How To Know If You're a Master Procrastinator? (Procrastination Online Test)

If you are interested in the title of this article, it means that you are familiar with the situation when the deadline is approaching and you still have not done what you were assigned, or you have been planning to implement some idea for a long time, but you have not moved a bit yet... Well, let us try to explain to you what is going on.

First, we have to tell you that you are a procrastinator. Of course, this news (although it may not be news) may upset you, but do not rush to grief, because after finishing this article you will understand it clearly and at least know what your problem is, because knowledge and acceptance are already a considerable step on the way of correction.

Second, let's get to know the three main characters of your mind:

• A rational decision maker, the responsible one, the one who gets things done on time, the one who knows how to plan, the one who understands the essence of the word "on time".
• A cute "Monkey", who is interested in everything around - how many and what satellites the planet Mars has (there are two of them, if anything - Phobos and Deimos); how to cook low-calorie lasagna; what country Russia buys oranges from, etc. Monkey makes you more erudite, its motto in life is "Simple and Fun," and it looks for anything that can entice and amuse it.
• A Monster of Attack which is a big scary monster, driving you into a state of anxiety, fear, coming in when deadline is about to run out, and it still doesn't smell like work ...

These are the three main characters in the mind of almost everyone. Which one of them comes to the forefront more often determines the degree of a person's procrastination [T. Urban, 2016]. You might have guessed that if the monkey stays with you most of the time, and the attack monster is your frequent guest, then the probability that you are a procrastinator increases.

And now let's speculate a little about what procrastination is, how it is harmful, where it comes from, and then learn to recognize the symptoms of this undesirable phenomenon and learn how to recognize a procrastinator.

A Little About The Essence Of Procrastination

To summarize the description of consciousness with the rational decision maker, the monkey and the monster attack, we can conclude in simple words: procrastination is the constant putting off things for later.

Do you have a term paper to write? But there are still two months ahead, you can wait. The boss requires a report on the second half of the year in a few days? Fine, let's do it in a day, because it's only a few minutes' work. Did your father ask you to screw the knob on the door? There's no hurry, we've been living like this for a week, and it's fine...

Do you feel a smack of laziness, ineffective time management, irresponsibility, disorganization ? These are all the closest companions of procrastination. It is in the aggregate that all these feelings convince us inside: "Wait, why hurry, this can be done later ... After all, somehow lived without it until now, and still will live ...". But life is not standing still, and the one who does not have time to chase it, alas, risks being left behind.

Don't confuse procrastination with laziness . The latter leads to a reluctance to do nothing at all, nevertheless, with procrastination, a person does not lose the desire to do something, he simply replaces what needs to be done (usually boring and difficult) with what he wants to do (usually fun, easy and accessible).

What are the causes of procrastination:

• Lack of volitional incentives and motivation;
• Fear of change;
• Inability to plan;
• Lack of decision-making skills;
• The pattern of success from last-minute actions;
• Perfectionism.

Here we have listed the main causes of procrastination in its non-chronic form. A person can postpone some kind of obligation for later due to the insignificant remuneration for his work. If he does not have willpower, then the likelihood that he will become a procrastinator increases. In addition, people are often afraid of any changes, and it is surprising that, not only when it's linked to failure, but also success.

The skill of planning is one of the most important in our fast and versatile life, which requires at least the basics of organization and consistency. By the way, procrastination can become the normal state of an individual if he or she manages to cope with things, i.e. to succeed despite constant procrastination.

Scientists from the Ruhr University in Bochum have pondered the deeper reasons for procrastination . In 2018, the Psychological Science journal published a paper by four scientists describing a research related to the biological background of this phenomenon. The scientists examined 264 men and women using magnetic resonance imaging for the volume of different parts of the brain and functional connections between them. In addition, all participants were asked to independently assess the level of control over their actions.

A pattern was found: participants with less control of actions had a larger amygdala (almond shaped body), and the functional connection between the amygdala and the so-called anterior cingulate cortex was less pronounced. It is precisely these two areas of the brain that are responsible for controlling actions, choosing a strategy of behavior when assessing a situation, which was clarified in previous scientific works [ C. Schlüter, 2018 ]. Thus, people with the described physiological characteristics experience greater fear and anxiety about the upcoming business, which, most likely, becomes the reason for postponing until later.

