Iprocrastinate Podcast

What we might consider procrastination varies around the world. Take the word mañana for example - that notion that a task belongs to some indefinite time in the future. Do we all think about delay and procrastination the same way? Obviously not! In this conversation with  a colleague from Peru, Professor Karem Diaz, we get a different perspective on the nature of our delay. We discuss some differences between collectivist and individualistic cultures, the influence of economic development, social class and indivdual differences. I know you'll find it interesting. To learn more about procrastination, visit procrastination.ca or look for The Procrastinator's Digest: A Concise Guide to Solving the Procrastination Puzzle. I close the podcast with a song entitled "Procrastination" by Matt Weidinger. Let me know what you think at tpychyl@procrastination.ca.

Is procrastination the same everywhere? A recent email from a listener (check out her blog at incurable-hippie) provided an example of two cultures (the Britsh and the French) where it seems to differ. I discuss this issue in relation to published research as well as the work of one of my doctoral students, Mohsen Haghbin (Carleton University), who joins me to present his perspective. It's a wide-ranging discussion of what words mean in relation to psychological constructs across cultures and time. If you want to learn more, visit procrastination.ca or check out The Procrastinator's Digest: A Concise Guide to Solving the Procrastination Puzzle.

Illusions abound about procrastination. This week, I consider 10 of the most common illusions, explaining why we might think these things, but what research reveals as the "truth" of the matter. This episode of the podcast is a version of a talk that I gave recently to students and faculty at Fanshawe College, London, Ontario. I close the podcast with a song entitled "Procrastination" by Matt Weidinger. I think I've found a new theme song for this podcast! Let me know what you think at tpychyl@procrastination.ca. To learn more, visit procrastination.ca or pick up a copy (paper or ebook) of: The Procrastinator's Digest: A Concise Guide to Solving the Procrastination Puzzle.

Existential themes of autonomy, authenticity, agency, freedom, choice and the will are at the center of the discussion in this podcast. In response to listeners' requests, I explain this existential perspective on procrastination with reference to very interesting further reading. To learn more, visit procrastination.ca or The Procrastinator's Digest: A Concise Guide to Solving the Procrastination Puzzle

A recent study underscores the importance of executive function in self-regulation and procrastination. In this interview with Dr. Laura Rabin (Department of Psychology, Brooklyn College and Graduate Center of the City University of New York, Brooklyn), we get to hear from an outstanding young neuropsychologist who also has a clinical practice. As you'll hear, Dr. Rabin's research focus is not normally on procrastination, but she brought her neuropsychological expertise to bear on how we might better understand self-regulation failure through the neurocognitive processes known as executive function (the ability to organize, plan and and problem solve). I know you'll enjoy the interview and learn a great deal of practical things related to improving our own executive function. You can learn more about this study in my blog on Psychology Today with this post: A Neuropsychological Perspective on Procrastination To learn more about procrastination, see procrastination.ca or The Procrastinator's Digest: A Concise

My title for the podcast today is taken from a recent study published in the International Journal of e-Collaboration by Dr. Anabel Quan-Haase of the University of Western Ontario (London, Ontario, Canada). Her focus is on how students use instant messaging for their social networking and how, as she writes, "instant messaging is disruptive and multitasking can lead to losses in productivity." Anabel's research revealed that students use a number of different techniques to self-regulate their use of these technologies including preventive and recuperative approaches such as ignoring incoming messages, denying access and digital/physical removal. This is an interesting and far-ranging conversation about some of the promise and peril of instant messaging. To learn more about procrastination and self-regulation see procrastination.ca or The Procrastinator's Digest: A Concise Guide to Solving the Procrastination Puzzle.

