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Biofeedback ÓAssociation for Applied Psychophysiology & Biofeedback
Volume 42, Issue 2, pp. 82–87 www.aapb.org
DOI: 10.5298/1081-5937-42.2.06
FEATURE ARTICLEFEATURE ARTICLE
Increase Productivity, Decrease Procrastination, and
Increase Energy
Erik Peper, PhD, BCB,
1
Richard Harvey, PhD,
1
I-Mei Lin, PhD, BCB,
2
and Padma Duvvuri
1
1
Institute for Holistic Health Studies, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA
2
Kaohsiung Medical University, Taiwan
Keywords: procrastination, self-blame, mental rehearsal, self-acceptance, visualization
Procrastination, self-blame, and unproductive behavior are
widespread problems in student populations and in human
beings generally. The authors present a framework, called
Transforming Failure into Success, which is utilized in
undergraduate classes and based on self-observation, self-
acceptance, and mental rehearsal of positive changes. They
provide instructions and guidelines for positive mental
rehearsal. They present a study comparing matched groups
of undergraduate students, an intervention group that
learned the Transforming Failure into Success approach,
and a control group that did not. Both groups completed
Likert-type scales assessing procrastination, productivity,
and energy level. The students in the intervention group
showed significant improvements in reducing procrastina-
tion, improving productivity, and increasing energy.
All of a sudden I no longer procrastinated
I felt more motivated to get things done
After practicing this exercise for a week, my productivity
significantly increased
I felt more in control of my life in a fun way that made me feel
successful
Every time it increased my mood, confidence and energy
levels
—Responses by students who practice the weekly exercise
Introduction: Procrastination and
Unproductive Behavior
Everyone procrastinates sometimes; yet, putting off some-
thing we set out to do can leave us feeling unproductive,
drained of energy, and often guilty. These feelings can also
contribute to dysphoria, depression, and self-recrimination.
When human beings reflect on their own activity, they
often using blaming language such as ‘‘I should not have
done that,’’ ‘‘That was stupid,’’ or ‘‘What was I thinking?’’
and so forth. The challenge is how to change this blaming
language—through which the person continues to rehearse
how they have failed—to instead focus on how to change
and succeed.
Over the last thirty years we have developed numerous
strategies to transform the self-blaming approach into
positive problem-solving solutions (Ratkovich, Fletcher,
Peper, & Harvey, 2012). One of these practices, Trans-
forming Failure into Success, appears to be very useful for
students. When practiced daily, students often report a
decrease in procrastination and an increase in productivity
and energy.
The purpose of this paper is to describe the concepts
underlying the practice of transforming failure into success.
We also report on a study comparing matched groups of
students, an intervention group that practiced the Trans-
forming Failure into Success approach, and a control group
that did not. A Likert-type rating scale was completed by
participants in both groups to assess how much this
approach changed students’ self-ratings of procrastination,
productivity, and energy level.
Background: The Psychology of
Procrastination
Procrastination is familiar to most people. Human beings
often delay doing their homework or other important tasks,
and repeatedly declare they will start their exercise program
or diets ‘‘tomorrow’’ (Ariely & Wertenbroch, 2002; Schraw,
Wadkins, & Olafson, 2007; Solomon & Rothblum, 1984).
Studies have found that people who procrastinate have
significantly lower GPAs and lower self-efficacy for self-
regulation than non-procrastinators (Klassen, Krawchuk, &
Rajani, 2008). Procrastination is also related to greater
disorganization and less use of cognitive and metacognitive
strategies (Howell & Watson, 2007).
Our ongoing thoughts and framing of past experiences
becomethetemplateforourfuturebehavior.Ifwe
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Summer 2014 |Biofeedback
procrastinate often and label ourselves a ‘‘ procrastinator,’’
we increase our chances of repeating that behavior. It is
easy to look back and blame or criticize yourself for not
having done something you feel you should have done, or
having done something you later regret doing. We often
try to analyze and ask why we acted a certain way. People
often use the image of failure to beat themselves up,
repeatedly chastising themselves: ‘‘I shouldn’t have done . .
