Students have a lot of freedom but little structure. This can be bad for habitual procrastinators. Studies have shown that at least half of college students procrastinate to levels that are potentially detrimental to their education.
However, this may not be the only negative consequence of postponing until later. Studies have found a link between procrastination and bad health. It’s associated with higher stress levels, unhealthier lifestyles, and delays in seeing a doctor for health problems.
However, due to their design, these studies cannot tell us the direction of the relationship. Does procrastination cause poor physical and mental health, for example because people put off starting a new exercise program or seeing a doctor about a health problem?
Or is it the other way around? For example, does poor physical health make people procrastinate because they don’t have the energy to complete the task now?
To try to solve this conundrum, we conducted a longitudinal study – a study that followed people over a period of time and took measurements at different points in the study. We recruited 3,525 students from eight universities in and around Stockholm and asked them to complete questionnaires every three months for a year.
Our to learnPublished in JAMA network open, aimed to investigate whether students who procrastinate are at greater risk of poor mental and physical health. Of the 3,525 students we recruited, 2,587 completed the follow-up questionnaire nine months later, which measured multiple health outcomes.
To understand how procrastination affects subsequent health outcomes, students with a greater tendency to procrastinate (as assessed on a procrastination scale) at baseline were compared to students with a lower tendency.
Results showed that higher levels of procrastination were associated with slightly more severe symptoms depressionAnxiety and stress nine months later.
Students with higher levels of procrastination were also more likely to report disabling pain in their shoulders or arms (or both), poorer sleep quality, more loneliness, and more financial difficulties.
These associations persisted even when we took into account other factors that might influence the association, such as age, sex, parental education, and previous physical and psychiatric diagnoses.
Although no specific health outcome was strongly associated with procrastination, the results suggest that procrastination can be important for a variety of health outcomes, including mental health problems, disabling pain, and an unhealthy lifestyle.
As noted above, previous studies only assessed participants at one point in time, making it difficult to determine which of the conditions came first: procrastination or poor health. By having students complete questionnaires at multiple time points, we could be assured that there was a high degree of delay before measuring their health.
However, it is still possible that other factors not considered in our analysis could explain the associations between procrastination and subsequent poor health outcomes. Our results are not proof of cause and effect, but they suggest it more strongly than previous “cross-sectional” studies.
It can be treated
There’s good news for habitual procrastinators. clinical trials (the gold standard of medical research) have shown that cognitive behavioral therapy is effective in reducing procrastination.
Treatment helps the person overcome procrastination by breaking down long-term goals into short-term goals, managing distractions (eg, turning off cell phones), and staying focused on a task despite negative emotions.
This takes some effort, so it’s not something a person can do while trying to meet a specific deadline. But even small changes can have a big impact. You can try it yourself. Why not start today by leaving your cell phone in another room when you need to focus on a task?
Eva SkillgateAssociate Professor, Epidemiology, Karolinska Institute; Alexander RosenthalScientific Assistant, Karolinska Instituteand Fred JohanssonPhD Student, Mental Health, Sophiahemmet University
This article is republished by The conversation under a Creative Commons license. read this original article.
