iProcrastinate Podcast (general)
Why we procrastinate and what we can do about it.
 

An interview with Mr. Bhavin Prajapati who discusses "getting stuck" with his M.A. thesis and the journey he took to both understand why he was procrastinating and what to do about it. You might be interested in reading a post that Bhavin wrote that summarizes at least part of this journey.

To learn more about procrastination and our research, see procrastination.ca

The closing song is by singer, songwriter Matt Weidinger - check him out at mattweidinger.com

Direct download: Bhavin_Prajapati_interview.m4a
Category:general -- posted at: 2:52pm EDT

An interview with Scott Taylor who completed his undergraduate honours thesis at Carleton University. Scott studied the relations between ADHD, Executive Function and procrastination. His research is the most recent and the most rigorous study in the area. Scott explains his research and the findings, but perhaps more importantly he reflects on personal experiences that may help listeners think through the challenges of ADHD and the potential for change.

In this episode, I referenced the work of Russell Barkley and his book, "Executive Functions: What they are, how they work and why they evolved"

To learn more about procrastination and our research, see procrastination.ca

The closing song is by singer, songwriter Matt Weidinger - check him out at mattweidinger.com

Direct download: ADHD_and_Procrastination.m4a
Category:general -- posted at: 2:11pm EDT

An interview with a first-year college student who went from procrastinator in high school to a productive, A+ student in college. Listen to how this happened.

To learn more about procrastination and our research, see procrastination.ca

The closing song is by singer, songwriter Matt Weidinger - check him out at mattweidinger.com

Direct download: Student_Reflections_on_Change.m4a
Category:general -- posted at: 7:35pm EDT

An interview with Dr. Fuschia Sirois (University of Sheffield) about her recently published meta-analysis relating perfectionism to procrastination. Fuschia sets the record straight by summarizing the research literature which shows how perfectionism relates to procrastination.

Reference

Sirois, F.M., Molnar, D.S., & Hirsch, J.K. (2017). A meta-analytic and conceptual update on the associations between procrastination and multidimensional perfectionism. European Journal of Personality DOI: 10.1002/per.2098

If you're interested in this topic, you may want to listen to two previous podcasts with Dr. Gordon Flett (York University) on perfectionism and procrastination (Part 1 & Part 2).

To learn more about procrastination and our research, see procrastination.ca

The closing song is by singer, songwriter Matt Weidinger - check him out at mattweidinger.com

Direct download: Perfectionism.m4a
Category:general -- posted at: 2:08pm EDT

Waiting for the Right Place and Right Time

An interview with Shane Littrell of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga about his procrastination research. Shane helps us understand the complex interplay of person and situation that influence our procrastination.

To learn more, see procrastination.ca

The closing song is by singer, songwriter Matt Weidinger - check him out at mattweidinger.com

Direct download: Waiting_for_the_Right_Place_and_Right_Time.m4a
Category:general -- posted at: 12:57pm EDT

"Facebocrastination?" - Procrastination and Facebook

An interview with Adrian Meier (Department of Communications, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany) about the predictors of using Facebook for procrastination and its effects on students' well-being.

Here's a blog post on this topic, and below that is the reference to the published study.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/dont-delay/201608/facebocrastination-new-research-the-perils-facebook

Research reference:

Meier, A., Reinecke, L., & C.E. Meltzer (2016). “Facebocrastination”? Predictors of using Facebook for procrastination and its effects on students’ well-being. Computers in Human Behavior, 64, 65-76.

Want to learn more about procrastination? procrastination.ca

The closing song is by singer, songwriter Matt Weidinger - check him out at mattweidinger.com

Direct download: Facebocrastination.m4a
Category:general -- posted at: 1:25pm EDT

Active Procrastination: Clarifying the Concept

A chat with Shamarukh Chowdhury about her research on active procrastination. Together, we clarify the concept of procrastination and do a little "myth busting" around the concept of active procrastination; a concept that we call an oxymoron that may be better understood as two types of delay - it's not "procrastination" at all.

Here's an earlier blog post on this topic, and below that are references to the original studies.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/dont-delay/200907/active-procrastination-thoughts-oxymorons

Relevant research references:

Chu, A. H. C., & Choi, J. N. (2005). Rethinking procrastination: positive effects of “active” procrastination behaviour on attitudes and performance. The Journal of Social Psychology, 145(3), 245-264.

