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Channel: The Procrastination Equation
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Procrastination and the Perfectionism Myth

Do you have high standards? Do you expect a lot from yourself, day-in and day-out? Do you love it when life is organized and orderly? Do you try to do your best at everything you do? There is a word...

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Making New Year’s Resolutions Last All Year

New Year's resolutions are one of our best traditions. Originally devised by the Catholic Church as devotional pledges to counter "heathenish customs ... dedicated to the devil-god Janus," they combine...

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Games People Play... at Work

If you want to procrastinate when you are supposed to be working, your options are bountiful and growing every day. You can go old school and do the Sudoku or crossword from the newspaper. Or, if...

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Crazy for Procrastinating? Maybe

Last week was much like the week before. You meant to check the oil in your car but it really wasn't that convenient, so you put it off once again. Sure the red "check engine" light was glaring at you,...

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The Greatest Procrastinator in History Still Alive: Puts Off Death.

In honor of International Procrastination Week -- celebrated during the first or the second week of March, depending upon how much you put it off -- we'll feature the greatest procrastinator in all...

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Impulsiveness: Procrastination’s Nickel-Iron Core

What's at the core of procrastination?read more

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Bondage and Procrastination

Ancient wisdom for an ancient problem. Precommitment dates back to the Trojan Wars but is useful for combating modern-day procrastination.read more

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Governmental Procrastination

Since the 1950s, the Debt Ceiling has been described as "a meaningless strait jacket." Like an alcoholic leaving the key in the liquor cabinet, politicians have voted away their previous debt...

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"I am a procrastinator!" The ongoing story of one person's struggle to stop...

Together, Ms. Erin P and I will try out anti-procrastinatory techniques to determine what works, how well, and how best to make them work. She takes the role of the client or customer. I will be the...

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"I am a procrastinator!" The ongoing story of one person's struggle to stop...

Last we left Erin P., our consummate procrastinator, she had just had enough of her dilly-dallying ways (click here for Episode 1). Procrastination had blossomed from a minor and amusing vice to a...

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Better Living Through Chemistry–The Success Pill

In the film Limitless, the drug NZT-48 not only has the power to cure all procrastinating tendencies, but also bumps up your IQ three-fold. Limitless isn't entirely a Hollywood invention, Nootropic...

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The Motivational Wisdom of Lady Gaga versus The Secret

The queen of music takes on the queen of self-help in this Lady Gaga versus Rhonda Byrne's The Secret motivational slugfest. Both have record breaking stints on their respective charts, one in music...

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It's Fight Procrastination Day: Here's Some Ammo

With September 6th (though often delayed until the 7th) being Fight Procrastination Day, we continue the ongoing story of one person's struggle to stop procrastination. Today, Erin P. tries out the...

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Hard Work Beats Talent (but Only If Talent Doesn’t Work Hard)

In a world where we are ridiculously overcommitted to making sure everyone is equal in every way, a new study just published in Psychological Science contains some sobering news you might not like. It...

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Occupy Wall Street, Procrastination and the Battle of Ideas

The Occupy Wall Street crowd is characterized as angry but directionless. They feel economic injustice is being done but don't agree about who is to blame and what to do. Consequently, they might be...

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Beyond the Coffee Crutch: The Secret to Vitality at Work

What's the number one reason for procrastinating? Survey says: low energy. Tackling tasks or chores when we are already tired is a surefire recipe for putting stuff off. So if you are tired of feeling...

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From Snow Gloom to Snow Doom: The Psychophysics of the Snow Blower

When Weh-Ming Cho decided to sell his snow blower with an internet ad, he received 1,400 offers. Cho wasn't just selling a snow blower. He was selling "A Tribute to Man's Triumph over Nature." Here is...

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Thought for Food

We all know what we need to do to shed the weight: eat less and exercise more. Knowing isn't the problem, it is doing. Science has come with a few new techniques to help us control our minds, so we can...

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Da Vinci, Copernicus and the Astronomical Procrastination of Science

Science is actually progressing somewhat slower than predicted. For example, the 1982 classic Blade Runner, voted favorite SciFi film by scientists, has genetically engineered organic robots filling...

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Losing Weight Effortlessly With Visual Illusions

When temptation strikes, our willpower works overtime to try and drive the unhealthy / distracting cravings out of our head, or at least to stop us from acting on them. It doesn't have to be this hard,...

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Rag Doll Rising

An edgy and unique production on whether positive belief leads to desired outcomes. Quite possibly, you have never seen anything like before. No profanity or nudity but still not for everyone. read more

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Breaking the Pain Barrier

To push themselves to the pain threshold and then far beyond, competitive cyclists employ a pretty nifty technique — micro goal-setting. Here are four tricks they use and the science behind them.read more

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How to Become a Procrastinator

There are a stubborn 5% of people who say they procrastinate very rarely or not at all. If you find yourself aberrantly efficient, don’t feel left out. Here is a top ten list to help you put off until...

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Lying and Procrastination

I’ve lied to myself plenty because it was easier to. At least at first. Confronting ones own lies is hard to do because if you believe them, you think there are no lies to confront in the first place....

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Procrastination, Precommitment and The Fiscal Cliff

James Madison, the Father of the Constitution, wrote about how psychology can fix the workings of government. With a little help from psychology, we can make the fiscal cliff work as intended.read more

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The Two Faces of the New Year

New Year's Resolutions are one of the finest traditions that Western society has produced. And psychological research indicates that the very act of making one is one of the easiest ways to improve...

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When Self-Blackmail Becomes Blackmail

Precommitment can be changed from self-blackmail, where you try to get yourself to follow through on your intentions, to just plain old blackmail. This can happen any time you have a referee to help...

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If You Met All Your Goals Today, This Article Is Not for You

Smarter than SMART goals, this describes a research program to develop an online app that trains you how to make goals that have the maximum motivation and science theoretically allows. read more

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Self-Efficacy and Success: Is There Any Relationship?

What's your self-confidence level? Use our comprehensive assessment battery to find out if you have too much or too little. Either can be problematic. read more

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How Ebola Won The Election for Conservatives

There's a natural fit between concerns and political values. Where liberals are the party of promotion, conservative are the party of protection. So why should democrats emphasize Ebola in their...

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