Procrastination Test
Procrastination encompasses a range of behaviors centered around the phenomenon of postponing important activities until the last moment. Though studies indicate that procrastination is common and associated with poorer professional and academic performance, the disposition to procrastinate is often not taken seriously or merely shamed as being lazy.
This test is based on the Procrastinatory Cognitions Inventory (PCI), developed by Murray Stainton and colleagues for measuring a person’s inclination to procrastinate.
Do you have a tendency to procrastinate? For each of the following questions, indicate how well it describes you below.
Question 1 of 15
I often blame myself for not starting on my tasks earlier and/or wonder why I didn’t start on them.
| Disagree | Agree |
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The IDRlabs Procrastination Test (IDR-PT) was developed by IDRlabs. The IDR-PT is based on the work of Murray Stainton and colleagues, who created the PCI. The IDR-PT is not associated with any specific researchers in the field of personality psychology, clinical psychology, or any affiliated research institutions.
The IDRlabs Procrastination Test was informed by the PCI’s criteria for procrastination, as published in Stainton, M., Lay, C. H., & Flett, G. L. (2000). Trait procrastinators and behavior/trait-specific cognitions. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 15, 297-312. Flett, G., Stainton, M., Hewitt, P., Sherry, S., & Lay, C. (2012). Procrastination automatic thoughts as a personality construct: An analysis of the procrastinatory cognitions inventory. Journal of Rational-Emotional Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, 30, 223-236.
The test provides feedback such as the following: Your answers suggest that you are struggling with a severe degree of procrastination. You very often postpone important activities in favor of less important (or even enjoyable) ones, and this tendency very likely interferes with your work or academic progress as well as your personal wellbeing (indeed, causing higher stress levels, anxiety, depression, and so on). For instance, you frequently find that you are paying your bills late, you delay working on important projects until it is unrealistic for you to meet your deadlines, and you habitually wait until the last minute to get things done.
The work of Stainton and colleagues has also informed some of the diagnostic criteria in the form of the PCI, a widely used psychological instrument for clinical use especially by qualified mental health professionals. The present test is intended for educational purposes only. IDRlabs and the present IDRlabs Procrastination Test are independent of the above researchers, organizations, or their affiliated institutions.
The Procrastination Test is based on a famous and well-regarded inventory for the assessment of the clinical concept of procrastination. However, free online tests and quizzes such as this one are solely first takes and cannot provide accurate assessments of your potential condition. Hence, the test is intended to be used for educational purposes only. A definitive mental health assessment can be made only by a qualified mental health professional.
As the publishers of this free online procrastination test, which allows you to screen yourself for the signs of the tendency to put off bothersome tasks, we have striven to make the test as reliable and valid as possible by subjecting it to statistical controls and validation. However, free online quizzes such as the present procrastination test do not provide professional assessments or recommendations of any kind; the test is provided entirely “as-is.” For more information about any of our online tests and quizzes, please consult our Terms of Service.
Why Use This Test?
1. Free. This procrastination test is delivered to you free of charge and will allow you to obtain your scores related to characteristic attitudes of procrastination.
2. Clinically oriented. The feedback delivered by this instrument is based on the work of researchers and Ph.D.s and is designed to deliver a clear clinical picture of the respondent’s current behavior indicating procrastination as measured according to standardized items.
3. Statistical controls. Statistical analysis of the test is conducted to ensure maximum accuracy and validity of the test scores.
4. Made by professionals. The present test has been made with the input of people who work professionally with psychology and individual differences research.