PROCRASTINATION IS NOT YOUR FAULT

It feels as if you have all the necessary techniques in your pocket already, your working conditions are perfect yet the job still feels like an effort to complete. You feel sick when you think about renovating the house, work project or even something trivial like making dinner. Hunger and sleep are beginning to demand an immediate response from you, yet you still need to buy that fourth pair of sneakers on EBAY immediately or take care of your best friend’s broken heart. Everything at hand seems more important than the task which awaits you.

Do you relate to this situation?

I personally know it well, therefore today we will talk about why this has a lot to do with your inner value system and little to do the apparent list of things to do on your desk. I will enlighten you today with why procrastination isn’t completely your fault.

Within the question “what is important?” There is always an answer. The key to mastering procrastination is to look at your values.

Here is the idea: behind your procrastination stands a whole generational value system, not your individual laziness or other negative vices.

Since the 1970s, American scientist Ronald Inglehart has been carrying out the so-called World Values Surveys periodically. The last one took place in 2018 in 60 countries around the globe. One of the trends observed by analysts since the 1990s is a gene-rationally conditioned clash between materialistic values and attitudes aimed at self-expression and personal development, i.e. in other words post-materialistic values.

Individuals, families and societies who have the memories of World War II, economic or political instability are still alive, and have a very strong work ethic. Speaking colloquially, in order to reach a goal — one has to make up for it, be systematic and persistent, and never give up, because taking one’s foot off the gas may end up with a shortage and loss of a fragile sense of security.

On the other hand, younger generations brought up in a more prosperous and, above all, in a much safer and more predictable world, are committed to individualism and personal development. They have many interests and passions, as well as a much greater need for freedom and for living outside the framework of rigid systems such as school or work. The balance between professional and personal life is important for them, they place great emphasis on resting and enjoying life. Interestingly, the age of the respondents does not affect their attitude towards life so much. The beliefs that young people may be more hedonistic, and take on more responsibilities as they get older is not reflected in the data.

I’m sure your intuition already tells you which set of values may be more conducive rather than focusing on a task, especially one you don’t like.

So, what about Scientists and their opinions?

A team of researchers from the German University of Mannheim examined 704 teenagers (6th and 8th grade students in the German school system) from 10 different schools to see if their values influence attitudes towards school and learning and in particular the tendency to procrastinate.

Thirteen-year-olds were given two profiles describing their peers and were asked to mark them on a six-point scale to which they relate to more. The first profile of the student is very task-oriented. They had clear goals, believing that hard work and performing unpleasant and tedious tasks is simply one of the necessary steps on the road to success. Their main ambition was to achieve something in life. Achieving something which is expressed in terms of wealth, safety and lifestyle. This is a set of materialistic values. The pupil from the second profile focused mainly on building and deepening relationships and spending time with friends. Good fun and spontaneity were important for them — they had a set of post-materialistic values.

An additional variable controlled in the study were students’ daily learning habits. The researchers checked whether the young people developed a structure or rather thought about things as they went about their day. For example, whether they had set themselves a fixed time for homework, or they didn’t plan this task and just did it when they felt it was necessary. Earlier research has shown that materialistic people tend to choose order and clear structure, and that people with post-materialistic values feel better acting in a spontaneous manner — they have a much more flexible approach to reality, including their own responsibilities.

The conclusions of the study are unlikely to surprise you:

- People struggling with procrastination are more often than not guided by post materialist values, i.e. they put relationships and experiencing pleasure above duties or achievements.

- As a rule, procrastinators do not develop a structure with their everyday tasks and much more prefer to act spontaneously.

- People who do not have their work system usually develop internal conflict — “work or pleasure” and are more likely to choose the latter.

If you blame yourself for postponing tasks, you’re probably a little relieved at this point. And you’re right.

The tendency to procrastinate is something that a whole generation is more or less struggling with. It has to do with the cultural and social changes which have taken place over the last 30 to 50 years. Because an extremely important factor shaping the system of values currently prevailing in society as a whole is the feeling of security. If you grew up in a family that lived in a fairly stable country, not in the African desert at the centre of tribal fighting or in war-torn Palestine, and your parents provided you with care and basic emotional stability, then there is a good chance that you have not been given purely materialistic values. Of course you care about your livelihood, you understand that this involves responsibilities, but you have much less desire for sacrifice and compromise than your parents or grandparents.

The general patterns I’m talking about overlap with your particular situation. For example, how you were brought up, that is, what values were important in your home. What family stories you remember, or what beliefs were repeated notoriously. This is because you soak up the culture of the family home like a sponge, even if we move out of it screaming: I will never be like this!

What kind of people you were surrounded by, what kind of neighborhood you lived in, what kind of kids were at your school and who you kept with in your youth. Maybe you have had some difficult experiences — a car accident, death of a parent from illness, divorce, bankruptcy. It is also influential who your idol or mentor was. All of these elements influence the beliefs and values in the world you move in.

It is worthwhile not to compare yourself with others in this field and not to try to judge anyone as everyone had a different experience. One person may experience a traumatic experience and become broken — another person may feel cleansed. Of course, some patterns stick to us, but it is not entirely clear what mechanism is hidden underneath. All individual experiences have a formative meaning, they have shaped you in some way as a person, including your value system.

But the situation you’re in now doesn’t quite determine how you’ll behave tomorrow. Fortunately, your values are your conscious choice. You can initiate change — in small steps. At any time in your life, you may find that something you have done so far simply does not suit you and it is time to change it.

Choose the people you are with and learn from them, read books, and listen to podcasts to help you go in the direction you want. You can start working on habits which support our choices.

The basis for making the right choices is knowing what you actually want — from life in general, but also from that particular task that lies before you and is waiting to start.

Finding your reason, your “why”. The point is not to suddenly turn from a life of pleasurable and spontaneous actions into a dedicated corporate employee. The point is to make the struggle with everyday tedious tasks such as sweeping the floor, paying bills or preparing your budget for the month more meaningful, more content. Then, maybe reluctantly, maybe without enthusiasm, but you will start doing it.

Okay, but how do we do that? How to make this change happen?

How to recognize the right values, the right habits? The answer to these questions is very simple and the solution is very difficult. You have to choose the values you would like to implement, sometimes this is already difficult, and then start working on transforming our habits into those that coincide with the values we chose. This can already be a problem, because, for example a smoker may decide that one of his or her primary values is health. In order to be consistent with the vision of themself and what they have chosen, they must work on quitting. However, please note that their intention will be completely different from the person who quits smoking because of the value of self-determination and self-regulation they have chosen, and has therefore decided to get rid of all addictions.

I invite you to leave us a comment and tell us what you think — What did you find most interesting?

Taken from the Video: Procrastination is not your fault@psychologyunleashed