Here's an interview with psychologist and author, Dr. Guy Winch (guywinch.com). Guy explains how we can learn new strategies to more effectively complain constructively, much like we might learn to provide constuctive criticism to foster more positive outcomes. The power of this perspective is in dealing with important issues more effectively whether these be complaints to a retailer, bureaucrat, coworker or partner. When we learn to deal with our complaints more constructively we are less likely to avoid or put-off seeking resolution which reduces the destructive processes of rumination and resentment. We complain more effectively to those who can do something about the issue, and we stop burdening our friends and family with our resentment and unproductive complaints. I think you'll enjoy the interview, as we can learn a great deal from Guy about his work as a psychotherapist and his focus on "complaining the right way." To learn more about procrastination, see procrastination.ca or The Procrastinator's Dig

This week, I'm sharing an interview I did on Philosophy Talk. As explained on philosophytalk.org, Philosophy Talk is a weekly, one-hour radio series produced by Ben Manilla. The hosts' down-to-earth and no-nonsense approach brings the richness of philosophic thought to everyday subjects. Topics are lofty (Truth, Beauty, Justice), arresting (Terrorism, Intelligent Design, Suicide), and engaging (Baseball, Love, Happiness). This is not a lecture or a college course, it's philosophy in action! Philosophy Talk is a fun opportunity to explore issues of importance to your audience in a thoughtful, friendly fashion, where thinking is encouraged. Of course, the topic this week is procrastination. I had a lot of fun discussing a variety of issues with the hosts John Perry and Ken Taylor of Stanford University. I know you'll enjoy their show, and I encourage you to check out others in this weekly broadcast. To learn more about procrastination, see procrastination.ca or read The Procrastinator's Digest: A Concise Guide

Agency, freedom, responsibility, choice, bad faith, death, life and love - all of this and more in today's podcast as I reply to a listener's thoughts about the existential aspects of procrastination. In this podcast, I refer to an article in the New Yorker. You can access the full article here (thanks Chris!). If you want to learn more, see procrastination.ca or The Procrastinator's Digest: A Concise Guide to Solving the Procrastination Puzzle.

This week, I chat with a listener from England, Jessica Shailes. Based on an earlier podcast about the "unschedule," Jessica developed an Excel spreadsheet to help her plan more effectively. The podcast includes an introductory section reviewing the concept of the unschedule with direct reference to Neil Fiore's book, The Now Habit: A Strategic Program for Overcoming Procrastination and Enjoying Guilt-Free Play. You can find Neil's books on Amazon here. You may download the sample spreadsheet that Jessica discusses in the podcast, or a blank template based on this work for your own use. Thanks Jessica! Jessica has a new blog that you may find interesting. It's called Resolutions (not just for New Years!). Some great Vegan recipes here. You can always learn more at procrastination.ca (check out the Psychology Today blog Don't Delay), or by reading The Procrastinator's Digest: A Concise Guide to Solving the Procrastination Puzzle.

An interview with Dr. Elliot Cohen provides insight into how our irrational worry can undermine our well-being as well as how reason can be harnessed to help us break free from this "dutiful worry." You can learn more about this by reading Elliot's new book, The Dutiful Worrier. To learn more about procrastination, check out procrastination.ca or The Procrastinator's Digest: A Concise Guide to Solving the Procrastination Puzzle.

Clinical psychologist Dr. Bill Knaus and philosopher Dr. Elliot Cohen explain how we can more effectively deal with the irrational thinking that defines procrastination. Dr. Cohen is a founder of philosophical counseling in the U.S., and Dr. Knaus is one of the original directors of post-doctoral training in rational emotive behavioral therapy (REBT). Together, these counseling experts provide an important perspective on how to reduce procrastination and worry in our lives. To learn more about procrastination, see procrastination.ca or The Procrastinator's Digest: A Concise Guide to Solving the Procrastination Puzzle.

This week, I am posting an interview that I had with Laurel Graham, a journalism student in the Journalism and Media Studies program at Griffith College in Ireland. Laurel contacted me after reading an article in The New Yorker that discussed my research on procrastination.  Our conversation covered many topics that I thought would interest listeners of these podcasts, so Laurel gave her permission to post the interview as part of the iProcrastinate podcasts. I hope you enjoy it. To learn more about procrastination, see procrastination.ca or check out my new book, The Procrastinator's Digest: A Concise Guide to Solving the Procrastination Puzzle.

