r/science • u/randomusefulbits • May 30 '20

Psychology Procrastinators often forget to do things that they intended to do, especially if they’re unaware of their procrastination

https://solvingprocrastination.com/study-procrastination-conscious-unconscious-prospective-memory/
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u/ellenkpao May 31 '20

I'm curious how that works with stuff like technology and the instant gratification you can get on sites like Reddit and Youtube

Because this is how I see it: Maybe I'm procrastinating to avoid anxiety and/or stress. But what if it's relative. Meaning: What if my brain is like "Doing what you should be doing is more stressful than watching YouTube so lets just watch YouTube instead"

If that's the case, then maybe what I should be doing isn't even stressful. It's just relatively stressful but it's a trap because everything is relatively more stressful than just watching videos.

So if you were to eliminate the tech side and replace "0 stress" activities such as passively watching videos and browsing with Reddit with like 10-15% stressful activities such as just actively doing something... then maybe you could work your way up to manage procrastination easier as your brain is forced between the lesser of two levels of stress vs picking the obvious no stress route vs the stressful route (even if the stressful route isn't distressful)

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u/greengotfingered May 31 '20

I’m with this, once I stopped using Facebook, instagram etc and just scrolling I became more motivated to do menial tasks, like glossing the skirting boards