Procrastination
Picture this: its eight o’clock on a Sunday night. Panicking. Heart racing. Hands flying. The essay is due early the next morning. You’re sitting at the computer wishing you hadn’t waited until the last minute. You realize that if you had just written it when it was assigned, you could have avoided this stress. The words “I should have” pop into your head. All the distractions. Next thing you know…its eight thirty, and still…no ideas brainstormed, no words typed, no essay written.
Mason Cooley said, “Procrastination makes easy things hard, hard things harder.” Procrastination is the bad habit of putting off until the day after tomorrow what should have been done the day before yesterday. The word procrastinate comes from the Latin word procrastinare, literally meaning to put off until tomorrow. I’m sure you have all procrastinated at one time or another. I most definitely have. Teenagers do it with essays, projects, homework, permission forms. Some adults put off making reservations for dinner, or finishing a task at the office, or going shopping for Christmas gifts. But believe it or not, there is a positive form of procrastination. It’s the difference between passive procrastination and active procrastination.
Passive procrastination is the poor way of putting off work. It’s when you put something off, but don’t replace it with a useful task. What often happens to a passive procrastinator is, they put it off, worry about it, and then struggle to finish the assignment. Studies have shown that about 80% of college students procrastinate. Generally, they are the ones to fail. Also, passive procrastinators often have higher stress levels. And that, over long term, can even lead to an issue with one’s mental health.
Active procrastination is when you’re fully aware that there is something you should be doing, but you know that what you’re doing is more important and it will pay off in the long run. For example, you might have to take care of a sick relative, or finish a project that is due earlier, or go to your basketball game because you made a commitment. Active procrastinators are A) good at organizing their priorities, or B) tend to work best under pressure and so they delay, knowing that if they wait, they will do better. Although, they need to have a good idea on how long the task will take to complete. They also, have stress levels lower than passive procrastinators. This is because they require an adrenaline rush in order to complete an assignment. Heart loudly pumping, brain quickly thinking, fingers speedily typing, ideas shooting everywhere, eyes zooming thoroughly across the screen. It works for some people, not all.
There are many reasons why a person may choose to procrastinate. Several of them are the fear of failure, the lack of time management, lack of motivation, and lack of desire. The fear of failure is where they are afraid to work hard and long on a project and they are worried that they are going to do poorly. They have a fear of failure, a fear of criticism, a fear of disappointment. This causes them to put it off or not do it at all. It makes no sense, but this type of procrastinator would rather receive a zero for a project rather than risk failure by handing it in, complete and on time. A second reason for procrastinating is due to the lack of time management or prioritizing. Among teens and adults especially, time is very valuable. They have so many things to do. Between sports, and clubs, and family, and friends, and other assignments, and future plans, it’s difficult to find time for school work outside of school, even though we’ve all been told that school is first priority. A deficient prioritizer might say, “I can’t write my essay until I clean my room, and I can’t clean my room until I do the laundry, and I can’t do the laundry until I vacuum the living room, and I can’t vacuum the living room until dad is finished watching the football game.” Some things need to be done right away, some could wait until later. It’s difficult to manage your time, but it’s the key to getting things done, and getting them done effectively. Also, some procrastinators wait to feel motivated. If they wait too long, the job doesn’t get done. They think that they need to be in the mood, but sometimes, that so called “mood” doesn’t show. Lastly, the most probable cause of procrastination is due to the lack of desire. In most cases, one simply doesn’t feel like doing the job or assignment. They’d play video games, or go roller-skating with their friends, or go shopping, or rake their lawn before writing the essay. This could also be because of a lack of interest in the topic. It’s understandable, but sometimes people are required to do something despite their specific interest in the subject. One may also procrastinate because they know they will work faster and more efficiently if they wait until the last minute. I guess its okay as long as it works for them.
This bad habit can create problems. For example, it can create higher stress levels, as I mentioned before. But it can also lead to feeling of guilt, inadequacy, fear, depression, self doubt. For example, if someone puts off an assignment, they can feel guilty about not starting it earlier. This can lead to depression because they begin to feel incompetent because they couldn’t get the job done, or at least not very well. It occurs among college students especially. They are not completely sure of how to approach the work that is expected of them.
Procrastination is a very easy habit to fall into. I would know. I used to have to do my homework right away; otherwise I’d be so stressed. Now, I’m definitely a procrastinator. Occasionally I do the assignment early, and thank myself afterwards. Other times, its eight o’clock on the Sunday night before an essay is due. All there is on the page is my heading and a title. The blinker on the screen goes on and off, on and off, on and off. Like a rhythm, a beat, a timer.
Overcoming procrastination is difficult, especially if you’re a passive procrastinator. Some ways to help you to limit your procrastinating is to create a list of priorities. Determine which task needs to be completed first base on deadlines and the importance of the task. If it’s more important than anything else you could do at the time, write the essay, check the content, print the paper. Then you can worry about the next episode of your favorite TV show. Don’t feel inferior when facing a difficult task. You may not think about it, or even realize it, but there is a reason why you don’t want to complete the assignment. Now, rather than saying “I should have” the day before the assignment is due, say “I’m going to” a week before it’s due.
Now, you know the history of the word, reasons why people choose to procrastinate, the problems that can occur because of it, and a way to decrease the amount of procrastinating you do, you can avoid feeling stressed or rushed at the last minute, and you can become better at what you do. Start early. Brainstorming, researching, typing, reading, correcting, printing. Simple steps. Procrastination is unnecessary, unless your one of those people work best under pressure with an adrenaline rush, but don’t convince yourself you are one of those people simply to avoid doing the assignment. Do the assignment, until there is something more important for you to do. Do the assignment early to avoid the panic. Do it to save time. Do it to be better. Do it. If only for to thank yourself at a later time for being proactive.
