For those whose procrastination is affecting daily life, self-help materials backed by randomized trials can be effective — no therapist required
Grade AMedium benefitTimeFreeSome timeSome willpower
Procrastination bad enough to cause distress can get better. Follow cognitive-behavioral self-help materials for 10 weeks, and doing it with someone guiding you and doing it entirely on your own were both clearly better than doing nothing. There was no visible difference between having a guide and not having one, so doing it yourself, following the materials, also works.
- Benefit
- 150 participants were randomly assigned to three groups: self-help with therapist guidance, self-help without guidance, and a waitlist control group. After ten weeks, effect sizes on the pure procrastination scale were d = 0.70 (95% CI 0.29–1.10) for the guided group and d = 0.50 (0.10–0.90) for the unguided group. On the irrational procrastination scale, these values were 0.81 (0.40–1.22) and 0.69 (0.29–1.09) respectively. The proportion of participants achieving clinically meaningful improvement was 31.3% to 40.0% in the guided group and 24.0% to 36.0% in the unguided group. No statistically significant differences were observed between the two self-help groups on any outcome measure.
- Notes
- Participants in this trial were Swedish adults using Swedish-language materials; no identical Chinese versions exist, so the magnitude of benefit is rated as moderate. The materials incorporate standard cognitive-behavioral components: behavioral activation, behavioral experiments, stimulus control (as described in Section 10 of this chapter, which advises moving unwanted items out of reach), and guidance on motivation and work strategies. If procrastination co-occurs with significant low mood or anxiety, follow the advice in Section 3, Item 18: engage in physical activity, get sunlight, maintain regular sleep patterns, talk to others, and call 12356 for support.
Sources · 1
- Rozental A, Forsell E, Svensson A, Andersson G, Carlbring P (2015). Internet-based cognitive-behavior therapy for procrastination: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 83(4), 808–824. doi.org/10.1037/ccp0000023