.’’ or ‘‘I can never seem to . . .’’ We may even believe that
this process of repeatedly reminding ourselves of what we
did wrong is a good strategy to make sure it won’t happen
again. Unfortunately, this strategy only strengthens the
memory of the mistake. The more times you mentally
rehearse an action, the more likely it is that you will you
repeat it. Our clinical model emphasizes changing one’s
thoughts and images through cognitive behavior therapy to
significantly improve clinical outcome. This approach has
been shown to be effective for depression, panic disorder
with or without agoraphobia, social phobia, posttraumatic
stress disorder, somatoform disorders, eating disorders,
insomnia, and personality disorders (Butler, Chapman,
Forman, & Beck, 2006; Hofmann, Asnaani, Vonk, Sawyer,
& Fang, 2012).
What is Mental Rehearsal?
Mental rehearsal is role-playing in your imagination. The
more you imagine yourself performing the desired (or
undesired!) behavior, the more likely it is that you will
actually perform that behavior. Mental imagery is a process
in which a behavior or a performance is rehearsed mentally,
as if the person is actually performing it (Liu, Chan, Lee, &
Hui-Chan, 2004; Wilson, Peper, & Schmid, 2005). Every
thought we think is a form of mental rehearsal that
strengthens the neural connections in our brains. Even
when you say, I should not have done that, in your brain
you rehearse what you did not want to do, which increases
the probability that you will do the same thing again! By
acknowledging what we did and using that as a trigger to
imagine a new way of acting, we interrupt the rehearsal and
use the experience as an opportunity for improvement and
growth.
Mental rehearsal gives us an opportunity to take charge
and change situations in which we have made mistakes. It is
a process of accepting what is and what happened without
blaming, judging, or criticizing ourselves. It helps reframe
mistakes and personal failures as valuable lessons that
provide feedback essential for learning and growth. We
accept that—given our history, maturity, and circumstanc-
es—what we actually did was the only thing we could have
done. The past memory of the personal failure or poor
coping behavior becomes an opportunity and trigger to
imagine ourselves acting more wisely, compassionately, or
in whatever manner we would prefer. Thus, we rehearse
and strengthen the desirable behavior.
Even the language by which we describe our potential
goals will affect the outcome. For example, a person who
desires to stop smoking can describe himself as a
‘‘nonsmoker’’ or as a ‘‘ smoker trying to stop.’’ Generally,
the concept of the nonsmoker leads to more success than
that of a smoker trying to stop. In the latter case, the person
continuously evokes the image of smoking and attempts to
stop.
Almost all athletes and artists mentally rehearse their
performance as the major tool in enhancing their optimal
performance. This is illustrated by a golfer who hits a ball
into the pond: Instead of cursing himself and constantly
repeating, ‘‘I should not have hit the ball into the pond,’’ the
wise golfer acknowledges the error and then asks himself,
‘‘What was the problem?’’ He then considers that he might
not have hit the ball hard enough or that he might not have
accounted for the cross winds—or that he did not know and
needed to ask a consultant for suggestions. He decides that
he did not account for the cross winds and then asks, ‘‘How
could I have done it differently to get the outcome I
wanted?’’ He then imagines exactly how hard and in what
direction to hit the ball. He mentally rehearses the
appropriate swing a number of times, each time seeing
the ball landing on the green just a short putt away from
the fifth hole. As he images this perfect swing, he feels it in
hisbody.Whenhisgolfingpartneraskshimwhat
happened when his ball went into the pond, he answers,
‘‘It went into the pond, and let me now tell you how I
would hit it now.’’ Thus, the past error becomes the cue to
rehearse the desired behavior.
To make the mental rehearsal even more useful, this
same golfer could continue this mental practice after every
swing. In addition, he might imagine a slightly different
situation coming up in the future and imagine himself
performing perfectly also in that situation. For example, he
might imagine that he will be confronted by a large sand
trap. Again, he calculates the force necessary to clear the
obstacle, feels himself doing it perfectly, and visualizes
watching the ball sail across to the green on the other side.
Mental rehearsal has also been used as a rehabilitation
program to promote the relearning of daily tasks and
improve the planning and execution for both trained and
untrained tasks for people after an acute stroke (Liu et al.,
2004). In addition, mental rehearsal is a training strategy to
enhance body movement for athletes (Callow & Hardy,
2001) and may be a convenient and low-cost technique to
Peper et al.
83
Biofeedback |Summer 2014
promote physical activity among inactive individuals (Chan
& Cameron, 2012).
Instructions and Guidelines for Positive
Mental Rehearsal
Mental rehearsal can be done immediately after a mistake
or misstep has been made, or it can be done regularly with
time and space set aside for visualization. We can all play
Monday morning quarterback, since hindsight has ‘‘ 20/20
vision,’’ but to change and not repeat our mistakes requires
observation and persistence. This means that when you
notice yourself thinking, ‘‘I wish I’d done that different-
ly’’—Stop! Give yourself credit that you did the only thing
you could have done and that you could NOT have done it
any differently given your history, skills, and environmen-
tal factors at that moment. Accept what happened and
recognize that you are now ready to explore new options.
