Fuschia Sirois on Speaking of Psychology, reviewed
In this 2022 episode of the APA's Speaking of Psychology, Durham University's Fuschia Sirois explains why procrastination is an emotion-regulation problem rather than laziness or bad time management, what chronic procrastination does to health, and why self-compassion, not self-punishment, is the evidence-backed response to a lapse.
Watching loads the player from youtube-nocookie.com. Video by American Psychological Association, featuring Prof Fuschia Sirois; embedded for review purposes.
| Creator | American Psychological Association, featuring Prof Fuschia Sirois |
|---|---|
| Length | 35 minutes |
| Published | 2022 |
| Type | Research interview |
| Best for | The health costs and the self-compassion evidence, from their author |
What the interview covers
Sirois makes three arguments. First, procrastination is a mood-management strategy: we avoid tasks that make us feel bad, and the avoidance is rewarded by instant relief. Second, chronic procrastination has measurable health costs, higher stress, worse cardiovascular indicators, delayed treatment-seeking, findings from her own research programme. Third, the way out of the shame loop is self-compassion, because harsh self-criticism adds negative emotion to a problem caused by negative emotion. She is careful with claims and repeatedly distinguishes occasional delay from chronic procrastination.
Where it matches the research
Sirois wrote much of the relevant research, including the 2013 self-compassion study and the 2014 health-cost work our library summarises, so alignment is close to total. Her insistence that telling a procrastinator to 'just manage time better' misdiagnoses the problem is the same conclusion Solomon and Rothblum reached in 1984, when students' own reasons for delay were dominated by fear and aversion rather than scheduling.
The honest criticism
It is audio-first content, a podcast with a static image, so there is nothing gained by watching rather than listening. The format is question-and-answer rather than a structured method, and the practical advice, while sound, is brief: reframe the task, find meaning in it, forgive yourself for lapses. Listeners who want a step-by-step system will need to build one from a technique page afterwards. None of this touches the substance, which is excellent.
The interview draws directly on Sirois's published work on self-compassion, stress and health outcomes in procrastinators.
Sirois, F. M. (2014). Procrastination and stress: Exploring the role of self-compassion. Self and Identity, 13(2), 128-145. https://doi.org/10.1080/15298868.2013.763404
Sirois, F. M., Melia-Gordon, M. L., & Pychyl, T. A. (2003). "I'll look after my health, later": An investigation of procrastination and health. Personality and Individual Differences, 35(5), 1167-1184. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(02)00326-4
Related
Sirois on self-compassionSirois on health costsSolomon & Rothblum 1984Why you procrastinate
Frequently asked questions
Why does self-compassion reduce procrastination rather than encourage it?
Because procrastination is driven by negative feelings about a task, and self-criticism adds more negative feeling. Sirois's research found self-compassion lowers the stress that fuels avoidance. Forgiving a lapse is not the same as excusing it; it clears the emotional debris so you can start again.