Chronic Procrastination : A Disappointing Life

I found I’m not alone according to two leading experts on procrastination, Joseph Ferrari, professor of psychology at DePaul University and Timothy Phikul, professor of psychology at Carleton University 20% of people identify themselves as chronic procrastinators and up to 70 percent of students in one study said that they procrastinate. This habit affects so many and it one of the most difficult tendencies to kick but fortunately there are ways to go about solving the issue so today I would like to inform you all about why people procrastinate and the effects it can have and also ways to overcome it.

I like to think there are four levels of procrastination. The first is false security, the “I still have plenty of time, I can finish this later.” The second is laziness, the thoughts like,“I should probably get this started. Nah.” Next comes denial and excuses such as, “I would start this, but I’m doing something else right now.” and, “I’m just taking a little break.” Then finally the crisis stage, the stage during which you stay up all night long in order to finish the homework assignment you had all day to do. Because of this, the hardest part of my daily routine was the time when I knew I needed to start my homework, but I truly wanted to keep watching shows on Netflix. This wouldn't be as difficult if it weren't

My project began when I was first handed the self-change contract and had to ask myself “What do I really need to improve.” After a lot of thought and self-reflection, I thought that to boost my grades, improve my work ethic, and make things easier for myself I needed to improve my procrastination in regards to my studying and dedication. The first step was to identify everything about the problem. I took some time got a sheet of paper and made essentially a mind map without knowing what it was at the time.) I broke procrastination down and discovered that at least for me the two big things that were causing my procrastination were the “I can do it later” attitude, and the perceived difficulty of tasks. So after identifying the main issues, I had to figure out what I was going to do about it.

In most of the letters that I read some said the advice "don't procrastinate" and, that is one of the things that I use to do. I use to procrastinate most of my days with out even realizing it especially on homework. Every time that I had to do homework, I would always find an excuse for example "I'm hungry let me eat first", "I

     Procrastination is something that you don’t naturally have an innate ability to do. It is often brought on by finding ways

Besides this omission by Kalat, he still provided an accurate and detailed account of the research article written by Ariely and Wertenbroch. This article is essential in understanding procrastination and answered throughly the three questions it posed. 1.) Are people willing to impose deadlines, with substantial consequences if they are not met, on themselves: yes. 2.) Are these self-imposed deadlines actually helpful in improving overall performance:

5.      Though I’ve only touched on a couple, there are many more reasons for procrastinating such as fear of anxiety or failure and even personnel or financial problems. So, you might be asking, how do I know if I’m a procrastinator or not? Well, this brings me to my second point, symptoms of procrastination. One of the worst aspects of procrastination is postponement. When one is postponing an important task, it becomes very difficult to enjoy recreational activities. One is socializing with friends or watching a film, and there is this nagging thought, "I should be working." A dark cloud of guilt hangs over your head and dampens any pleasure you might be extracting from the distractions of the moment. So, by not getting things done in a reasonably and timely manner, or not done at all, precious opportunities have been lost.

People procrastinate because they are afraid to fail, they have poor time management, they avoid things that seem difficult or they feel depressed or they feel guilty. Some people believe that other procrastinate out of laziness or lack of discipline, but I know there are perfectionists that often procrastinate as well. For example, a perfectionist may put off writing a paper until the night before it is due and then they will have an excuse saying, “I restarted because I didn’t like what I had written.”. Another example is that some philosophers and scientists, such that Aristotle questioned if time even exists, and Einstein believed that time was a muddle in which the past, present and future were only illusions.

Their tired, feeling lazy, find the material boring, and even boredom. Whether it’s paying a parking ticket, doing laundry or organizing your closet, we’ve all put certain things off. Procrastinators live in a constant state of denial not thinking about the long term consequences. As tempting and easy as it is, avoidance always catches up. An example, making changes in your diet right away and not saying you will start till Monday.

Transition: It is in our human nature to procrastinate, some of us do it more than others but learning about this problem and understanding how it can effect you can be beneficial to everyone

Attention Getter: So I’m pretty sure everyone here has had an important assignment to complete before like a project or essay. And most of us usually plan it out where we do a portion of it every day. For example, something like this chart here. But then the next thing you know, the deadline is fast approaching and you still haven’t come close to completing your assignment. And we end up somewhere like this. Well, I believe that we can all relate to this and we have all done this to ourselves before. I’m talking about procrastination.

More and more students are piling on mountains of stresses and strains on their bodies but more so on their minds by choosing to procrastinate. According to Dr. Ferrari associate professor of psychology at De Paul University in Chicago, he suggests that the “stress or anxiety we feel over long periods of time can lead to more serious situations such as depression and other forms of mental illnesses... that will make our lives much harder to cope with.” The true ramifications of delaying or stalling assignments is putting one's mental health on the line. Students may gain anxiety, and or depression problems because of the exceeding amount of stress and pressure they put themselves under when students defer tasks. Another effect of procrastination is building up unnecessary amounts of stress.

Procrastination is a common tendency that we all give in to and all of us have at least a little experience with.

Another factor that causes procrastination is fear. Fear is a very powerful emotion. Whenever someone is faced with a difficult task, they can become overran by the fear of not being able to complete it. People who succumb to this are setting themselves up for failure. Whenever someone feels as if they are going to fail, they tend to postpone the task for as long as possible. This means that they often try to avoid the task all together until completion is absolutely necessary. In doing so, the number of tasks that need to be done increases. However, the time required to complete them does not.

In my study, laziness is the most common reason student procrastinate. Timothy A Pychyl, a professor who specializes in the study of procrastination says “procrastinators often remark that they lack the motivation necessary to act. They have an intention to act, but they fail to act in a timely fashion even though they recognize