Why We Put It Off and How to Stop w/ Deacon Joe Ferrari
We all procrastinate sometimes. For about one in five adults, though, putting things off is a chronic habit that can hurt careers, strain relationships and keep people from the lives they want.
This week on Next Steps Forward, Dr. Chris Meek talks with Deacon Joe Ferrari, a psychology professor at DePaul University in Chicago who has spent more than 40 years studying procrastination. He's been called "the man who made procrastination his life's work" and wrote Still Procrastinating? The No Regrets Guide to Getting It Done.
Deacon Joe explains why procrastination isn't the same as laziness, what separates an occasional delay from a chronic pattern, and why people keep avoiding tasks even when they know the consequences. He also gets into how fear of failure, fear of success and perfectionism can keep people from starting.
Then the conversation turns to practical help:
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Whether chronic procrastination can be "cured" or only managed, and what unlearning it looks like
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Whether "do the hardest task first" and "I work better under pressure" hold up to research
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How guilt and shame can lead to more procrastination, and why self-forgiveness matters
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Advice for employers, and for parents of teens who leave everything to the last minute
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Whether smartphones and AI will help us get things done or just give us new ways to stall
Whether you've been putting off a big project, a hard conversation or a long-held dream, this episode gives you a reason, and a plan, to start today.
About Deacon Joe Ferrari: Deacon Joe Ferrari is a professor of psychology at DePaul University in Chicago, and he's invested more than four decades studying why we procrastinate, what it costs us and, most importantly, what we can do to overcome it. Deacon Joe is an internationally recognized researcher and the author or co-author of numerous scholarly publications and three books, including Still Procrastinating? The No Regrets Guide to Getting It Done.