Understanding the Motivations Behind Hoarding
Photo by Magnet.me on Unsplash
As the holiday season approaches, so do the New Year's jitters. “New Year, New me!!!”...Yeah right.
You make the same goals every year, work out more, eat healthier, and maybe do some mindfulness exercises, yet it always falls to the wayside by February 1st. You’re really tired, so you skip the gym one day, then the next, and the next. You know you really should, but that just makes it seem less appealing. Besides, I don’t even know what I’m doing there, it's so hard and I’ll look stupid… It isn’t that important to do it every day, you rationalize. But then you continue to put it off. You gave up last year, and decided, maybe it’s just you. You give up and delay taking care of your health even more.
When you think of procrastination, you usually think of someone writing that five-page essay the night before it is due, despite knowing about it the whole semester. And that often is procrastination. But procrastination also exists in many other, often under-researched domains. The domain this page is focusing on is that of health procrastination.
Procrastination is defined as the irrational and intentional delay of tasks, often leaving the individual worse off (Steel, 2007). This worldwide behavior is studied widely, though often through a narrow lens. But what is health procrastination? Health procrastination is procrastination specifically for tasks relevant to your physical health, such as deciding to eat something healthy instead of eating out every night, getting adequate sleep, scheduling a doctor's appointment, and using that gym membership that has been collecting dust since you bought it on January 1st.
Just as the research focuses on what happens in the classroom, colloquially, we often do the same, thinking that is where our procrastination ends. Our productivity is suffering, and this version is easy to measure, so we focus there. However, when research comparing domains of procrastination is conducted, it is consistently found that our health is the most often domain delayed (Dutta & Truax, 2018; Hen-Goroshit, 2018).
When we are young and healthy, it is easy to believe that these behaviors will not have any consequences. It’s okay to stay up until three in the morning on a last-minute paper and then wake up at 7:00 for your 8:30 class, you can just drink a Red Bull later. You do not need to schedule that doctor’s appointment now; you can wait a few days... or weeks… or months... But these behaviors can and do have consequences later in life. Both generalized procrastination and treatment delays were found to correlate to higher rates of illness (Sirois et al., 2002). Not only does general illness pop up more, but later research has also found that procrastinators more frequently develop chronic, lifelong illnesses and issues (Sirois & Psychl, 2016). Procrastinating on fixing your deteriorating health is a surefire sign of disaster.
Extenuating circumstances
An important factor to mention is that not all delays are procrastination. Some people have schedules that are so busy that squeezing health in can be nearly impossible. And while this as a long-term life model is still unsustainable, it is important to recognize that sometimes delay is rational prioritization.
Other factors can also play into health delays as well, a major one unfortunately being socioeconomic status. Especially in the United States where healthcare can be costly to afford, it can be hard to stay on top of everything including health. Poverty is also expensive and time-consuming. A cheap pair of work boots will wear out quickly and force you to buy new ones far more frequently than the expensive ones you cannot afford, but add the years up, and you’ve actually spent more than you would have buying the quality boots. This applies to everything. People in poverty can easily be the ones with no time to see the doctor because they have to put time elsewhere to keep themselves and their families alive. Healthy food is also a privilege. Cheap food is often not as good for us, and cooking a healthy meal takes time some people may not have.
We interviewed Dr. Rose Lange, who has served as a nurse and researcher on the effects of poverty on health. In her experience and understanding she stated that income and health are positively correlated. “More and more in the healthcare arena, is understanding that the social determinants of health make a great impact on someone’s overall health. Living situation, income level, educational level, it all makes a difference.”
When talking about motivation Dr. Lange mentioned not only needing motivation for personal changes but also systemic shifts. “The healthcare arena has focused on individual behaviors for many years and many times claim that their health is not getting better because of their actions. Really, we must go upstream and look at all the political and social factors that are placing individuals in difficult situations.” Individual changes are important for people to keep healthy, but focusing solely on personal responsibility takes away accountability from community and government aid. People will not be motivated to protect their health if they are suffering in more urgent situations.
