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Nik Pathran's avatar

Really enjoyed this breakdown of procrastination as an issue of emotional regulation rather than a simple failure of time management.

It points to something I’ve been exploring:- procrastination often signals a misalignment between our identity and the task at hand. When a task threatens our self-image, we don’t delay out of laziness... we delay to avoid internal dissonance.

Seeing procrastination as a conflict between who we believe we are and what the task demands could be crucial for long-term change.

Loved this research-backed take!

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Susannah Mary Leopold's avatar

Have you written a piece about internal dissonance here? Would love to read it if you have

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Nik Pathran's avatar

Not yet, but it’s definitely something I’m planning to write about in the future. Especially how internal dissonance ties into identity, self-talk, and the resistance we feel in everyday tasks. I’ll be sure to share it when it’s live!

And, in case you are interested in my take on Identity, you can check out my article on Intentional Identity design here: https://thepragmaticmind.substack.com/p/intentional-identity-design-framework

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Susannah Mary Leopold's avatar

Thanks for the link! I've saved it for later and will keep an eye out for your internal dissonance piece!

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Nik Pathran's avatar

Appreciate that! I see inner dissonance as a key concept too. It’s at the heart of so many invisible resistance patterns we deal with daily.

It ties into what I call the "Dynamic Layer: Underlying forces influencing identity" of my 'Intentional Identity Design Framework (IIDF).'

I might be covering a few other foundational elements first (from "Pillar 1: Defining Elements of identity," "Pillar 2: Inner foundation of identity," & "Pillar 3: Identity in action" of my IIDF framework), but inner dissonance is definitely on the roadmap. I’ll make sure to share when it’s ready 🙌

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Susannah Mary Leopold's avatar

Personally, I know that I'm more likely to procrastinate on tasks if I'm stressed or overwhelmed in general - like if I'm stressed because of work, I put off taking out the bins. Even though, in general, I'm not a procrastinator and have a pretty high intrinsic level of motivation. Which I bet most people writing on substack have 😅

I wonder if it's connected to a lower dopamine baseline as well - seeing as that affects motivation. I wrote a post about that here, maybe some of your readers would be interested: https://open.substack.com/pub/brainhealthandcapitalism/p/i-dont-believe-in-laziness-anymore

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Erman Misirlisoy, PhD's avatar

That's really interesting, and it makes total sense. Emotions often have global effects on behavior; just the difference of happy vs sad has a huge impact on how much I want to see friends or take on a challenge or go for a workout, etc

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Susannah Mary Leopold's avatar

It's so interesting when you see something you understand instinctively backed up/explained by neuroscience!

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