Let's say a person realizes that he is a procrastinator. But what's wrong with that? When we defined procrastination above, we noted only one aspect of it, constant postponement. In fact, there is nothing terrifying in this, yes, we are shifting, but in the end we are doing what is needed. However, do not rush to draw conclusions : procrastination is not as easy as it seems at first glance. Its main feature is the appearance of psychological problems.

When a person puts off significant things for later, he experiences stress from the oppressive responsibility and the realization that he still has to do it. In fact, he is well aware that he is not able to cope with the priority of tasks, which leads to the emergence of problems. From here, feelings of guilt can develop, which also negatively affects psychological health . Therefore, procrastination should be prevented and combated.

Now we will talk about what methods of assessing procrastination exist, and we will start with the image of a typical procrastinator.

Psychological Portrait Of A Procrastinator

There is procrastination that visits us in our daily routine, when we can postpone some unimportant business for later, but there is procrastination that threatens our well-being and productivity at work, stability in our personal life, communication with friends, etc. In addition, it is often helpful for employers to identify a potential procrastinator. What are his main aspects? How do you know that you are dealing with one?

Here are some things to watch out for:

Problematic Attitude Towards Change

In the causes of procrastination, we indicated the fear of change, and this is directly related to a chronic human trait : the fear of change. To move from one project to another, the procrastinator needs a certain amount of time, because at the end of the first, he feels anxiety and lack of goals. Therefore, for some time, he needs to cope with this state, distract himself by doing something else, something easier and more relaxing for the mind.

However, this period of "idle thinking" leads to losses in productivity, in addition, the procrastinator by his example can demotivate his colleagues. Therefore it is necessary to fight his inability to meet changes and to take up new ideas.

Lost In Three Pines

Or unwillingness to count and study these pines. However, having coped with his problem of facing change, the procrastinator embarks on a new project. But many things come to mind : "There is a lot of work to do, what to do, what to take up, does all this work fall on one person? Well, no, it can and should be postponed in order to sort it out slowly, gradually ... "

This is what the procrastinator thinks. However, he urgently needs to get together and understand, step by step, what the essence of the project is, what its goals, structure, stages are; he needs to analyze, to break everything down into logical blocks. This will lead to the emergence of incentives.

Volatile To-Do List

“So, yesterday I had to take my child for a swim, today I have to work with new customers, tomorrow I’ll have to go to the swimming pool again, and the customers are also there tomorrow, and besides, I need to cook a delicious dinner, because my husband’s parents will come today! Oh, and I also planned for a haircut at half past ten tomorrow morning, then who will take the child to swim ... ”- and at the same moment the phone rings, the boss calls to ask about an email that should have been sent last night, and a friend texts about an invitation to his birthday on the day after tomorrow ... "But what an interesting series I watched yesterday before going to bed!"

Do you recognize your thoughts? Hopefully not, because such a confused, haphazard, overly flexible schedule of a person leads to stress . When you, like a squirrel in a wheel, are trying to be in time on all fronts, you may have two reasons : Either you have taken on too many roles, i.e. you don't know how to say no and give up what you don't need right now, or you are procrastinating. In principle, both options are fixable. Nevertheless, you should not run your life at such an unaffordable level.

Emphasis On Small Tasks Instead Of Important And Larger Goals

Remember, we pointed out that procrastination differs from laziness mainly in that procrastinators are not passive, they take action. Their problem is that these actions are not important and necessary; rather, they are insignificant, easy-to-execute cases. Of course, the fears mentioned above play a big role in this shift in priorities.

Therefore, you just need to convince yourself that you will not get away from this work, sooner or later you will need to complete it, and for the sake of your own nervous system, the sooner the better.

Constant Delays

Another trait of a procrastinator is the inability to properly plan their time. Non-punctual people think that there is still a lot of time, although in fact it is already time to get ready. The same thing happens with procrastination sufferers : instead of embarking on a project, they believe there is still a lot of time and then fail to meet all the deadlines [ business.com, 2020 ].

