McCrea and an international team of psychologists wanted to see if there might be a link between how a task is framed and the tendency to postpone it. In other words, if we think about the task in an abstract sense does this make us more likely to put it off than if we think about actually doing the task.

In the study, the task was to fill out a rather boring questionnaire that asked questions about activities such as opening a bank account and keeping a diary. However, before the main task some participants were given instructions to think and write about what each activity implied about the personality of the person doing it (e.g., what sort of person would keep a diary?), while other participants were instructed to write about what the activity involved (e.g., what happens when you go to a bank?). The participants were then sent home with instructions to fill in the questionnaire and email it back to the psychologists. If they returned it within three weeks they would be paid for their efforts.

A significant difference in response time was found between the two groups. Participants who thought about the tasks in abstract ways were much slower to return the questionnaires than those who thought about the task in concrete ways. Many of the students who were given the abstract task did not return the questionnaires at all.

"Merely thinking about the task in more concrete, specific terms makes it feel like it should be completed sooner and thus reduces procrastination," claim the authors

This means that to avoid procrastination teachers should talk to students using more concrete imagery of how they should revise, what techniques they should use etc., rather than discussing revision in the more abstract sense of what the topics they should cover, why they should start revision now etc. It may also help students if they think about revision in concrete ways, such as visualising themselves revising or thinking of revision strategies and methods to try out.