Procrastination

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TIME.09 Procrastination – Causes and Cures Causes of Procrastination 1. Acceptance of another’s goals or Lack of Relevance – if it is not yours, it is not likely to be important to you. 2. Perfectionism – Afraid to start something for fear it will not turn out perfectly. 3. Anxiety over what others think – Afraid others will think less of you when they see your finished product. 4. Fear of the unknown – Afraid to try something you never did before 5. Thinking you do not have the skills Causes 2 – 5 are fear based. The procrastinator would rather that others think he lacks effort than that he lacks ability. He desires to preserve a sense of self-worth that hinges on the expectations of others. This leads to continuous delays which leads to stress and guilt and yet more delays. 6. Ambiguity –Unsure about the assignment. For fear of being seen as incompetent, he does not seek clarification. 7. Task looks too big – The large task seems overwhelming and there is a feeling of not knowing where to start. 8. Low tolerance/frustration level for unpleasant tasks – Because this procrastinator does not want to experience any of the discomforts of working through an unpleasant task, he dodges the discomfort through diversion and delay. 9. Over Confidence in Your Skills – because things come easily for you, you under-estimate the effort that is required for college level tasks. 10. The Nice Procrastinator –because you want to be liked and can’t say no to others, you neglect your own priorities. Cures for Procrastination 1. Notice your self-talk / (Self-Defeating Beliefs) Determine what fears you may have about completing a task, being punctual, or your skills. Write them. Change them. Examples... a. “I must be perfect” ... “Perfection is a ridiculous standard, I’ll get started and do my best” b. “Everything I do should go easily and without effort” ... “Life if full of unpleasant necessities and I need to learn to do them to reach my goals. I will work on it for 15 minutes every day until I have finished. c. “It’s safer to do nothing than to risk failure” ... “Failure is not forever, it is feedback for learning. Everyone fails sometimes. If I do me best there is a good chance I won’t fail” d. “If it’s not done right, it’s not worth doing” e. “If I succeed, someone will get hurt or there are undesirable consequences, such as,–if I graduate, I will have to run the family business” 2. Give up perfectionism – Try to do a decent job to begin with, then improve it later. 3. Put up several reminders to complete the task (bathroom mirror, appointment book, bulletin board, leave yourself a phone message). 4. Trick Yourself into starting a task – Tell yourself you are not going to do it, you are just going to look at it, or just work for 5 minutes. 5. Be realistic about what you expect of yourself – reward yourself when 80% of the task is complete, then plan to complete the remaining 20%. 6. Divide large tasks into smaller steps that you can complete in 15 minutes. Divide a long reading passage into three page sections. Make a list of each section and cross them off as you complete them so you can see progress. 7. Action generates motivation. Typically, you learn that your fears were unwarranted. 8. Announce publicly your intentions to complete something. Make the world your support group.