Procrastination at the Core of Physical Activity (PA) and Perceived Quality of Life: A New Approach for Counteracting Lower Levels of PA Practice

Abstract

Faced with the demonstrated need to engage in physical activity (PA), lack of time is the argument commonly used to justify low or non-existent levels of PA. Underlying this argument, the accomplishment of procrastination behaviour seems to be related to the less time dedicated to practicing PA and the low perception of the quality of life. With this in mind, the purpose of this study is to show that dedicating different amounts of time to PA affects the perceived quality of life and the widespread problem of procrastination. We hypothesise that greater time investment in PA is related to greater perceived quality of life and less procrastination. In all, 621 practitioners of PA (347 men, 274 women) between 18 and 83 years old (M = 35.43, SD = 14.45) filled out validated versions of the World Health Organization quality of life assessment (WHOQOL-BREF) and the Pure Procrastination Scale. Results showed that people who do enough PA have a more positive perception of the quality of life in the domains of physical and psychological health; this perception, in turn, is related to lower levels of procrastination. Likewise, socio-demographic characteristics such as gender and the main activity presented significant associations with various quality of life domains and procrastination. In sum, the benefits of improvements in quality of life and reductions in procrastination identified in this study are sensitive to the time spent on PA, which suggests that a strategy to promote the practice of PA would improve time management and, thus, counteract procrastination.