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iProcrastinate Podcast — Health
iProcrastinate Podcast

Dr. Timothy A. Pychyl, associate professor of psychology and director of the Procrastination Research Group (Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada), provides a series of short talks, interviews and question/answer podcasts that explain why we procrastinate and what we can do about it. An award winning educator, Dr. Pychyl challenges his listeners to explore their daily choices to act or postpone acting on their intentions. Do we head to the gym as intended, or slouch back on the couch thinking “I’ll feel more like a workout tomorrow”? Do we tackle the task now, or do we avoid it arguing to ourselves that “I work better under pressure”? From losing 10 pounds to changing personal habits, Pychyl, a personality psychologist, focuses on the breakdown of intentional action – a problem commonly called procrastination. This series expands on three main themes: 1) irrational delay that sabotages personal productivity, 2) personality attributes that contribute to self-defeating behaviours, and 3) situational factors that undermine our ability to take or sustain action. Drawing on the research literature, topics include: self-handicapping, anxiety, self-regulation, perfectionism, will power, coping styles, effects on health and well-being, impulsivity, temporal discounting, motivation and even purpose in life. Of course, Dr. Pychyl doesnâ€™t leave his listeners with the problem itself. Once these key factors have been established, he turns his attention to techniques that facilitate self change, habit-breaking implementation intentions, as well as strategies that help each of us to â€œcarpe diem!â€? The emphasis is on self-understanding, practical advice and tools for change. We guarantee that you will find this an engaging series of podcasts that will provide you with tactics to increase personal productivity and well-being.

Copyright: © 2005 Timothy A. Pychyl, Ph.D.

Latest Episodes:

Self-awareness: The good, the bad and the ugly Sep 09, 2009

Show notes

This week I discuss three things. First, I address the notion of "intention updates" and the difference between changing our intentions and procrastination. Second, I read listeners' comments and reply to their questions. Finally, the topic for this week is how self-conscious awareness works both to strengthen and undermine self-regulation. There are different types of self-awareness, and we live with the internal dialogue that these can create.

Structured Procrastination: Harness avoidance to succeed Aug 31, 2009

Show notes

Perhaps the most frequently read essay on the Internet about procrastination, is Professor John Perry's (Stanford University) piece entitled, "Structured Procrastination." In this podcast I summarize Prof. Perry's argument and reflect on its strengths and the limitation of this approach. I know you'll like it, as Prof. Perry writes about how we can harness our task avoidance to actually get things done! In Perry's words, "what could be more noble than using one character flaw to offset the bad effects of another?"You can read Prof. Perry's essay at structuredprocrastination.com (you can even buy the t-shirt!).You can learn more about procrastination at procrastination.ca.

Implementation Intentions: A key strategy for successful goal pursuit Aug 24, 2009

Show notes

When I'm asked for strategies for more successful goal pursuit, I usually begin with the notion of implementation intentions. In this podcast, I explain the difference between goal intentions and implementation intentions, with a particular focus on the what, why and when of implementation intentions. This explanation is followed by a summary and discussion of two recent studies that demonstrate the effectiveness of implementation intentions. I know each of us can make use of implementation intentions in our day-to-day lives. I hope you enjoy this introduction to the concept and its function.You can learn more at procrastination.ca or at this blog entry at Psychology Today.

Strengthening Willpower - Research, Strategies & Tips Aug 17, 2009

Show notes

This is the last in the three-part series on willpower. Today, I discuss research that shows how we might bolster our willpower when we feel depleted. I end the discussion by providing 8 concrete strategies or "tips" to enhance your willpower and self-regulatory strength. You can find the references for this research at my Psychology Today blog. If you haven't yet, check out procrastination.ca for more information.

Willpower is like a muscle Aug 10, 2009

Show notes

Willpower is a limited resource that we can exhaust quite quickly. In this podcast, I summarize the approach taken to this research and some key findings. The implications of this limited resource approach is important for understanding self-regulation failure with procrastination (as well as problems with smoking, drinking, junk food consumption, impulsive spending, even whether you'll likely to leave the dirty dishes in the sink). This is the second in a three-part series on willpower. I'll finish this discussion on August 17th. (Note: I posted this as a MP3 file. If you prefer the M4A format, please let me know.) For the Psychology Today blog and relevant references use this link.

Self-regulation: Goal setting & attention (tips to reduce procrastination) Aug 03, 2009

Show notes

In order to understand procrastination, a form of self-regulation failure, we need to consider successful self-regulation. This podcast provides a beginning to this discussion. I review two key elements in successful self-regulation: goal setting and paying attention to the goal we set. This discussion includes tips to more effective goal setting as well as some thoughts on why attention plays such an important role in self-regulation. If you get interested in attention in self-regulation, you might also want to review the previous podcast on Mindfulness Meditation and Procrastination (October 27, 2007).

In search of the Arousal Procrastinator Jul 28, 2009

Show notes

I work better under pressure. . . Really? I don't believe you, and one of our latest studies casts doubt on the construct of the arousal procrastinator. This week, I discuss arousal-based personality traits, procrastination and working at the last minute because you enjoy the rush. Like the podcast? Want to learn more? You can at procrastination.ca.

Self-forgiveness and procrastination Jul 20, 2009

Show notes

This week, I'm discussing a very interesting finding in some of our research. We studied how self-forgiveness affected procrastination. The reasoning was that procrastination can be viewed as a transgression against the self. Like other transgressions in our lives, if we don't forgive, we experience negative emotions and tend to avoid. Self-forgiveness is a route to healing and moving ahead. You can always learn more at procrastination.ca (check out the blog at Psychology Today).

Procrastination and Guilt Jul 13, 2009

Show notes

A second podcast for Monday, July 13th as I try to sort out a technical issue with my recording.The topic is guilt, the most common emotion associated with procrastination. I'll follow up on this next week with a podcast about some of our latest research on self-forgiveness and procrastination.

Giving in to feel good: Why self-regulation fails Jul 13, 2009

Show notes

iProcrastinate Podcasts are back! I'm on sabbatical, and I'll be making a weekly post for the next year as I do my research and writing on, what else, procrastination. Nothing like a sabbatical to give me the extra time needed to get to these podcasts.This week, I'm speaking about emotional regulation. In particular, I discuss research that shows how our short-term strategy of feeling good now, undermines our goal pursuit and causes problems in many areas of our lives. For references related to this podcast see my blog at Psychology Today that is linked at my homepage: procrastination.caIt's good to be back. I hope you'll give me your feedback. Note: I recognize some strange recording issue with this podcast, and I'll do my best to sort this out for next week. If you know what I'm doing wrong, please let me know. FYI - I'm using a Zoom H2 recorder to create the podcast, importing the file into iTunes and then inserting it as an MP3 file into Garageband. The recording on the H2 and in Garageband does not have the strange electronic echo that the podcast has. I will also use the Zoom H2 as a USB microphone.

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