Next, breathe and relax, then ask yourself, ‘‘ If I could do
this over, how would I do it now given the new wisdom I
have gained?’’ Then imagine yourself doing it in the new
way.
For a more structured mental rehearsal practice, begin by
thinking of a past behavior you would like to change. Take
time to observe the problem and identify new solutions.
During the visualization, you might elaborate upon and
change your pattern. Finally, each day observe an action
you experience as an error (however small) and at that
moment mentally rewrite how you would like to have
behaved. Use the following five-step process:
1. Think of a past conflict or area of behavior with which
you are dissatisfied.
2. Accept that it was the only way you could have done it
under the circumstances.
3. Ask, ‘‘Given the wisdom I have now, how could I have
done this differently?’’
4. See yourself in that same situation but behaving
differently, using the wisdom you now have (rehearse
this step a number of times). When rehearsing, it is
important to see and feel yourself completely immersed
in the situation. Be very specific, and engage as many of
the senses as you can.
5. Smile and congratulate yourself for taking charge of
programming your own future.
Again, remember that the more senses you invoke in
your imagination and visualization, the more real the
experience will feel and the more it will ingrain into a new
action. Imagine every small step, sensation, and thought—
everything that would occur when you actually do the task.
How you image the task is not important. Some people see
it in living color while others only have a sense of it. Just
take yourself through the new activity. Rewriting the past
takes practice. During the mental rehearsal the old pattern
often reasserts itself. Just let it go and practice again. If it
continues to recur, ask yourself, ‘‘What do I need to learn
from this; what is my lesson?’’
The following shows a possible "rewrite" of coming
home at night overindulging in beer and pizza:
I walked to the door, inserted the key into the upper lock and
turned the handle. I pushed the door open, flung my coat
over the chair and kicked off my shoes. I walked into the
kitchen and as I started to go to the fridge, I stopped, took a
gentle breath, and exhaled. I checked inside; what was I
feeling? I paused. Then I turned to the sink, got a glass, filled
it with water and drank it. I took another breath, pulled up
the chair and reached for the phone. I felt lonely. I called
Frank and we talked for a few minutes. Then, I hung up the
phone, walked to the bathroom, squeezed peppermint
toothpaste on my toothbrush, brushed my teeth and went
to bed.
Only you can change yourself, and you can only change
yourself. Remember that others have the freedom and the
right to react in their own way. In your imagery, see
yourself changing. Others may also change in their
response to your change; however, they have the right
NOT to change.
Finally, there are many settings in which we have no
control and, regardless of our behaviors, nothing would be
different (e.g., being abused as a young child). In such cases,
the adaptive response is to acknowledge what happened,
reaffirm that you are no longer the same person as when
the experience occurred, then take a deep breath and relax,
and let go while knowing that this personal experience has
taught you a set of coping skills that have nurtured your
growth and development.
Research Study
Thousands of students in our undergraduate classes over
the last 30 years have reported that the practice of mental
rehearsal significantly reduced their procrastination, and
increased productivity and energy. However, until now, we
did not objectively measure the impact of this cognitive
practice exercise (Peper, Gibney, & Holt, 2002). This study
explores the effect of practicing Transforming Failure into
Success as a class homework assignment for one week and
compares the data to a similar group of students who did
not practice.
Increase Productivity, Decrease Procrastination
84
Summer 2014 |Biofeedback
Participants
The cross-section of two groups of upper division college
students completed questionnaires for the study. Seventy-
one participants (22 males and 49 females, mean age 23.2
years) were sampled from a Holistic Health class in which
they practiced self-care/stress management techniques
throughout the semester. Seventy-one respondents (19
males and 52 females, mean age 22.8 years) were sampled
from comparable Health Education classes in which they
did not practice self-care/stress management techniques.
Procedure
Participants in the Holistic Health intervention group were
assigned a daily practice focused on recording self-
observations of specific cognitions in a daily log, which
was turned in each week. The observed cognitions revolved
around self-acceptance as well as ‘‘ transforming failure into
success,’’ as described in detail in the book Make Health
Happen (Practice 10; Peper et al., 2002). After several weeks
of practice, the impact of this exercise was assessed by an
anonymous questionnaire. The questionnaire assessed
behavioral change on a 11-point Likert-type scale, from
5toþ5, with a neutral midpoint of 0, with sample items
asking how often they did their practice, as well as how
their procrastination, productivity, and energy level had
changed. The Health Education comparison group complet-
ed the same questionnaire at the same time point in the
semester.
