I think that most people procrastinate for more than one reason. A better question would be “Choose something that you often procrastinate on. Why do you procrastinate on that?”
Or, better (though less generalizable until you’ve answered it several times), ‘why did you procrastinate on this particular occasion?’ The thing that I’m procrastinating on is only the reason for the procrastination sometimes, at least for me. It’s more common for the procrastination to be caused by the presence of a compelling distraction, or by trying to do the work without the right kind of lead-up or preparation (which is not reliably a function of the type of work; it’s more closely related to other aspects of my life).
Asking the right questions is important, and the most common ones aren’t reliably right.
(aware that this is 2 years late, just decided to post)
I find that I work, on average,somewhere between 2-3 times as fast when I am right up next to a deadline,than when I have plenty of time.
Here’s a good one: Why do you procrastinate?
The more correct answer is normally hidden by cognitive dissonance or just difficult to discover for inexperienced introspecters.
I think that most people procrastinate for more than one reason. A better question would be “Choose something that you often procrastinate on. Why do you procrastinate on that?”
Or, better (though less generalizable until you’ve answered it several times), ‘why did you procrastinate on this particular occasion?’ The thing that I’m procrastinating on is only the reason for the procrastination sometimes, at least for me. It’s more common for the procrastination to be caused by the presence of a compelling distraction, or by trying to do the work without the right kind of lead-up or preparation (which is not reliably a function of the type of work; it’s more closely related to other aspects of my life).
Asking the right questions is important, and the most common ones aren’t reliably right.
(aware that this is 2 years late, just decided to post) I find that I work, on average,somewhere between 2-3 times as fast when I am right up next to a deadline,than when I have plenty of time.