Procrastination, Health, and Well-Being

Research on procrastination has grown exponentially in recent years. Studies have revealed that procrastination is an issue of self-regulation failure, and specifically misregulation of emotional states—not simply a time management problem as often presumed. This maladaptive coping strategy is a risk factor not only for poor mental health, but also poor physical health and other aspects of well-being.  Procrastination, Health, and Well-Being brings together new and established researchers and theorists who make important connections between procrastination and health.

The first section of the book provides an overview of current conceptualizations and philosophical issues in understanding how procrastination relates to health and well-being including a critical discussion of the assumptions and rationalizations that are inherent to procrastination.  The next section of the book focuses on current theory and research highlighting the issues and implications of procrastination for physical health and health behaviors, while the third section presents current perspectives on the interrelationships between procrastination and psychological well-being. The volume concludes with an overview of potential areas for future research in the growing field of procrastination, health, and well-being.

Reviews interdisciplinary research on procrastinationConceptualizes procrastination as an issue of self-regulation and maladaptive coping, not time managementIdentifies the public and private health implications of procrastinationExplores the guilt and shame that often accompany procrastinationDiscusses temporal views of the stress and chronic health conditions associated with procrastination

List of Contributors

Preface

Part 1: Introduction and Overview

Chapter 1: Introduction: Conceptualizing the Relations of Procrastination to Health and Well-Being

Fuschia M. Sirois

Chapter 2: Recovering Kairos: Toward a Heideggerian Analysis of Procrastination

James Crooks

Chapter 3: Structured Nonprocrastination: Scaffolding Efforts to Resist the Temptation to Reconstrue Unwarranted Delay

Joel H. Anderson

Part 2:  Procrastination and Health

Chapter 4:  Procrastination, Stress, and Chronic Health Conditions:  A Temporal Perspective

Fuschia M. Sirois

Chapter 5: Bedtime Procrastination: A Behavioral Perspective on Sleep Insufficiency

Floor M. Kroese, Sanne Nauts, Bart A. Kamphorst, Joel H. Anderson and Denise T.D. de Ridder

Chapter 6:  Measurement of Health-Related Procrastination:  Development and Validation of the Exercise and Healthy Diet Procrastination Scales

Mohsen Haghbin and Timothy A. Pychyl

Chapter 7:  The Relation Between General Procrastination and Health Behaviors:  What Can We Learn from Greek Students?

Maria I. Argiropoulou, Anastasia Sofianopoulou and Anastasia Kalantzi-Azizi

Part 3: Procrastination & Well-Being

Chapter 8: Procrastination, Emotion Regulation, and Well-Being

Timothy A. Pychyl and Fuschia M. Sirois

Chapter 9:  Delaying Things and Feeling Bad About It? A Norm-Based Approach to Procrastination

Benjamin Giguère, Fuschia M. Sirois and Mamta Vaswani

Chapter 10:  Temporal Views of Procrastination, Health, and Well-Being

Eve-Marie C. Blouin-Hudon, Fuschia M. Sirois, and Timothy A. Pychyl

Chapter 11:  Procrastination and Well-Being at Work

Wendelien van Eerde

Chapter 12:  Future of Research on Procrastination, Health, and Well-Being:  Key Themes and Recommendations

Fuschia M. Sirois and Timothy A. Pychyl