Aikaansaamattomuuden psykologiaa. = Psychology of procrastination.

Procrastination is defined in this review as self-sabotaging dilatory behavior. It is important to deepen our common knowledge about procrastination because it not only causes subjective distress but also has many negative societal consequences. Individual characteristics that predispose to procrastination include impulsiveness, distractibility, low self-efficacy, low self-control, low organization and unreasonably high expectations for achievement. People procrastinate especially when they are tired, when tasks are unpleasant, boring or difficult and the deadline is far away. Procrastination can be understood as self-regulatory failure which is theoretically modeled here by Temporal Motivation Theory. Procrastination can be reduced by modifying tasks and the working environment. It is critical to favor clear deadlines and smaller, well defined goals and tasks. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved). (journal abstract)