Pierce Steele Research

In 2007, Pierce Steele, an American psychologist and public speaker on motivation and procrastination at the University of Calgary, published a research paper detailing the characteristics of procrastinators. Among them, the scientist identified the following:

• A low level of consciousness, and consciousness in this case includes discipline, organization, focus on results, concentration of attention ; this trait most clearly serves as an assessment in determining the procrastinator;
• Impulsiveness is a quality that pushes a person to leadership, before anything else, by emotions, and the state experienced at the moment, i.e. he is always planning in the short term; impulsive people usually think about the consequences afterwards;
• A low level of personal effectiveness reflects a lack of faith in one's own capabilities, in achieving the set goals;
• Low self-esteem - the tendency to underestimate their own importance, to assess their capabilities lower than they actually are; unfortunately, when a person puts things off for later and returns to them only when the deadline is over, this often leads to failure, which in turn causes disbelief in oneself, a sense of guilt, insecurity, etc.;
• Neurotic state - a tendency to experience negative emotions and psychological crises; this trait is not always considered the main one in the context of describing procrastinators, however, in some cases, neuroticism can lead to a delaying syndrome;
• The desire for thrills is a big problem for procrastinators, associated with a lack (in their opinion) of interest and the prevalence of boredom in life; hence the search for easy, funny ways of spending time instead of hard and monotonous work;
• A low level of benevolence as a result of resentment when procrastinators receive tasks from their bosses; it so happens that procrastination is an act of protest, unwillingness to obey [ P. Steel, 2007 ].

In addition to the above-mentioned characteristics, it is important to recognize the special structure of the brain of procrastinators, as a result of which such people are more focused on the present than on the future, therefore they are masters of postponing the solution of problems for later.

Another study by Italian scholars also focused on procrastination. In the course of studying this phenomenon, it was found that in the body of every person there is a gene responsible for the release of dopamine, the most important transmitter that plays a significant role in the ability of a person to control his behavior.

It turned out that people who have a certain version of this gene (a kind of genetic code) have an initial level of dopamine that allows for even, stable control. However, there is also a category of people with a different version of this gene. These people have lower initial levels of dopamine, and the additional release occurs only in stressful situations, so procrastinators need to experience extreme emotional stress in order to gain control over the situation.

However, it is worth noting that any mechanism within the hormonal system is complex, and the same dopamine contributes to impulsivity , which in turn is one of the most striking characteristics of procrastination. Therefore, the “level of advanced procrastinator” depends on a specific set of individual factors.

If you want to learn more about the typical procrastinator, as well as how to stop constantly procrastinating, we recommend watching the following video:

Next, we will talk about what research has been devoted to assessing procrastination and what methods exist among psychologists today.

Procrastination Tests

The phenomenon of procrastination itself does not seem so complicated, but the methods of its assessment have always caused problems for psychologists and other interested parties. Studies on this issue rely mainly on various questionnaires based on the method of subjective self-assessment, but each in its own way defines the theoretical criteria according to which a person should be classified as a procrastinator.

One of the earliest attempts to assess procrastination in individuals is the Mann Decisional Procrastination Questionnaire (DPQ), which consists of five expressions emphasizing the trait of postponing decision-making, for example, "I spend a lot of time on minor issues before I make a final decision" (L. Mann, 1998). Another test prepared by Henry Schouwenburg in 1995 called Academic Procrastination State Inventory (APSI) includes 23 questions/statements and is based on various scientific works on procrastination. For example, one of the statements was, "I forget to prepare material for my studies".

In the meantime, other tools have evolved to assess procrastination as a daily trend, such as the General Procrastination Scale (GPS) by S. Lay, which offers a 20-question survey, including: “I usually postpone work that I need to do ”[ CH Lay, 1986 ]. Similarly to S. Lay's test, other tests were created : Adult Inventory of Procrastination (AIP), which includes 15 expressions like "I can't handle things on time" [ W. McCown, 1989 ].