Choi, J. N., & Moran, S. V. (2009). Why not procrastinate? Development and validation of a new active procrastination scale. Journal of Social Psychology, 149 (2), 195-211.

Want to learn more about procrastination? procrastination.ca

The closing song is by singer, songwriter Matt Weidinger - check him out at mattweidinger.com

Direct download: Active_Procrastination_Myth.m4a
Category:general -- posted at: 9:16pm EDT

Acceptance & Commitment Therapy

An interview with the psychologist Dr. Frédérick Dionne about Acceptance & Commitment Therapy. Frédérick references the following website for more information: Association for Contextual Behavioral Science.

Want to learn more about procrastination? procrastination.ca

The closing song is by singer, songwriter Matt Weidinger - check him out at mattweidinger.com

Direct download: Acceptance_and_Commitment_Therapy.m4a
Category:general -- posted at: 12:35pm EDT

I don't feel like it! I don't want to!

Some reflections on what to do when you don't feel like doing what you know you should be doing.

Want to learn more about procrastination? procrastination.ca

The closing song is by singer, songwriter Matt Weidinger - check him out at mattweidinger.com

Direct download: I_dont_feel_like_it.m4a
Category:general -- posted at: 3:01pm EDT

Not All Delay is Procrastination

An interview with Mohsen Haghbin about his doctoral research that defined six types of delay, only two of which are procrastination. This is an important new series of studies that help us conceptualize delay in our lives.

Want to learn more about procrastination? procrastination.ca

The closing song is by singer, songwriter Matt Weidinger - check him out at mattweidinger.com

Direct download: Types_of_Delay.m4a
Category:general -- posted at: 9:24am EDT

Procrastination and Media Use as Escapism

An interview with Sarah Kohler (University of Muenster, Germany) on media use, escapism and procrastination. Sarah presents the results of one of her studies and explains how media provides escape in our lives. She argues that some of this escape, but not all, may be considered procrastination. Given the ubiquity of media in our lives, this is an important topic to consider.

Want to learn more about procrastination? procrastination.ca

The closing song is by singer, songwriter Matt Weidinger - check him out at mattweidinger.com

Direct download: Escapism.m4a
Category:general -- posted at: 1:52pm EDT

Imagine your future self

An interview with Eve-Marie Blouin-Hudon (Carleton University) about her research on how imagining future self through guided meditation can decrease procrastination.

Want to learn more about procrastination? procrastination.ca

The closing song is by singer, songwriter Matt Weidinger - check him out at mattweidinger.com

Direct download: Imagining_Future_Self.m4a
Category:general -- posted at: 6:50pm EDT

Procrastinators can still get to heaven

An interview with Dr. Clarry Lay (Emeritus, York University) author of Procrastinators (and Others) Can Still Get to Heaven: A Guide to Directed Everyday Living. We discuss the importance of goals, identifying prescribed behaviors to meet these goals and the centrality of our obligation to the scheduling of these behaviors in order to fulfill our potential.

Want to learn more about procrastination? procrastination.ca

The closing song is by singer, songwriter Matt Weidinger - check him out at mattweidinger.com

Direct download: Directed_Everyday_Living.m4a
Category:general -- posted at: 9:57pm EDT

Cleaning to Procrastinate

Do you ever clean the house, a desk, your garage, whatever instead of doing a more important task? You're not alone. One of our latest research projects helps us understand why we make this choice.

Want to learn more about procrastination? procrastination.ca

The closing song is by singer, songwriter Matt Weidinger - check him out at mattweidinger.com

Direct download: Cleaning_to_procrastinate.m4a
Category:general -- posted at: 10:59am EDT

Progress Not Perfection

Progress Not Perfection (PNP) is the name of a podcast hosted by Alen Standish. PNP is an audio podcast where Alen talks with others about perfectionism, procrastination, shame, anxiety and self-judgement as they try to overcome challenges such as eating disorders, reaching ideal health, meeting lifelong goals, creating works of art or becoming entrepreneurs. In this episode of iProcrastinate, I'm sharing an interview that I did with Alen. If you're new to either podcast, it's a great place to start.

