Best way to avoid procrastination
University of Otago
New research from the University of
Otago has found that if you want someone to help you out with something, it is
best not to set a deadline at all. But if you do set a deadline, make it short.
Professor Stephen Knowles, from the
Otago Business School, Department of Economics, and his co-authors tested the
effect of deadline length on task completion for their research published
in Economic Inquiry.
Participants were invited to
complete an online survey in which a donation goes to charity. They were given
either one week, one month, or no deadline to respond.
Professor Knowles says the research began because he and his team -- Dr Murat Genç, from Otago's Department of Economics, Dr Trudy Sullivan, from Otago's Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, and Professor Maroš Servátka, from the Macquarie Graduate School of Management -- were interested in helping charities raise more money.
However, the results are applicable
to any situation where someone asks another person for help. This could be
asking a colleague for help at work or asking your partner to do something for
you, Professor Knowles says.
The study found responses to the
survey were lowest for the one-month deadline, and highest when no deadline was
specified.
No deadline and the one-week
deadline led to many early responses, while a long deadline appeared to give
people permission to procrastinate, and then forget.
Professor Knowles wasn't surprised
to find that specifying a shorter deadline increased the chances of receiving a
response compared to a longer deadline. However, he did find it interesting
that they received the most responses when no deadline was specified.
"We interpret this as evidence
that specifying a longer deadline, as opposed to a short deadline or no
deadline at all, removes the urgency to act, which is often perceived by people
when asked to help," he says.
"People therefore put off
undertaking the task, and since they are inattentive or forget, postponing it
results in lower response rates."
He says it is possible that not
specifying a deadline might still have led participants to assume that there is
an implicit deadline.
Professor Knowles hopes his research
can help reduce the amount of procrastinating people do.
"Many people procrastinate.
They have the best intentions of helping someone out, but just do not get
around to doing it."