Article Preview
TopIntroduction
Some individuals delay in getting tasks done due to possibly irrational reasons (Ferrari, 2011). The phenomenon is known as task procrastination and consists of postponing what is necessary to meet a goal (Lay, 1986). Procrastination is a complex, multidimensional behavior manifesting in different ways and in different situations, such as in social, professional, health-related, and creative environments (Subotnik, Steiner, & Chakraborty, 1999), with impacts on an individual’s performance (Rotenstein, Davis, & Tatum, 2009) and mental health (Höcker et al., 2012). Academic research sees procrastination as part of an individual’s traits or as a complex phenomenon with multiple environmental antecedents. In the first case, individuals with low scrupulosity (spontaneous behavior, as compared to planned behavior) or who are highly neurotic or emotionally unstable tend to manifest procrastinatory behavior (Watson, 2001).
The present study is interested in the second case―the environmental antecedents of procrastination. Indeed, while procrastination is usually explained by personality and biological factors, a complex network of other factors also influences procrastinatory behavior (Van Eerde, 2003a; Steel, 2007). However, we have little knowledge about the factors that are external to the individuals (Grunschel, Patrzek, & Fries, 2013) and that manifest in the work environment (Metin, Peeters, & Taris, 2018). Also, on one hand, organizations and scholars have limited access to, and control over, the personal traits of individuals due to ethical and operational reasons, thus it is not generally desirable or practical to map or try to modify those traits towards minimizing procrastination at work. On the other hand, mapping and managing the work environment’s factors that facilitate or inhibit procrastination is a much more viable research opportunity as it does not involve meddling in someone else’s private issues.
Moreover, task procrastination is not topical in information technology (IT) research (Breems & Basden, 2014). The IT literature used to address procrastination only as a personality issue (Steel, 2007) or as related to problematic Internet use (Davis, Flett, & Besser, 2002). Studies are also outdated and gaps persist in framing how procrastination manifests in the IT profession as well as the external causes acting over the individual IT worker. A possible explanation for procrastination not being topical in IT research is that the IT professionals have been characterized as exhibiting low neuroticism (Balijepally, Mahapatra, & Nerur, 2006), which is a characteristic of non-procrastinators (Watson, 2001). Also in favor of there being scant IT research on the topic is the typical pressure on the IT worker for task delivery, such as when working under the agile development paradigm (Kamei et al., 2017). However, as the global demand for skilled IT professionals continues to rise due to their centrality in modern businesses (Bellini et al., 2019) and since procrastination may impact task performance (Metin, Peeters, & Taris, 2018; Rotenstein, Davis, & Tatum, 2009), we advocate revisiting procrastination in the IT workplace.