Want to learn more about procrastination? procrastination.ca

The closing song is by singer, songwriter Matt Weidinger - check him out at mattweidinger.com

Direct download: Progress_Not_Perfection.m4a
Category:general -- posted at: 5:54pm EDT

Future Self

Procrastinating today means more work later. Ah, but that's future self's problem, right? Oops, future self is still me, and that's one reason why we consider procrastination a self-defeating strategy. In this episode, I interview Eve-Marie Blouin-Hudon about her research relating present self to future self, the notion of self-continuity and how imaging future self might help us procrastinate less.

Want to learn more about procrastination? procrastination.ca

The closing song is by singer, songwriter Matt Weidinger - check him out at mattweidinger.com

Direct download: Future_Self.m4a
Category:general -- posted at: 1:12pm EDT

Commit to Win

Commit to Win is the title of Dr. Heidi Reeder's new book, where she explains how to harness the four elements of commitment to reach our goals. In this podcast, Heidi summarizes key points from her research.

Heidi is an associate professor in the Department of Communication at Boise State University where she specializes in the study of gendered behavior and identity, theories of commitment, as well as friendships between men and women. You will find that Heidi connects all of these topics together from a social-psychological perspective to better understand commitment as an aspect of psychological attachment. Heidi has a lot to offer here as we think through commitment in relation to our goal pusuits. She even summarizes all of this research in a "commitment formula" that you can use to explore your own commitment.

Want to learn more about procrastination? procrastination.ca

The closing song is by singer, songwriter Matt Weidinger - check him out at mattweidinger.com

Direct download: Commitment_in_Goal_Pursuit.m4a
Category:general -- posted at: 3:23pm EDT

Bedtime Procrastination

An interview with Dr. Joel Anderson, philosopher, researcher and lecturer Universiteit Utrecht in the Netherlands. Joel explains the research that has come out of the Utrecht research group - Promoting Effective Intentions: Volitional Scaffolding, Implementation Intentions, and Bedtime Procrastination -  on bedtime procrastination. He introduces us to notions of volitional systems, extended will, and how we can nudge ourselves towards our goals. You will find lots in this interview while learning how we can take advantage of our better selves to work past our more difficult moments of procrastination.  You'll learn about the role of self knowledge in self regulation, and most importantly what might work for you.

A reference I promised in the podcast today related to event segmentation theory:

Judah, G., Gardner, B., & and Aunger, R. (2013). Forming a flossing habit: An exploratory study of the psychological determinants of habit formation. British Journal of Health Psychology, 18, 338–353.

Want to learn more about procrastination? procrastination.ca

The closing song is by singer, songwriter Matt Weidinger - check him out at mattweidinger.com

Direct download: Bedtime_Procrastination.m4a
Category:general -- posted at: 12:45pm EDT

A Year of Productivity

Can you imagine experimenting for a year on how to be most productive? Well, Christopher Bailey is doing just that with his ayearofproductivity.com project. Chris contacted me to talk about procrastination. He agreed to make the interview into a podcast, so I got to turn the table on him and interview him about his project as well. So, this podcast is a mixture of my thoughts on procrastination in answer to Chris as well as my questions to Chris about productivity. It's a long interview and a good one, I think.

Want to learn more about procrastination? procrastination.ca

The closing song is by singer, songwriter Matt Weidinger - check him out at mattweidinger.com

Direct download: A_Year_of_Productivity.m4a
Category:general -- posted at: 3:08pm EDT

The Power of Habit: An Interview with Charles Duhigg

A short interview with the New York Times journalist and author, Charles Duhigg, about habits and procrastination. As in his book, Charles distills a wealth of information about habits based on the latest research in this brief discussion. Charles also has some important things to say about how to find alternatives to the procrastination habit. If you want to know more about habits, read The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do In Life and Business.

Want to learn more about procrastination? procrastination.ca

The closing song is by singer, songwriter Matt Weidinger - check him out at mattweidinger.com

Direct download: Charles_Duhigg_The_Power_of_Habit.m4a
Category:general -- posted at: 3:28pm EDT

To-Do Lists: The Power and Peril of a Plan

Advantages, disadvantages and "best practices" for to-do lists. I use one constantly. It's not a cure-all for procrastination or for making goal pursuit more successful, but this simple tool is worth talking about. It's worth trying if you haven't really embraced the power of a plan.

