The Causes

Many key findings were discovered about the causes of problematic procrastination. Self-doubt, low frustration tolerance, disorganisation and perfectionism were found to be the top causes for problematic procrastination for teenagers. (Albert Ellis & William J Knaus,1977)

Self-doubt is the act of putting oneself down and often leads to anxiety, depression and hopelessness. It often occurs as a result of a person believing they are unable to perform the task adequately. This then causes the person to doubt themselves and put off the task until they believe they can do it. However, by procrastinating they feel guilty, which causes them to put off the task for even more time. Shockingly, 37.5% of survey applicants believed procrastination is always a bad thing. They believed that “it is a waste of time” and that “no good can come from wasting time”. This type of behavioural thinking may allow self-doubting procrastination to constantly reoccur. (Albert Ellis & William J Knaus,1977)

Figure 3: Healthy and Unhealthy Procrastination, from survey results
Question: Do you believe procrastination is always a bad thing?

Low frustration tolerance (LFT) relates to the inability to cope with present issues even if beneficial to the future. LFT causes one to stop doing a current task they find stressful or boring as they is no short-term benefit to doing the task. A substantial 62.5% of survey applicants believed that procrastination is often a good thing, claiming that “people do need some time off as students and human beings” and that “people aren't made to always be studying and stressing themselves out”. However, LFT often leads to problematic procrastination and is an example of self-defeating behaviour. (Albert Ellis & William J Knaus,1977)

Disorganisation may be the largest cause of procrastination for the target audience. Teenagers often lack organisational skills and the ability to plan ahead which causes them to have a disorganised schedule. This causes one to attempt to finish many tasks within a short time period, which leads to problematic procrastination. (William J Knaus,1979)

Perfectionism is also a major issue with the ever increasing expectations on today’s students. One often believes they are incapable to perform a task to a high standard so they put it off until they believe they are ready. However, they will do not attempt to acquire the skills necessary to perform the task which will result in it being left undone. They may also keep altering a piece of work without ever being fully satisfied with the outcome. Perfectionists repeatedly experience problematic procrastination. (John M. Grohol, Psy.D,2008-2009)

Survey results revealed that people often spend time on Facebook and the internet while they’re procrastinating. While the target audience may have contributed to this result it is anticipated that the target audience will learn to control their procrastination so that they can apply their knowledge to other issues in the future.

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