- is that what you mean by "finding it a bit misleading"? But they are considered and to some extent evidence-based arguments, that really are intentionally saying it's _not_ about "self-control", and thinking it's about "self-control" and you just need to "try harder" won't get you out of it. That is what they are intentionally saying, it's not misleading if the title makes one think they are going to say that.

I partially agree with what you’re saying.

What I agree with: actively overcoming your procrastination has more to do with dealing with the obstacles that cause you to procrastinate in the first place. For example, if you’re procrastinating because of your anxiety, dealing with your anxiety is generally going to be a much more effective approach than trying to increase your self-control.

What I disagree with: self-control is without a doubt one of the psychological mechanisms that play a role in our procrastination. That doesn’t mean that we should focus on it when we’re trying to help people stop procrastinating, but it does mean that it's important to understand the role that it plays.

If you look at the research papers that this article mentions, this is something that the researchers themselves are saying. For instance, in the first paper, Sirois and Pychyl say that: “if we have a great deal of self-discipline and dutifulness, commonly associated with the Big Five trait of Conscientiousness… we may exert the self-control necessary to engage in the task in a timely manner despite the lack of immediate reward or the negative mood that the task elicits.”

As such, while I think it’s reasonable for the article to conclude that when it comes to dealing with procrastination, your focus shouldn’t necessarily be on your self-control, I believe that it’s misleading for the title to claim that procrastination has “nothing to do with self-control”, when self-control clearly does play a role in this process.

"First study" is http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/91793/1/Compass%20Paper%20rev... ? Yep, looks like it.

I see what you are saying. That's in their literature review part.

Other people in this thread have recommended reading other stuff from Pychyl, which I plan to, to get a fuller picture of his framework.

While it has "something" to do with "self-control", the important point being made, including in that paper, is that "just trying harder" is not an effective strategy. I think that's what people think of when they think "it's a matter of self-control", and what the headline/article is meaning to disabuse (which Pychyl I believe would agree should be disabused).

You say "it does mean that it's important to understand the role [self-control] plays" in anxiety -- I'm not sure. I think the thrust here (of Pychyl's research reported in the article, and after skimming that paper) is that it is much more important to understand the role "attempt at emotional self-regulation" plays, in that procrastination is one.

That is, becoming comfortable with experiencing "negative mood" may be a useful direction; trying to increase one's "self-control" is unlikely to be.

At any rate, I don't think the article mischaracterized Pychyl's writing, although you can take issue with Pychyl's arguments or conclusions.

"what causes us to procrastinate are things such as anxiety or fear of failure, and a high degree of self-control is what allows us to overcome these issues"

Self-control seems to be a behavior rather than a characteristic, quality, or a skill. When one has controlled oneself, one has exhibited self-controlling behavior by definition. But what causes someone to exert that self-control?

Right. "Self-control" is a process, a system of habits and procedures for handling various situations.

But our language of self-control is about morality, and "lack of self-control" is seen as a character flaw, not a problem that can be solved with repeatable processes.

In other words, "lack of self control" is a failing of society, not a failing of individuals.

Right, and also... What causes one to need to exert self control?

Am I exerting self control if I want to do the things that I need to do? Or have I just stumbled into a sort of happy accident?

It's a big word game about what you're counting as "self-control". The phrasing is clickbait.
Depends on what you mean with self.