If you are wondering why you will take any excuse to avoid starting the project you need to finish, a short article on procrastination from the January 22nd 2009 print edition of The Economist could provide you with answers.

Many theories have been proposed to explain why some seem addicted to putting things off. Chronic procrastination is linked to depression, low self-esteem or simply wanting to avoid unpleasant tasks. The article “Motivating Minds” suggests it might also be connected to the way in which tasks are presented to us. The article highlights several studies which showed that subjects who were given concrete choices and projects consistently finished their tasks earlier than those who were asked to think in an abstract way or perform a task with vague directions. For example, when one group of students was asked to describe how to open a bank account, and another asked to describe what sort of person would open a bank account, more students in the first group finished their task, and faster.

The article discusses these studies in further detail and with the readers’ comments, may be a helpful read for anyone trying to get to the bottom of a procrastination problem.

If you enjoyed the article "Procrastination Encouraged By Abstract Thinking? " - why don't you read more about the Whakate Way.