Procrastination
Learning Objectives
By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:
- Identify your personal procrastination habits.
- Identify solutions to overcome procrastination.
Procrastination
This chapter provides a deeper dive into understanding procrastination and finding solutions for it.
Before entering into some solutions, common and creative, to help you solve what is arguably the number one detriment to effective learning at school, home, and/or on the job (aka procrastination), complete the exercise below.
This personal inventory is a bit different from others you may have taken. It incorporates very little about the usual bad habit suspects when it comes to the “P” word and includes more on the other reasons for such a habit, as well as one or two other procrastination-inducers that have cropped up in our now social-media-saturated lives. Perhaps there is, in fact, more to your challenges with procrastination than the assumptions about laziness, disorganization, etc. See what you think. More importantly, see what you can do about it.
Activity 1: Self Assessment
Instructions:
For each item, circle one. And feel free to add any comments you wish. Sometimes quick-answer exercises like this just don’t have enough of YOUR personal response options, but try not to overthink things. This is, after all, a simple snapshot of where your beliefs and feelings are at this moment in time.
- I admit it. Just like everyone else, I feel that I am lazy when it comes to getting my assignments and/or work done.
- usually
- sometimes
- rarely
- never
- I am disorganized when it comes to getting my assignments and/or work done.
- usually
- sometimes
- rarely
- nevee
- I get confused about what I am supposed to do for the assignment or task.
- usually
- sometimes
- rarely
- never
- I have a hard time saying “no” to others, which puts me behind in my work/studies.
- most of the time
- sometimes
- rarely
- never
- I have this sinking feeling that I will succumb to the usual reasons for procrastinating, no matter what they are.
- most of the time
- sometimes
- rarely
- never
- I just don’t think I have the organizational abilities to be able to stop at least some of my procrastinating.
- most of the time
- sometimes
- rarely
- never
- When I was in high school or lower division college classes, it wasn’t a problem to study for most tests the night before.
- most of the time
- sometimes
- rarely
- never
- I work best under pressure, so I think that procrastinating is really good for me.
- most of the time
- sometimes
- rarely
- never
- When what I have to study or accomplish is just not that important to me, I find it more tempting to procrastinate.
- most of the time
- sometimes
- rarely
- never
- I have a hard time talking myself into maintaining a better attitude about not procrastinating.
- most of the time
- sometimes
- rarely
- never
- I think I have more time to finish something than I usually do.
- most of the time
- sometimes
- rarely
- never
- It annoys me that some instructors assign so much homework when I have a life outside of school, too! So, I believe that it can be their fault that I have to procrastinate on certain things.
- most of the time
- sometimes
- rarely
- never
- I am very social, and spending time with my friends sometimes gets in the way of completing other things.
- most of the time
- sometimes
- rarely
- never
- I can’t seem to stay away from social media.
- most of the time
- sometimes
- rarely
- never
- Here is one (or perhaps more than one) thing not on this list that also causes me to procrastinate. (Possible issues could include physical or mental health struggles, lack of affordable housing, other living situation challenges, family responsibilities, work responsibilities, or other life stressors.) If you list more than one thing, rate how often each one occurs for you._______________________________________________________________
- most of the time
- sometimes
- rarely
- never
NOTE: The answer key to this personal inventory is to get right into helping you start solving some of these causes of procrastination.
Let’s get started with some immediate solutions as well as some perspectives that might, in time, help you adjust your thoughts and feelings regarding procrastination.
Activity 2: Reflection
Instructions:
- From your responses to Exercise 1, select your top five challenges when it comes to procrastinating. Create a chart, such as the example below, but leave yourself ample space to fill in the solutions you find.
Example chart: Your top five procrastination challenges and ideas to solve them. Challenge Solutions - Keeping in mind your top five challenges, as you work through Battling Procrastination (below in this chapter), insert the information you find the most helpful into the Solutions column of your chart. There is a lot of information, so allot yourself an hour or so to explore the video and reading, and annotate the ideas you want to try. That said, don’t stop there! You will likely pick up several more solutions you hadn’t thought of before.
