Inspired by the mention of procrastination, I looked up a
TED talk that my husband (remember him?) has been telling me "explains him." I watched it for some insight into the
motivations…or lack thereof…of the procrastinator. Take a look if you like:
I had been reading your posts in addition to an article
about self-evaluative and self-efficacy mechanisms just before watching this
video, trying to make sense of this putting off of action.1 Mechanisms that motivate
action include have a set of standards (goals), having a discrepancy between what
I am doing presently in relation to what I would like to achieve in those goals
(self-evaluation), and feeling as though I am able to make up the difference
(self-efficacy). How does this pictoral
view of procrastination fit in? The Rational Decision-Maker has a set of
standards. He has goals. The Panic
Monster facilitates self-evaluation that we are not performing up to our
standards. If we don't do something, we will not meet our standards. Where does the Monkey fit it? He certainly is not self efficacy because he
doesn’t seem to mediate the drive to make up the difference between in-action
and our desired outcome. Maybe
self-efficacy is having enough trees for the Monkey to go when it’s time to get down to business? Without self-efficacy, we don’t know where to
send the Easy and Fun Monkey so that
we can move to action and accomplish our goals.
Robin suggested that she was putting off blogging because
she was not gaining external feedback that motivated her to continue
writing. But, at the end of the day,
kudos for getting rid of that Monkey,
having a Rational-Decision Maker that
has some standard for accomplishing the task at hand, and enacting the Panic Monster to remind yourself that
inaction is not acceptable to you!
1. Bandura
A, Cervone D. Self-Evaluative and Self-Efficacy Mechanisms Governing the
Motivation Effects of Goal Systems. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology. 1983;45(5):1017-1028.
Kim, I ran across that very TedTalk last Fall, and my 18 year old says the same as your husband, "This is so me!" To my dismay, the phrase "Panic Monster" is used quite (too) often in our home. While I do not understand why people work best under the pressure of the Panic Monster, I appreciate how the speaker depicts the Monkey as the fun-loving, carefree captain of the ship. Perhaps he is "fun-loving" and "care-free" because he has low efficacy in the task/goal set before him. Personally, I feel irresponsible when I am aware that my "Monkey" desires to drive the ship; but not always because I feel efficious in accomplishing the task... I just want to avoid the panic of being chased by the Panic Monster!!
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