Optimism May Reduce Procrastination
Researchers were interested in procrastination, the practice of putting off a task despite knowing it will have negative consequences. Prior studies have shown that procrastinators disregard the future.
Data were collected from 296 participants in Japan (159 female, average age 25.6 years) on procrastination, stress, and well-being using multiple time points in both the past and the future.
Researchers discovered that people who believed that stress would decrease in the future, in other words optimists, were less likely to be severe procrastinators. The severity of procrastination was impacted by the magnitude of stress and the concern about stress increasing in the future. Researchers theorize that interventions that improve pessimism might also improve procrastination.
Takeaway: If you suffer from procrastination, you might try a gratitude practice to improve optimism:
Looking Back - Reflect on three things you are grateful for, and
Looking Forward - Visualize the small things that delight you.
Well-being is a journey, not a quick fix.
The Legal Brain: A Lawyer’s Guide to Well-being and Better Job Performance is available on Amazon and Cambridge University Press (AUSTIN24 at checkout for 20% discount from Cambridge).
One reviewer said:
As a long-time fan of Professor Austin’s weekly blog on “The Professional Brain,” I was delighted to learn that she has compiled her considerable font of knowledge into a book of approximately 200 pages. It is packed with explanation, advice, and the neuroscience to back it up. The Legal Brain should be on every lawyer’s desk and on the summer reading list of every newly admitted law student.
Emeritus Professor Charles Calleros, Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law at Arizona State University
Sources
Saya Kashiwakura and Kazuo Hikari, Future optimism group based on the chronological stress view is less likely to be severe procrastinators | Scientific Reports (nature.com), May 30, 2024.
The Legal Brain: A Lawyer’s Guide to Well-being and Better Job Performance, Chapter 11 – Enhancing Mental Strength.
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