Battling Procrastination
Watch Strategies to overcome procrastination (5 minutes)
Procrastination is a way of thinking that enables putting off doing something that should be done now. This can happen to anyone at any time. It’s like a voice inside your head keeps coming up with these brilliant ideas for things to do right now other than studying: “I really ought to get this room cleaned up before I study,” or “I can study anytime, but tonight’s the only chance I have to do X.” That voice is also very good at rationalizing: “I really don’t need to read that chapter now; I’ll have plenty of time tomorrow at lunch.…”
Procrastination is very powerful. Some people battle it daily, others only occasionally. Most university students procrastinate often, and about half say they need help avoiding procrastination. Procrastination can threaten your ability to do well on an assignment or test.
People procrastinate for different reasons. Some people are too relaxed in their priorities, seldom worry, and easily put off responsibilities. Others worry constantly, and that stress keeps them from focusing on the task at hand. Some procrastinate because they fear failure; others procrastinate because they fear success or are so perfectionistic that they don’t want to let themselves down. Some are dreamers. Many different factors are involved, and there are different styles of procrastinating.
Just as there are different causes, there are different possible solutions for procrastination. Different strategies work for different people. The strategies described in the Time Management chapter can help you avoid procrastination. Because this is a mental issue, these additional mental strategies can also help:
- Since procrastination is usually a habit, accept that and work on breaking it as you would any other bad habit: one day at a time. Know that every time you overcome feelings of procrastination, the habit becomes weaker—and eventually, you’ll have a new habit of being able to start studying right away.
- Schedule times for studying using a daily or weekly planner. Carry it with you (physically or digitally!) and look at it often. Just being aware of the time and what you need to do today can help you get organized and stay on track.
- If you keep thinking of something else you might forget to do later (making you feel like you “must” do it now), write yourself a note about it for later and get it out of your mind.
- Counter a negative with a positive. If you’re procrastinating because you’re not looking forward to a certain task, try to envision the positive future results of doing the work.
- Counter a negative with a worse negative. If thinking about the positive results of completing the task doesn’t motivate you to get started, think about what could happen if you keep procrastinating. You’ll have to study tomorrow instead of doing something fun you had planned. Or you could fail the test. Some people can jolt themselves right out of procrastination.
- On the other hand, fear causes procrastination in some people—so don’t dwell on the thought of failing. If you’re studying for a test, and you’re so afraid of failing it that you can’t focus on studying and you start procrastinating, try to put things in perspective. Even if it’s your most difficult class and you don’t understand everything about the topic, that doesn’t mean you’ll fail, even if you may not receive an A or a B.
- Study with a motivated friend. Form a study group with other students who are motivated and won’t procrastinate along with you. You’ll learn good habits from them while getting the work done now.
- Keep a study journal. At least once a day, write an entry about how you have used your time and whether you succeeded with your schedule for the day. If not, identify what factors kept you from doing your work. This journal will help you see your own habits and distractions so that you can avoid things that lead to procrastination.
- Get help. If you really can’t stay on track with your study schedule, or if you’re always putting things off until the last minute, see a university counselor. They have lots of experience with this common student problem and can help you find ways to overcome this habit.
Key Takeaways
- Everyone battles with procrastination at times, some more than others.
- Procrastination is a habit, and like any other “bad” habit, it can be broken.
- Start by identifying your challenges and solutions.
Chapter Attributions
This chapter was adapted by Michelle Holbrook and Cheryl Colan from “Lesson 2.2: Procrastination” by Phyllis Nissila, licensed under a CC BY 4.0 license, and from the Battling Procrastination section of “2.3 Organizing Your Time” by University of Saskatchewan, licensed under a CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.
Media Attributions
Strategies to overcome procrastination by McMaster Student Success Centre (MacSSC) is licensed under the Standard YouTube license.
“Do it now” by Maklay62 is licensed Public Domain, CC0.