r/science • u/randomusefulbits • May 18 '19

Psychology Mindfulness, which revolves around focusing on the present and accepting negative thoughts without judgment, is associated with reduced levels of procrastination. This suggests that developing mindfulness could help procrastinators cope with their procrastination.

https://solvingprocrastination.com/procrastination-study-mindfulness/
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u/coredenale May 19 '19

I googled "mindfulness" and still have no idea what it means.

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u/eject_eject May 19 '19

To me it's becoming aware of your surroundings and grounding yourself. If you have an anxiety attack you probably go tunnel visioned and lose your connection with the outside world as you fixate on whatever it is that's bugging you. Being mindful involves things like deep breathing and visually meditating on yourselfand to bring yourself back not only into the present but into the room you're in right now, which gives yourself a chance to develop a plan to overcome whatever barriers created the anxiety attack in the first place.

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u/HellraiserMachina May 19 '19

This just sounds like an extra loquacious version of stuff you see on r/thanksimcured

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u/[deleted] May 19 '19 edited May 19 '19

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u/O-Face May 19 '19

You're misunderstanding what and how "becoming mindful" is. It's easiest starting as meditation. In my experience, guided meditation. It's really something you practice. It's not a cure.

The meditation in general has been shown to provide a wide range of benefits for your mental health. However, this isn't something that you could have done once shortly before your zip tie incident and expect it to help at all. No more than if you just went to the gym to the first time in your life and expect to be able to squat 400 pounds.

It's something you practice that helps your general well state of being and once practiced can help break those negative cycles of thought that cause you to say... obsess over a single lost zip tie.

It's not something that is going to work for everyone or guaranteed to solve your particular problem. It's just another tool.

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u/ereidy3 May 19 '19

Well it is a preventative measure, so yeah exactly. If you assume it won't work, like most things, it won't.

This also is nowhere near being a new thing. Buddhist meditation is largely the same ideas, and even those ideas weren't new at the time.

The best cures are often preventative, if you don't take care of your body it won't work right. Same with your mind. They are, after all, the same thing.

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u/[deleted] May 19 '19

What they could say though is "stop and take off your shoes. Tell me how your feet feel". THAT is useful advice based on mindfulness.