OVERCOME PROCRASTINATION

" ARchiteCTURE for LIFE "

HOW TO OVERCOME PROCRASTINATION

Written by : Rosni Abdullah

These are a few quotations various people had written on procrastination to remind us on its danger.

Everyone at ‘one time (for some, most of the time) in our lives procrastinate. We can’t start at anything right away until the last minute or we end up not doing it at all. We put things off for various reasons; because we don’t want to do them or because we have too many things to do at a given time.

What actually is procrastination?
Procrastination is the act or habit of putting off to a future time, delay, deferment or avoidance of an action or task to a later time. People procrastinate for three reasons:-


A. Because they don’t want to do it,
B. Because they do something else less important
(e.g, doing errands instead of real important work)
C. Because they are doing something more important
(e.g, working/thinking on big/mega project, and putting off the less important work)

Is procrastination a bad thing? That will depend on its consequences. If by procrastinating, you end up having job/work/decisions of much better quality than doing it right away, or you are the type C above, it may be a good thing. But if the consequences are negative and destructive, you need to do something about it.

Consider these;

- As a student, you put off completing your term paper until the last minute when your
computer hang on you, the printer ran out of ink, or
- As a parent you put off repairing your son’s/daughter’s motorcycle’s brake and your
son/daughter meet with a nasty accident, or worst still
- You put off praying until the last wee hour, God (Allah) decided to take you to see him
before you have time to pray………

Do you still want to procrastinate? ..............

WHY PEOPLE PROCRASTINATE?

Some of the reasons why people procrastinate are:-

o Poor time management due to uncertainty of priorities, goals and objectives or difficulty in
doing the task
o Lack of interest towards the task because it is not relevant or meaningful to the person
o Difficulty in concentrating because of personal problems or distracting environment (noisy,
cluttered, unorganized)
o Perfectionism. Feel that you can’t complete the task in a perfect way as you expected
o Fear and anxiety of failure or inability to complete the task
o Negative beliefs/lack of self confidence
o Fear of the unknown especially new realm or field
o Personal problems
o Finding the task boring
o Inability to handle the task because of lack of training, skill or knowledge

OVERCOMING PROCRASTINATION

If you find that procrastination is hindering your progress in achieving your success in work or study, the following strategies may help you to deal with it:-

1) Identify the time and reasons you procrastinate
2) Create a productive environment, a place where you can work without disturbance. Also
consider the time you are most productive
3) Challenge your myths/perfectionist idea: ‘In order to get work/task done you must have
everything perfectly in order’ or ‘I must have everything perfectly in order’ or ‘I do my
bet work under pressure’, etc., etc…..
4) Discipline yourself to use time wisely. Set your priorities
5) Break your task into small blocks/chunks, Example; study 1 hour, break 10 minutes,
instead of 2- 3 hours straight study or when writing term/project paper, write the
introduction, then ot her parts instead of trying to complete every part at one sitting
6) Change your attitude towards the task. Tell yourself that the task isn’t so bad or difficult
or you can learn how while you are doing it
7) Ask for help. Get somebody to check on your progress in accomplishing your task. Find
a friend to work alongside you. Form a task group (eg. Writing group). Get help to
improve your ability/skills
8) Make yourself accountable, set a deadline for the task to be completed

9) Keep your work out, in full view to give you a reminder of the work that need to be done
10) Develop a more realistic understanding of time. Planned time in your mind will be
different from practical/physical time
11) Set a time limit on how much time you will spend completing your task


Good luck in improving your procrastination!

REFERENCE

1) http://ub-counseling.buffalo.edu/stressprocrast.
2) http://www.twu.edu/o-sl/counseling/selfhelp 044
3) http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/procrastination.