Greater Mindfulness is Linked to Less Procrastination

Abstract

This study examined the relationships between trait mindfulness, a positive psychological characteristic, attention and procrastination. One hundred and seventy-four Australian participants, 133 women and 41 men, with a mean age of 35.44, completed measures of trait mindfulness, ability for sustained attention and procrastination. Participants recorded a task they thought they might delay completing and were randomly assigned to a brief mindfulness exercise or a control exercise. Participants afterwards rated their intention to work on the task. Greater trait mindfulness was associated with better ability to sustain attention and with less procrastination. Attention mediated the relationship between mindfulness and procrastination. With engagement held constant, participants in the mindfulness exercise condition expressed more intention to work towards completing a task on which they tend to procrastinate than participants in the control condition. These findings have implications for better understanding procrastination and for the use of mindfulness to assist those who procrastinate.