Mason Cooley said, “Procrastination makes easy things hard, hard things harder.” Procrastination is the bad habit of putting off until the day after tomorrow what should have been done the day before yesterday. The word procrastinate comes from the Latin word procrastinare, literally meaning to put off until tomorrow. I’m sure you have all procrastinated at one time or another. I most definitely have. Teenagers do it with essays, projects, homework, permission forms. Some adults put off making reservations for dinner, or finishing a task at the office, or going shopping for Christmas gifts. But believe it or not, there is a positive form of procrastination. It’s the difference between passive procrastination and active procrastination.
Passive procrastination is the poor way of putting off work. It’s when you put something off, but don’t replace it with a useful task. What often happens to a passive procrastinator is, they put it off, worry about it, and then struggle to finish the assignment. Studies have shown that about 80% of college students procrastinate. Generally, they are the ones to fail. Also, passive procrastinators often have higher stress levels. And that, over long term, can even lead to an issue with one’s mental health.
Active procrastination is when you’re fully aware that there is something you should be doing, but you know that what you’re doing is more important and it will pay off in the long run. For example, you might have to take care of a sick relative, or finish a project that is due earlier, or go to your basketball game because you made a commitment. Active procrastinators are A) good at organizing their priorities, or B) tend to work best under pressure and so they delay, knowing that if they wait, they will do better. Although, they need to have a good idea on how long the task will take to complete. They also, have stress levels lower than passive procrastinators. This is because they require an adrenaline rush in order to complete an assignment. Heart loudly pumping, brain quickly thinking, fingers speedily typing, ideas shooting everywhere, eyes zooming thoroughly across the screen. It works for some people, not all.
There are many reasons why a person may choose to procrastinate. Several of them are the fear of failure, the lack of time management, lack of motivation, and lack of desire. The fear of failure is where they are afraid to work hard and long on a project and they are worried that they are going to do poorly. They have a fear of failure, a fear of criticism, a fear of disappointment. This causes them to put it off or not do it at all. It makes no sense, but this type of procrastinator would rather receive a zero for a project rather than risk failure by handing it in, complete and on time. A second reason for procrastinating is due to the lack of time management or prioritizing. Among teens and adults especially, time is very valuable. They have so many things to do. Between sports, and clubs, and family, and friends, and other assignments, and future plans, it’s difficult to find time for school work outside of school, even though we’ve all been told that school is first priority. A deficient prioritizer might say, “I can’t write my essay until I clean my room, and I can’t clean my room until I do the laundry, and I can’t do the laundry until I vacuum the living room, and I can’t vacuum the living room until dad is finished watching the football game.” Some things need to be done right away, some could wait until later. It’s difficult to manage your time, but it’s the key to getting things done, and getting them done effectively. Also, some procrastinators wait to feel motivated. If they wait too long, the job doesn’t get done. They think that they need to be in the mood, but sometimes, that so called “mood” doesn’t show. Lastly, the most probable cause of procrastination is due to the lack of desire. In most cases, one simply doesn’t feel like doing the job or assignment. They’d play video games, or go roller-skating with their friends, or go shopping, or rake their lawn before writing the essay. This could also be because of a lack of interest in the topic. It’s understandable, but sometimes people are required to do something despite their specific interest in the subject. One may also procrastinate because they know they will work faster and more efficiently if they wait until the last minute. I guess its okay as long as it works for them.
This bad habit can create problems. For example, it can create higher stress levels, as I mentioned before. But it can also lead to feeling of guilt, inadequacy, fear, depression, self doubt. For example, if someone puts off an assignment, they can feel guilty about not starting it earlier. This can lead to depression because they begin to feel incompetent because they couldn’t get the job done, or at least not very well. It occurs among college students especially. They are not completely sure of how to approach the work that is expected of them.
Procrastination is a very easy habit to fall into. I would know. I used to have to do my homework right away; otherwise I’d be so stressed. Now, I’m definitely a procrastinator. Occasionally I do the assignment early, and thank myself afterwards. Other times, its eight o’clock on the Sunday night before an essay is due. All there is on the page is my heading and a title. The blinker on the screen goes on and off, on and off, on and off. Like a rhythm, a beat, a timer.
Overcoming procrastination is difficult, especially if you’re a passive procrastinator. Some ways to help you to limit your procrastinating is to create a list of priorities. Determine which task needs to be completed first base on deadlines and the importance of the task. If it’s more important than anything else you could do at the time, write the essay, check the content, print the paper. Then you can worry about the next episode of your favorite TV show. Don’t feel inferior when facing a difficult task. You may not think about it, or even realize it, but there is a reason why you don’t want to complete the assignment. Now, rather than saying “I should have” the day before the assignment is due, say “I’m going to” a week before it’s due.
Now, you know the history of the word, reasons why people choose to procrastinate, the problems that can occur because of it, and a way to decrease the amount of procrastinating you do, you can avoid feeling stressed or rushed at the last minute, and you can become better at what you do. Start early. Brainstorming, researching, typing, reading, correcting, printing. Simple steps. Procrastination is unnecessary, unless your one of those people work best under pressure with an adrenaline rush, but don’t convince yourself you are one of those people simply to avoid doing the assignment. Do the assignment, until there is something more important for you to do. Do the assignment early to avoid the panic. Do it to save time. Do it to be better. Do it. If only for to thank yourself at a later time for being proactive.