Dr. Fuschia Sirois (Bishops University) joined me to discuss one of her recent studies entitled, "Lost in the Moment: An Investigation of Procrastination, Mindfulness and Well-being." This was a fascinating discussion of how we often focus on short-term mood repair instead of our intended goal pursuit, and how mindfulness may help us cope more effectively with the discomfort we feel when faced with an aversive task. To learn more about procrastination, visit procrastination.ca.

In this fascinating interview, Dr. Joel Anderson (Utrecht University, The Netherlands, and the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences) explains the notion of distributed willpower. Successful people arrange thier lives in such a way as to economize on willpower and to scaffold their willpower strategicially with environmental support. Willpower is not simply an issue of self-control located solely within the person! Professor Anderson explains how important the social context is to understanding human autonomy, and, most importantly for listeners of this podcast, he provides a number of concrete strategies to strengthen our willpower to overcome procrastination. This is a great interview. I know you'll learn a great deal from this talented philosopher and gifted teacher. If you want to learn more about procrastination, see procrastination.ca.

Not everyone makes New Year's resolutions, and certainly not everyone who does make one, keeps it. What does it take to be successful with the change we hope for with a New Year's resolution? A readiness for change, realistic goals, a concrete plan, perhaps an implementation intention or two, social support, the strategic use of willpower, a little self-forgiveness and a good dose of courage to try at all. In this podcast, I discuss each of these issues as they pertain to what it means to have intentions that have the vitality, spirit and substance necessary to actually foster change in 2011.

What is weakness of will? Is procrastination a special instance of a weakness of will? These are questions that I pose to the guest this week, Dr. Sarah Stroud, Associate Professor of Philosophy (McGill University). I sought out Dr. Stroud as she wrote an excellent chapter in the recently published book, The Thief of Time: Philosophical Essays on Procrastination (Oxford University Press). I stole the title of her chapter as the title for this podcast, "Is Procrastination Weakness of Will?" I know you'll enjoy this discussion of weakness of will, as Dr. Stroud provides some everyday examples to explain her concepts. I learned a great deal from this interview, and I'm happy to share this philosophical perspective on our understanding of procrastination. If you want to learn more about procrastination, check out procrastination.ca or my new book, The Procrastinator's Digest: A Concise Guide to Solving the Procrastination Problem

Strengthening our motivation towards our goals while weakening our motivation towards temptations is important to successful goal pursuit. In this podcast, I summarize strategies that help us make a precommitment to change the choice situation and change the psychological meaing of our choice options. It's not as complicated as it sounds, and the strategies are discussed in relation to practical examples from everyday life. To learn more, visit procrastination.ca or The Procrastinator's Digest: A Concise Guide to Solving the Procrastination Puzzle.

Note: Poor audio quality. I finally sat down to record a short podcast. Unfortunately, the audio quality isn't very good. It's my fault. I hand held a new recorder that created noise and inconsistent sound levels. In addition, I didn't use a pop filter. You'd think I'd learn! I decided to post this in any case, because I simply don't have the time to re-record it. The topic is about the nature of our intentions and how making indeterminate or "anemic" intentions may be part of the problem with our goal pursuit and may contribute to our procrastination. I'm sorry that the audio has problems, but I hope it's still worth a listen. I will revisit these ideas when I interview Sarah Stroud (Philosophy, McGill University) about her writing about procrastinaiton as weakness of will. (When I do revist these ideas in a future podcast, I will take this flawed recording down.) If you want to learn more, see procrastination.ca.

This week, we discuss the role of emotional intelligence (EI) in understanding procrastination. Eric Heward joined me for an interview about his recently completed Master's thesis research in which he explored the relation of measures of EI and measures of procrastination. Eric does an excellent job of defining the key terms and providing a summary of his findings. Together, we discussed what this focus on emotions means to our understanding of procrastination and our own work at self-change. If you want to learn more about our research, see procrastination.ca or my recently published book, The Procrastinator's Digest: A Concise Guide to Solving the Procrastination Puzzle.