What causes us to procrastinate, and how can we change our relationship with this tricky habit? Self-compassion — kindness and understanding toward one’s self in response to pain or failure — may be the key to addressing procrastination and its cycle of negativity. A study by Fuschia M. Sirois of Bishop’s University in Canada found that people prone to procrastination had lower levels of self-compassion and higher levels of stress, which effectively looped back to increase the stress and further lower a person’s self-compassion. “Self-compassion is an adaptive practice that may…provide a buffer against negative reactions to self-relevant events,” writes Sirois. The implication is that by interrupting the loop between negative self-talk and procrastination, self-compassion may help us avoid the stress associated with procrastination, extricate ourselves from that downward spiral, and help us change our behavior for the better.