Results
The response rate of the questionnaire in the Holistic
Health intervention group was 50% (71 out of 141 email
addresses in the class). The response rate of the question-
naire in the Health Education group was 70% (71 out of
102 in the class). The Holistic Health intervention group
reported practicing the cognitive exercise almost daily (M¼
6.7 times per week, SD ¼2.2). There were no differences
between the groups based on age or sex. The intervention
group as compared to the comparison group reported a
significant decrease in procrastination (p,0.01), and
significant increases in productivity (p,0.01) and in
energy (p,0.01), as analyzed by ttest (Figure).
There was no significant correlation between (a) age,
gender, and frequency of practice, and (b) procrastination,
productivity, and energy. There were significant correla-
tions between energy and productivity (r¼0.7, p,0.05),
energy and procrastination (r¼0.4, p,0.05), and
productivity and procrastination (r¼0.4, p,0.05) as
shown in the Table.
For the Holistic Health intervention group, the ques-
tionnaire responses were cross-validated with the students
written logs, which were submitted by all students for class,
and there were no differences between the students who
responded to the email survey and those who did not.
Nearly all of the Holistic Health intervention group
students reported that their productivity and energy had
increased while their procrastination had decreased. They
cited numerous examples such as:
The more I ‘‘revised’’ the failure into success, the more I
make that scenario productive and that made me more
productive.
I felt more empowered and that it gave me more energy.
I felt more motivated to get things done.
After practicing this exercise for a week, my productivity
significantly increased.
The more I imagined changing my habits, the more likely I
was to follow through getting things done.
Discussion
The cognitive practice of self-observations focused on
Transforming Failure into Success appearstohavea
beneficial effect of reducing procrastination, increasing
productivity, and increasing energy level. One plausible
mechanism relates to helping a person accept their behavior
as the only thing they could have done under the
circumstances, followed by problem solving to develop
new strategies which can be implemented to achieve a
desired outcome or behavior. The exercise steers away from
negative self-talk and self-blame, and steers toward
Figure. Change in self-report of procrastination, productivity, and energy level.
Peper et al.
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Biofeedback |Summer 2014
visualizing new strategies for achieving positive movement
in pursuit of goals. A typical example of negative self-talk
is: ‘‘Somehow, I was so busy that I forgot to do the daily
breathing interrupt practice.’’ Part of the practice asks
students to consider the question: ‘‘Given the wisdom you
have now, how would you have done it differently?’’ A
typical example of a student response is: ‘‘ I would put an
alarm in my smart phone to remind me every three hours
and I would tell my partner about the exercise so that she
would help remind me.’’
We recommend that educators and therapists employ a
set of cognitive practices that transform failure into success.
In particular, as biofeedback professionals, it is important to
remember the large physiological effect of psychological
processes that affect physiological learning. In the case of
this study, the effects of the cognitive practices Transform-
ing Failure into Success resulted in measureable positive
outcomes of decreased procrastination, increased energy,
and increased productivity, all worthy goals for students as
well as clients and patients.
Acknowledgment
We thank Dr. Donald Moss for critical feedback and improvement
of the manuscript.
References
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Callow, N., & Hardy, L. (2001). Types of imagery associated with
sport confidence in netball players of varying skill levels.
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Table. Correlation matrix showing no significant correlations between frequency of practice and other measures
and significant correlations among procrastination, productivity, and energy.
Frequency Procrastination Productivity Energy Age Gender
Frequency 1.0
Procrastination 0.0 1.0
Productivity 0.1 0.4 1.0
Energy 0.2 0.4 0.7 1.0
Age 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.2 1.0
Gender 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.0 1.0
Increase Productivity, Decrease Procrastination
86
Summer 2014 |Biofeedback
Erik Peper Richard Harvey
I
Mei Lin Padma Duvvuri
Correspondence: Erik Peper, Ph.D., Institute for Holistic Health
Studies, Department of Health Education, San Francisco State
University, 1600 Holloway Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94132.
email: epeper@sfsu.edu; Web: www.biofeedbackhealth.org; blog:
www.peperperspective.com.
Peper et al.
87
Biofeedback |Summer 2014