Despite some similarities between the GPS and AIP tests, it was found that they can determine different types of procrastination - arousal and avoidance - differing from each other in that the former is practiced when a person procrastinates due to the search for new and more interesting factors (arousal procrastination) and the second, when a person retreats from actions, guided by the fear of failure and uncertainty [ P. Steel, 2010 ].

We have already mentioned the name of Pierce Steele above, and it is time to talk about his other contribution to the study of procrastination. He managed to derive scales for assessing "pure" procrastination, using meta-analysis based on previous studies, as well as factor analysis (Procrastination Scale Items, PSI, and Irrational Procrastination Scale, IPS).

It turned out that procrastination appears to be a single coherent phenomenon (the so-called general procrastination) with a large classification, so some of the individual criteria used in previous questionnaires were simply omitted (for example, being in a rush or being prompt). Steele was also interested in the contradictory property of procrastinators: on the one hand, they understand that it will harm them in the future, on the other hand, they do not change anything.

The scale of irrational procrastination (IPS) achieved the greatest success due to the importance of the factor of negative self-assessment, which is the main negative consequence of such a phenomenon as procrastination. Below you can take this test.

TEST (Pierce Irrational Procrastination Scale)

Take this quiz and find out how procrastination has become a habit for you.

In all questions, choose the answer that best describes your attitude towards the specified expression.

(1) I delay tasks beyond what is reasonable

• Very rarely
• Rarely
• Sometimes
• Often
• Very often

(2) I do everything when I believe it needs to be done

• Very rarely
• Rarely
• Sometimes
• Often
• Very often

(3) I often regret not getting to tasks sooner

• Not
• Probably not
• In average
• Rather yes
• Yes

(4) There are aspects of my life that I put off, though I know I shouldn't.

• Not
• Probably not
• In average
• Rather yes
• Yes

(5) If there is something I should do, I get to it before attending to lesser tasks

• Not
• Probably not
• In average
• Rather yes
• Yes

(6) I put things off so long that my well-being or efficiency unnecessarily suffers.

• Not
• Probably not
• In average
• Rather yes
• Yes

(7) At the end of the day, I know I could have spent the time better.

• Very rarely
• Rarely
• Sometimes
• Often
• Very often

(8) I spend my time wisely

• Not
• Probably not
• In average
• Rather yes
• Yes

(9) When I should be doing one thing, I will do another

• Very rarely
• Rarely
• Sometimes
• Often
• Very often

In all questions except 2, 5 and 8, the distribution of points is as follows:

• Very rarely / Not - 1
• Rarely / Probably not - 2
• Sometimes / In average- 3
• Often / Rather yes - 4
• Very often / Yes - 5

In questions 2, 5, and 8 it is the other way around:

• Very rarely / Not - 5
• Rarely / Probably not - 4
• Sometimes / In average- 3
• Often / Rather yes - 2
• Very often / Yes - 1.

Results :

• Under 19 - Congratulations! You are one of the very poor people in the group who know about procrastination. Your motto for life is "Business is time, fun is an hour."
• 20-23 - Excellent result! You are barely familiar with procrastination. Continue in the same spirit!
• 24-31 - Average result. You are one of the 50% of people who procrastinate from time to time. The main thing is to control this process, be vigilant with such an enemy as procrastination!
• 32-36 - Unfortunately, you are a procrastinator. Try to learn how to control this habit, learn to get down to business right away.
• 37 and above - Your middle name is "Tomorrow". You are so obsessed with procrastination that you probably barely completed this test without postponing it. It's time to take care of yourself!

We hope your result is satisfactory. If not, we advise you to turn to this online program, where in 3 weeks you will learn how to deal with stress resulting from various reasons, including procrastination, as well as gain more confidence, get rid of fears and learn more controlling your emotions.

Conclusion

As you can see, procrastination tests have been created in large numbers and variety by scientists and psychologists, and today they are used in various studies, as well as at the everyday level, when a person wants to test his level of procrastination.

Keep in mind that if procrastination makes its way into your life, it will cause nothing but chaos, destruction, and stress in the long run. Therefore, be ready and fight the enemy with reasonable accessible methods.

We wish you every success!

As always ...

... many thanks for reading!