01
–
Where did
all my time go?

Canadian psychologist Pierce Steele surveyed more than 24,000 people worldwide; 95% of interviewers admitted that they occasionally experienced procrastination.

Where did all my time go?

I sought to examine the stark contrast between planned time and time spent procrastinating. I used my own life as a case study, as well as encouraging others to record the ways they spend their time. By creating metrics for just how much of our daily lives are spent procrastinating, perhaps we can help uncover methods for better managing our time.

How does procrastination happen?

According to a self-reported empirical study on my own schedule and execution, the causes of procrastination are the following:

Frustration with the work itself
Distractions
Stopping to relieve stress
Perfectionism (preventing me from moving on)

And they can potentially be dealt with by following solutions:

Mandatory supervision
Varying focus on different elements of the work
Implementing the 5-minute Rule
Use visual reminders

A visual experiment illustrating my own procrastination over one month. Different colors indicate the supposed causes for each bout of procrastination.︎︎︎

Primary visualisation / ideas on infographics

A visual experiment of my own procrastination in 1 month. It's different colors indicate that I have caused my own delay for different reasons.

I experimented with colour and form as methods of recording daily activity, as well as its interruption through procrastination. Giving this data a semiotic quality contributed to identifying patterns.

Outcome No. 1
Infographics

Through my research I found that people tend to experience procrastination in a cycle, where individual stages of emotion repeat in sequence. I illustrated this in the form of a hand-cranked book, in which text and visuals playfully clash and corrupt one another in an ironic representation of my daily plans overcome by procrastination. By turning the book’s handle the viewer experiences the physical struggle of this endless cycle; therefore, the cyclical nature of this process is further emphasised in their view.