Although we all believe that information technology makes us more productive - it's our belief that technology is progress - it's not a one-sided issue. Along with the benefits provided by our new information technologies, particularly Internet-based communication technologies, there are potential drawbacks. In this podcast, Dr. Pychyl discusses how email, Facebook and other Internet tools can lead us to make poor decisions about time use and cause us to procrastinate on our more important tasks. For more information on this topic, see: Lavoie, J.A.A., & Pychyl, T.A. (2001). Cyberslacking and the procrastination superhighway: A web-based survey of on-line procrastination, attitudes, and emotion, Social Science Computer Review, 19, 431-444.

In this podcast, Dr. Pychyl discusses how mindfulness meditation may help reduce procrastination. The focus is on the role of attention in self-regulation failure. Based on a recent thesis by Ariel Rotblatt conducted as part of the Procrastination Research Group (www.procrastination.ca), Dr. Pychyl explains how mindfulness may serve as a self-regulatory resource to manage our attention.