Stereotype threat can also lead to health delays. Jones et al., (2024) researched this specifically for Black people, though stereotype threat also impacts health delay for schizophrenic and obese people. Stereotype threat is when knowledge of stereotypes about your own demographics then inhibit your performance on tasks that you are ordinarily competent in. In their research, health-related stereotype threat was identified as a notable reason for delay in seeking healthcare. Additionally, medical research on those who are not white men is lacking, which can worsen treatment quality and make the willingness to seek out necessary healthcare worse.
Delaying is not something that one should be ashamed of. Reasons exist outside of our control sometimes. Working to take care of yourself is incredibly important, however, and that absolutely should not be understated. A good focus to have should be learning how to alleviate harmful delay to better help your physical and mental health goals.
Definitions and caveats aside, let’s start the countdown 5 common excuses for not keeping up with your New Years resolutions.
5! - “I don’t have the time or energy.”
Life is busy and tiring, we have a lot of tasks on our plate, and balancing them can be difficult, especially when we are new to the task. Life is tiring and we have a lot on our plate. Adding something can seem near impossible, let alone keeping up with it. And if it isn’t in your daily routine, it becomes even more difficult. Humans are creatures of habit from good things such as brushing our teeth, to harmful habits of drug use, and everything in between (Ersche et al., 2017). This is why, however, consciously altering our habits can be so important, as once they are normal, it becomes like breathing.
Routine can especially come into play when it comes to our sleep and the procrastination of it. Magalhães et al., (2021) discuss the importance of routines in avoiding bedtime procrastination. Specifically, wake-up time and dinner time mediated the relationship between general and academic procrastination and bedtime procrastination. By establishing a consistent routine, procrastination of sleep and the numerous health consequences thereof decrease, so, while it may be difficult, balancing your obligations and establishing routines can aid greatly in decreasing procrastination and, with a newly attained healthy sleep schedule, that low energy may just increase too.
4! - “Now that you told me to... I don’t wanna...”
Knowing you “should” do a task, be it taxes, your homework, cleaning your room, or of course, taking care of your health, often makes one resistant to do it and more likely to procrastinate (Malatincová, 2014). Psychological reactance theory is based on our need to feel like we have freedom of choice in our lives, so when something is imposed on us as what we should be doing, it becomes less appealing. Higher psychological reactance is found to be a negative predictor of health (Pachón-Basallo, 2021). The more often you fall into the trap of “I feel like I have to, so I don’t want to” the worse your health can be. Part of this could be due to procrastinating these health behaviors due to psychological reactance. In Malatincová’s (2014) research, this phenomenon positively predicted task delay. Once that nagging little voice in the back of your head says, hey, you really should start working on your health you react against it. Anything else sounds more appealing than that, so you just put it off for now and do something more enjoyable.
3! - “But it feels so hard.”
Another factor that can get in the way of our health is the difficulty of it. Going to the gym as a novice can be intimidating. It’s hard to figure out a quality diet for yourself that is still enjoyable, especially at first. But sadly, it won’t get better until you’ve done it. Starting is the first step to stop “sucking” at it. The answer is everyone has to suck at it at some point. Rome wasn't built in a day, and everyone has to start as a novice. Self-efficacy, or your belief in your abilities in a given field, can play into motivation for many tasks. One such field is, of course, our health. We have been discussing how procrastination and health behaviors play into each other, but part of that relationship is mediated by self-efficacy (Sirois, 2003). Procrastination often leads to a lower self-efficacy, and lower self-efficacy then relates to our intention to actually perform important health behaviors.
Living with chronic conditions can also have a significant impact on our comfort and behaviors in seeking medical help. One example of procrastination with chronic conditions can be seen in individuals with Type-II Diabetes (Habib Shareinia, 2024). Many factors compound through life, no matter what. Additional conditions only add to this. The condition becomes a looming cloud forcing you to think about how you need to live your life to stay okay, especially when there isn’t any cure, just treatment to manage. Sometimes familial overcare can become a problem, where a constant hovering over every aspect then causes a disincentive to act, and a procrastination of actually doing what is important. Our society doesn’t place high value on our health either, so finding excuses to procrastinate is far easier than actually putting in important work to manage the condition. When it feels too hard then, we give up on ourselves.
