Back to topics

Can putting off a task be a way to manage an unpleasant feeling?

Setting aside a difficult task can bring immediate relief, even as the deadline gets closer. Psychologist Fuschia Sirois describes this as one way procrastination can involve regulating emotion. It helps explain a possible avoidance cycle without assuming every delay has the same cause or labeling the person as lazy.

3–7 min

Questions you could explore

  • What feeling changes immediately after the task is postponed?
  • What would distinguish avoidance from a sensible decision to wait?

Start reading

Ready to try your ideas aloud?

Your topic carries over. Record up to 2½ minutes, depending on your plan.

Psychology

Can an option nobody wants change what people choose?

Choosing between two offers can feel different when a third appears beside them. A decoy is less attractive than one option on the relevant features, but its presence does not reliably change every decision.

5–7 min

Can an option nobody wants change what people choose?

Psychology5–7 minChoosing between two offers can feel different when a third appears beside them. A decoy is less attractive than one option on the relevant features, but its presence does not reliably change every decision.

How can you miss something that is right in front of you?

Psychology3–5 minLooking at a scene does not mean noticing everything in it. When attention is occupied by one task, something plainly visible can go unreported, a pattern called inattentional blindness.

Psychology

Can a question change what someone remembers?

A question can ask for a memory while also suggesting what might have happened. Research on eyewitness reports separates what someone originally saw from information introduced afterward, making wording part of the evidence problem.

3–7 min

Can a question change what someone remembers?

Psychology3–7 minA question can ask for a memory while also suggesting what might have happened. Research on eyewitness reports separates what someone originally saw from information introduced afterward, making wording part of the evidence problem.

Can putting off a task be a way to manage an unpleasant feeling? | Speech Topic | speaking.app