Want to learn more? Check out procrastination.ca

Like the closing song? Me too. It's by Singer, Songwriter Matt Weidinger - check him out at mattweidinger.com

Direct download: To_Do_Lists.m4a
Category:general -- posted at: 1:18pm EDT

Fine-tuning an Implementation Intention

Learn why making implementation intentions within specific events is more effective. Incredible, but true, I've finally returned to the microphone. In this episode, I explain how I beat my own potential procrastination today and got this podcast recorded and posted. I also present an answer to a listener's question about goal commitment. Spur me on to do more soon by emailing your feedback to tpychyl@gmail.com.

Want to learn more? Check out procrastination.ca

Like the closing song? Me too. It's by Singer, Songwriter Matt Weidinger - check him out at mattweidinger.com

Direct download: Better_Intentions.m4a
Category:general -- posted at: 3:18pm EDT

A Procrastination Workshop

Here's an interview with Jeffrey Robinson from Student Learning Serrvices at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. Jeffrey provides thoughtful reflections on how he helps students develop their own sense of agency and reduce procrastination. We discuss so much that will interest anyone who struggles with procrastination; it's certainly not limited to a campus setting or the workshops that Jeffrey offers. 

Are you new to this podcast? Check out procrastination.ca

The podcast ends with the song "Procrastination" by Matt Weidinger.

Direct download: Campus_Procrastination_Workshops.m4a
Category:general -- posted at: 8:07pm EDT

Need a Lift? Don't we all?

"Build better habits. Change your life" - This is the motto on the homepage for Lift. Lift is a new tool (online and as an app) that helps you to develop new habits and to achieve your goals. In this podcast, I interview the CEO and co-founder of Lift, Tony Stubblebine.

New to the podcast? Learn more about procrastination at procrastination.ca

The podcast closes with a song entitled "Procrastination" by Matt Weidinger. Check out this musician (call it procrastination ;-)

Direct download: Lift.m4a
Category:general -- posted at: 4:46pm EDT

Q&A Procrastination & Happiness

Dr. Pychyl is interviewed by podcaster and blogger, Evan Brand of notjustpaleo.com. Evan reaches out to health experts, entrepeneurs and doctors about health and wellness. Today, we discuss procrastination, goal pursuit and their relation to happiness.

New to the podcast? Check out procrastination.ca

I close the podcast with a song entitled, "Procrastination" by Matt Weidinger. Check him out!

Direct download: Q__A_about_procrastination.m4a
Category:general -- posted at: 3:14pm EDT

A Graduate Student beats her Procrastination Challenge

Anxiety, inertia, boredom . . . a graduate student provides insight into her challenges and her successful strategies for staying focused and getting her work done. This is an engaging interview with a graduate student who explains how she manages her own liabilities while harnessing her motivation to succeed. My comments highlight how research and theory support this very good approach to self-regulation.

If you're new to the podcast, check out procrastination.ca for more information about our research group.

I close the podcast with a song entitled "Procrastination" by Matt Weidinger

Direct download: A_students_strategies.m4a
Category:general -- posted at: 6:05pm EDT

Giving in to feel awful?

In this podcast, I respond to a listener who wrote, ". . .when I'm deep into procrastination, I don't do things that make me feel good, sometimes I seem to fly deep into some sort of personal crisis to avoid my work. Often I don't even realize I'm doing it. . . I think some of my friends see this trait in themselves as well." Today, I discuss why we might do this with a focus on emotions and procrastination.

To learn more about procrastination: procrastination.ca or The Procrastinator's Digest: A Concise Guide to Solving the Procrastination Puzzle.

Direct download: Giving_in_to_feel_awful_.m4a
Category:general -- posted at: 5:00am EDT

A short podcast this week about a new book,  The Procrastinator's Guide to Getting Things Done (by Dr. Monica Rameriz Basco, The Guildford Press). I explain how it may be useful as a guide to a cognitive-behavioral approach. I also review one of my points of disagreement with the focus on "types" of procrastinators.

To learn more about procrastination, see our research group at procrastination.ca.
Direct download: The_Procrastinators_Guide_to_Getting_Things_Done.m4a
Category:general -- posted at: 10:49am EDT

This week, I interview someone who is becoming a regular guest on the podcast, Dr. William (Bill) Knaus. Bill has just published his new book End Procrastination Now: Get It Done with a Proven Psychological Approach (McGraw Hill). We discuss what readers will find in his book as well as specific tips on how to deal with procrastination.

For more information about procrastination, see our Research Group at procrastination.ca.
Direct download: Bill_Knaus_on_his_new_book.m4a
Category:general -- posted at: 1:58pm EDT