Attention and Memory Lab · interactive model · version 1.0
Procrastination Loop
Explore an illustrative procrastination feedback loop. Change the model inputs and see how its assumptions affect the behaviour shown.
Procrastination can sustain itself because putting a task off brings quick relief from the bad feeling the task causes, and that relief makes putting things off more likely next time — while the unfinished work, and the stress about it, keep growing. This interactive model shows those loops; it illustrates the ideas and does not measure or predict anyone.
An illustration, not a measurement. Every arrow shows only a direction. The model has no numbers and no time scale, and it does not predict how anyone behaves. Each arrow's evidence is set out below.
Press the top half of a circle to raise it, the bottom half to lower it. Model drawn with LOOPY by Nicky Case.
Most explanations of procrastination describe one cause at a time: poor time management, low willpower, a hard task. The research points to something more circular. A task that feels unpleasant gets put off; putting it off feels better straight away; and feeling better is exactly what makes the same choice more likely tomorrow. Meanwhile the work does not go anywhere.
The model below draws those links as arrows so you can watch them act on each other. Start a change at one point and follow it round.
How to use the model
Each circle is something that can go up or down: how much work is left, how stressed you feel about it, and so on. Each arrow shows what a change does to the next circle — a + arrow passes the change on in the same direction, a − arrow reverses it.
To change an input, use one of the buttons above the model, or press the top half of any circle to raise it and the bottom half to lower it. Small dots then travel along the arrows and change the circles they reach. Reset puts every circle back where it started.
Watch for two things: changes that come back round and grow, and changes that come back round and cancel themselves out.
Assumptions, arrow by arrow
Every link in the model, with how well it is supported. The levels mean:
- Definition — True by what the words mean.
- Supported — The direction matches a cited research finding.
- Theory — Follows from an established principle, applied here by argument.
- Assumption — Plausible and commonly advised, but not shown by a source on this page.
| Link | Effect | Evidence | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work left to do → Stress about the task | + raises | Supported | More work left means more stress about it. In a semester-long study of students, those who procrastinated reported less stress early in the term and more by the end, when the postponed work fell due. (Tice & Baumeister, 1997) |
| Stress about the task → Putting it off | + raises | Supported | The more unpleasant a task feels, the more it gets put off. A meta-analysis found how aversive a task feels to be one of the most consistent predictors of procrastination. "Stress" here stands in for that broader unpleasantness. (Steel, 2007) |
| Putting it off → Work left to do | + raises | Definition | Putting it off leaves the work still to do. True by definition in the short run. The model ignores deadlines that simply pass, and tasks that turn out not to matter. |
| Putting it off → Short-term relief | + raises | Supported | Putting it off brings quick relief. Procrastination has been described as giving priority to repairing mood now over goals later: avoiding the task makes the bad feeling go away, for the moment. (Sirois & Pychyl, 2013) |
| Short-term relief → Stress about the task | − lowers | Supported | Relief lowers stress — briefly. The relief is real but short-lived. The model cannot show "briefly", which is one of its main limits: every arrow here acts at the same speed. (Sirois & Pychyl, 2013) |
| Short-term relief → Habit of putting off | + raises | Theory | Relief makes putting things off more of a habit. This applies negative reinforcement — a behaviour that removes an unpleasant feeling becomes more likely to be repeated — to procrastination. It is a well-established learning principle applied by argument, not a measured effect. |
| Habit of putting off → Putting it off | + raises | Theory | A stronger habit means more putting it off. What a habit means, applied here. How strong the pull is varies enormously between people and tasks. |
| Small first steps → Work left to do | − lowers | Definition | A small first step reduces the work left. Any work done is work no longer left, however small. |
| Small first steps → Stress about the task | − lowers | Assumption | Starting small makes the task feel less daunting. Commonly advised and plausible, but no source on this page shows it. It is included so the model has a way out, and labelled so you can judge it. |
What each circle stands for
- Work left to do — How much of the task is still unfinished.
- Stress about the task — How unpleasant the task feels to think about — the dread, worry or boredom attached to it.
- Putting it off — Choosing something else instead of starting or continuing the task.
- Short-term relief — The immediate lift in mood from not having to face the task right now.
- Habit of putting off — How automatic it has become to reach for something else when this kind of task comes up.
- Small first steps — Doing a concrete, short piece of the task — opening the file, writing one line.
The three loops
A loop is reinforcing when a change travels round and comes back pushing the same way, so it grows. It is balancing when the change comes back reversed, so it settles. Count the − arrows: an even number (including none) makes a reinforcing loop, an odd number a balancing one.
The pile-up loop (reinforcing)
Stress about the task → Putting it off → Work left to do → Stress about the task
Stress leads to putting it off, which leaves more work, which adds stress. Left alone, a change here keeps growing in the same direction.
The habit loop (reinforcing)
Putting it off → Short-term relief → Habit of putting off → Putting it off
Putting it off brings relief, relief strengthens the habit, and the habit leads to more putting it off. This is the loop that makes procrastination a pattern rather than a one-off.
The relief loop (balancing)
Stress about the task → Putting it off → Short-term relief → Stress about the task
Stress leads to putting it off, which brings relief, which lowers stress. This loop pushes back against change — which is exactly why avoiding a task works, for a while, and why it is so tempting.
Practical reflection
The model is not a diagnosis, but it can be a useful set of questions about a task you keep putting off:
- What exactly feels unpleasant about it? Boredom, fear of doing it badly and not knowing where to start are different problems.
- What do you do instead, and how quickly does it help? The faster the relief, the stronger the pull of the habit loop.
- What is the smallest real piece of it? Something that takes five minutes and leaves the work visibly smaller.
- When does the stress arrive? If it only builds near the deadline, the relief loop is doing its job early and the pile-up loop is waiting.
If putting things off is affecting your health, work or relationships, or comes with persistent low mood or anxiety, that is worth talking to a GP or counsellor about.
What the model cannot tell you
- It has no numbers. Arrows show direction only. The model cannot say how much stress a given amount of work causes, or how many days a habit takes to form.
- Every arrow acts at the same speed. In reality relief arrives in seconds and the work catches up over days or weeks. That timing difference is central to procrastination, and the model cannot show it.
- Nothing stops. Some loops here grow without limit in the model. Real stress, workload and habits are bounded, and deadlines end the loop by passing.
- It leaves out a great deal. Impulsiveness, conscientiousness, confidence in doing the task well, distraction and how far away the reward is all matter in the research, and none is drawn here.
- It is not a person. The same model does not describe everyone. It is a picture of a common pattern to think with, not an assessment.
Version history
| Version | Date | What changed |
|---|---|---|
| 1.0 | First published. |
Sources
- Steel, P. (2007). The nature of procrastination: A meta-analytic and theoretical review of quintessential self-regulatory failure. Psychological Bulletin, 133(1), 65–94. doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.133.1.65
- Sirois, F., & Pychyl, T. (2013). Procrastination and the priority of short-term mood regulation: Consequences for future self. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 7(2), 115–127. doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12011
- Tice, D. M., & Baumeister, R. F. (1997). Longitudinal study of procrastination, performance, stress, and health: The costs and benefits of dawdling. Psychological Science, 8(6), 454–458. doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.1997.tb00460.x
LOOPY is released into the public domain (CC0) by Nicky Case; see open-source licences.