Unfortunately, some aspects of life are like a moving sidewalk moving away from where you want to be. Your health is one of these aspects. Staying still will not leave you stagnant, your body will continue to decay no matter what. Even if you are not “good” at first, taking steps to at least stay where you are is a great step. As you continue, you’ll get more confident and competent. Practice makes perfect. The only person you are racing is yourself, and life is a marathon. Take life at the pace you are capable of and work yourself up to the sprint. All-or-nothing thinking isn’t going to help you improve, it will just make you feel bad if you aren’t perfect the first time you try it.
2! - “That’s future me’s problem”
It’s easy to default until the due date is closer to begin our tasks “Due tomorrow, Do tomorrow” and all that. And when it isn’t due for weeks, months, or even years it’s so easy to postpone. Another factor contributing to the likelihood of procrastination is how we view deadlines, if they feel pressing or like we can put them off. When deadlines are far away, such as health concerns that arise with age while one is at their physical peak, it feels okay to put those things off (Zhu, 2018). They won’t affect me now, right? But tomorrow is still important. Another deadline characteristic that can worsen procrastination is when they are unclear and manipulable (Steel et al., 2022). There is no specific and clear deadline for our health. Especially when young, it is very possible to keep pushing it to tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. We can’t empirically know how many days of junk food and being a couch potato will lead to negative health effects and often the positive effects such as increased muscle mass or better mood are just as intangible. When the consequences are far out, why not watch that movie today? Discounting like this is a common theme among procrastinators (Silkane & Austers, 2018). This instant gratification is great in the moment, but when you are old and it is difficult to walk because you kept putting off exercise, you’ll be kicking yourself.
1! - “I know I’ll just fall off like I do every year.”
The psychologist Carol Dweck states that mindset has to do a lot with motivation (Stanford Alumni, 2014). Carol Dweck’s idea of a growth mindset focuses on “yet.” Instead of focusing on what you cannot do, focus on what you cannot do “yet.” This outlook changes one viewing skills as unchangeable and stagnant toward feeling like a person can grow to get better. Focus on the joy of the process rather than the goal. You are not a good or bad athlete; you are working hard to become stronger.
Happy New Year! Now you are ready to start achieving your goals!
Now that we’ve discussed some of those thoughts and reasons, let's progress into more ways to help with your motivation. The main factors moderating our success are our fear of failure, distance from task, and want for the outcome. Psychologist John Atkinson created a model of formulas about people’s tendency for achievement striving, relating to their tendency for success and failure (Reeve, 2018).
The tendencies for success and avoidance of failure were the products of their respective perceived motivation, probability, and incentive.
Tsuccess = Msuccess ∗ Psuccess ∗ Isuccess
Tavoiding failure = Mavoiding failure ∗ Pavoiding failure ∗ Iavoiding failure
The tendency for achievement striving was then the difference between the tendency for success and the tendency for avoiding failure. If you have a high tendency for success and a low tendency to avoid failure then you will strive to achieve much more than if your tendency to avoid failure is much higher.
Tachievement striving = Tsuccess - Tavoiding failure
If something feels unlikely, but you are highly motivated and there is a great incentive, you’re likely to find a way and get it. But if you are focusing on how unlikely it is, you might lower your motivation and feel like you’re doomed to fail, so you might as well not try, better to avoid falling on your face with failure. Keeping this in mind, reminding ourselves of the incentives for success and finding ways to motivate ourselves can really help us to achieve our goals more often. You miss one hundred percent of the shots you don’t take. – Wayne Gretzky
Next, instead of calling it tomorrow’s problem, invest in yourself today. Your future self will be glad you did so. It is achievable and will make your future better. Just as financially it is best to invest money to prepare for your retirement, keeping active and healthy will prepare you for a better older life and push back against decreases in mobility, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, anxiety, depression, dementia, and even cancer. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2024; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2022; World Health Organization, 2024)
Finally, take your goals one step at a time. If you jump from nothing to everything, falling back to nothing will be far easier. If you take the time to build your new health goals into your routine, scaffolding yourself step by step, you may just find it to be easier to maintain. Start small, put on running shoes, take a five-minute walk, and continue to grow from there. Soon enough you’ll be sprinting to the finish line of your New Year’s goals.
Congrats on your newfound plan for a successful new year!
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