170: How to stop procrastinating with Dr. Fuschia Sirois

Our culture says that people procrastinate because they're disorganized and lazy. After all, how hard can it really be to do a task you've committed to doing, and one that you even know will benefit you?!

But I learned through this episode that procrastination isn't about disorganization or laziness at all - it's much more about managing how we feel about tasks - and we can learn how to do this more effectively.

Those of us who don't struggle with procrastination can also do quite a bit to support the folks who do, to make it easier for them to get stuck in and be successful at the task.

Learn more about navigating your own procrastination and supporting your child in doing this as they get old enough for it to become relevant to them in this episode.

Fuschia Sirois Book:

Procrastination: What it is, why it's a problem, and what you can do about it. (Affiliate link)

Jump to highlights

(02:04)  Definition of Procrastination

(03:19)  The 2 kinds of Procrastination and the difference between the two

(04:07)  How common is procrastination?

(08:03)  The interconnections between Procrastination and people's health

(11:04)   How can Procrastination be linked to stress?

(18:01)   Bedtime Procrastination and its implication to people's health

(21:25)   Link then between people's emotional states and procrastination

(25:42)   The connections between perfectionism and procrastination

(29:45)   What is active procrastination and is it a good thing?

(33:20)   Interaction between procrastination and shame

(40:42)   What can we do to manage our emotions and take on tasks that are important and valuable to us

(42:34)  How can forgiveness and self-compassion affect Procrastination

(45:36)  What is a paper doll diagram?

(48:48)  Can children procrastinate and at what age does procrastination start to show up?

(50:42)  Healthy ways of managing negative emotions

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Emma  00:00

Hi. I'm Emma, and I'm listening from the UK. We all want our children to lead fulfilled lives. But we're surrounded by conflicting information and clickbait headlines that leave us wondering what to do as parents. The Your Parenting Mojo podcast is still scientific research on parenting and child development into tools parents can actually use every day in their real lives with their real children. If you'd like to be notified when new episodes are released, then get a free infographic on the 13 Reasons Your Child Isn't Listening To You and what to do about each one. Just head on over to yourparentingmojo.com/subscribe, and pretty soon you're going to get tired of hearing my voice read this intro. So come and record one yourself at yourparentingmojo.com/recordtheintro.

Jen Lumanlan  00:45

Hello and welcome to the Your Parenting Mojo podcast and today we're going to address a challenge that I know a lot of listeners struggle with and that is procrastination. Whether you're a chronic procrastinator yourself or you're worried about raising a child who procrastinate or potentially both will help you to understand why you procrastinate and offer some concrete tools for how you can navigate tasks that are important to you more successfully. My guest for this conversation is Dr. Fuschia Sirois - Professor in the Department of Psychology at Durham University in England. For more than 20 years, she's researched the causes and consequences of procrastination as well as how emotions play a role in it. Her research also examines the role of positive psychology traits, states and interventions for supporting self regulation and enhancing well being and health. Welcome Dr. Sirois. It’s great to have you here.

Dr. Fuschia Sirois  01:30

Thanks, Jen. Thanks very much for inviting me to be on.

Jen