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A Bio-Psycho Approach to Procrastination
Jessica da Cunha
MACP Program, Faculty of Behavioural Sciences, Yorkville University
PSYC 6104 – A Biopsychosocial Approach to Counselling
Instructor: Dr. Rob Wolfe
Submission Date: Sunday, June 4th, 2023
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A Bio-Psycho Approach to Procrastination
Recently, I made the decision to enrol in a graduate level education program while working
full-time. This transition back to full-time education brought some concerns with procrastination,
leading me to connect with a Registered Psychotherapist to better understand why I was
procrastinating. Despite some initial hesitation, I now look back on this decision fondly.
In my initial session, the therapist provided an overview of counselling, and offered
psychoeducation on the Biopsychosocial model. My therapist described that there are different
factors that have produced, amplified, and maintained my procrastination (Collins, 2020). We
considered areas of my current routine, biology, and mental heath, which could influence my
current concern. They encouraged me to reflect on early instances of procrastination, as they can
influence a child’s development and understanding (Pinel & Barnes, 2021). I mentioned to my
therapist that I would frequently avoid completing household tasks in my childhood home. On
multiple occasions, I would be chastised by my mother for not completing the task to her
standard, following which, she would redo the task.
Towards the end of my first session, my therapist and I reviewed what my understanding
of procrastination was. Together, we concluded that my procrastination was defined as myself
delaying my completion of various assignments in school. Over the subsequent sessions, we
discussed my physical activity, current anxiety, and my sleep patterns. We made connections
between my own beliefs about failure, perfectionism and self-efficacy and my habit to
procrastinate.
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Biological Factors
In our second session, my therapist and I reacquainted by reviewing what we previously
spoke about before discussing the biological factors of procrastination. First, my therapist
evaluated the level of physical activity in my current routine. Since restarting school, I reduced
how frequently I was going to the gym to better accommodate time to complete readings. My
therapist noted that research suggests that increasing physical activity can lead to reductions in
procrastination and overall anxiety levels (Yang et al., 2023). We examined the influence anxiety
has on the brain, as it has been found that an anxiety-specific brain pattern can hinder selfcontrol within procrastination (Zhang et al., 2021). Finally, since starting school, I would
frequently stay awake later in the evening compared to when I had been working full-time only.
They informed me that there is a relationship between sleep and procrastination, and this could
be operating in my current concern (Przepiórka et al., 2019).
Within this session, I felt reinforced to continue attending therapy due to my therapist’s
therapeutic skills. My therapist honoured my own autonomy and ability to make my own
decisions, when it came to engaging in physical activity once again (Shebib, 2020). Additionally,
my therapist offered psychoeducation on neuroplasticity (Pinel & Barnes, 2021), which I found
helpful, as I was struggling with feeling hopeless about my current habits. This information
provided me with hope that I could change this habit, through the utilization of other skills.
Finally, my therapist’s presence within the session was helpful. During the session, it did not feel
that my therapist was trying to rescue me, or provide advice, they were simply someone to be
alongside me while I make changes to these areas (MACP Labs, n.d.).
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Psychological Factors
In our third session, my therapist and I revisited the impact psychological factors could
have on my presenting concern. Following the early experiences with my mother, I developed a
fear of failure, as it was treated as if fatal in my household. I would frequently struggle with
beliefs that if I completed a task poorly, my loved ones would feel disappointed, and less likely
to engage with me. This was normalized by my therapist, who informed me that Parlade and
Karaigit found a positive correlation between procrastination and a fear of failure (2022). My
mother’s high standards were also playing a role in my procrastination, as I adopted these
standards for myself. However, I was also not fully meeting them, leading to some reluctance to
complete assignments (Coutinho et al., 2022). Finally, we conversed about how my self-efficacy
was impacted by my early experiences. My experience of someone redoing my tasks created
beliefs that I was unable to complete anything adequately, fostering a greater delay to start (Hall
et al., 2019). I would also further prove these beliefs when I would receive low marks on
assignments that I would hand-in late or that I procrastinated on.
The respect I felt within this therapeutic alliance was imperative to my ability to reflect on
my experience with procrastination. As I was experiencing a lot of shame regarding my
procrastination, I felt hesitant at first, but the respect my therapist offered me through eyecontact, acceptance, and openness, allowed me to share and process my concerns (SlayWestbrook, 2017). My therapist provided both verbal and non-verbal encouragement, and never
told me how I should feel in these situations, thus creating additional safety to disclose (Shebib,
2020). Finally, they validated my experience, and provided me a setting to dismantle the shame I
associated with my procrastination (Slay-Westbrook, 2017).
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References
Collins, S. (2020.) The Bio-Psycho-Social-Cultural-Systemic-Framework. YouTube. Retrieved
June 3rd, from https://youtu.be/0d7VC2ALsvU.
Coutinho, M. V. C., Menon, A., Ahmed, R. H., & Fredricks-Lowman, I. (2022). The association
of perfectionism and active procrastination in college students. Social Behavior and
Personality: An international journal, 50(3), doi:10.2224/sbp.10611
Hall, N. C., Lee, S. Y., & Rahimi, S. (2019). Self-efficacy, procrastination, and burnout in postsecondary faculty: An international longitudinal analysis. PLoS ONE 14(12).
doi:0.1371/journal.pone.0226716
MACP Skills Learning Lab. (n.d.). Module 2: Safe and Effective Use of Self:
Countertransference. [Video]. Yorkville University.
https://courses.yorkvilleu.ca/iSpring/MACP/Skills-Learning-Lab/Modules/Safe-andEffective-Use-of-Self/story.html
Parlade, J., & Karaigit, C. (2022). Examining procrastination and fear of failure among college
students. Cognition, Brain, Behaviour. An Interdisciplinary Journal, 26, 119-213.
doi:10.24193/cbb.2022.26.11
Pinel, J. P. J., & Barnes, S. J. (2021). Biopsychology (11th ed.). Pearson.
Przepiórka, A., Błachnio, A., & Siu, N.Y-F. (2019). The relationships between self-efficacy,
self-control, chronotype, procrastination and sleep problems in young adults.
Chronobiology International. 36(8), 1025–1035. doi:10.1080/07420528.2019.1607370.
Shebib, B. (2020). Choices: Interviewing and counselling skills for Canadians (7th ed.). Pearson
Canada.
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Slay – Westbrook, S. (2017). Respect-focused therapy: Honoring clients through the therapeutic
relationships and process. Routledge. ISBN:9781138906907
Yang, L., Liu, Z., Shi, S., Dong, Y., Cheng, H., & Li, T. (2023). The mediating role of perceived
stress and academic procrastination between physical activity and depressive symptoms
among Chinese college students during the COVID-19 pandemic. International Journal of
Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(1), 773. doi:10.3390/ijerph20010773
Zhang, R., Chen, Z., Hu, B., Zou, F., & Feng, T. (2021). The anxiety-specific hippocampus–
prefrontal cortex pathways links to procrastination through self-control. Human Brain
Mapping, 43(5), 1738-1748. doi:10.1002/hbm.25754