5 Steps for Overcoming Procrastination
By Michael Locklear | Co-Author: John Mac Kinnon | Submitted On February 12, 2011
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Expert Author Michael Locklear
Millions of people struggle with completing goals and overcoming challenges due to the habit of procrastination. In fact, it 's one of the most common personal issues that people seek help for. There are several reasons why people procrastinate or avoid tasks. They can range from simple, basic laziness to fear of failure, lack of confidence in your ability, or simply a strong dislike for the task at hand.
People commonly put off doing things because they don 't know what to expect or what the outcome may be. They might fail, other people might laugh at them, they might look foolish, there may be a lot of stress, or any number of nonspecific anxieties. We all struggle with the fear of the unknown on a daily basis. It 's the way we think and our perception of things that paralyze us and keep us in a pattern of avoidance. If you believe that something is unpleasant or distasteful, or that you 'll fail if you try to do it, or if you believe that you will somehow lose something, you will probably
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.
After years of self-reflection and meditation, I have started to understand where the procrastination comes from in me. I have learned that it is okay to be fearful and even procrastinate from time to time but it’s what you do after that’s most important. Asking yourself the important questions that may lead you to an uncomfortable truth can be such a great learning
Procrastination lurks its ugly head in almost every aspect daily activities and it is so difficult to overcome it. Hesitation happens when an errand is put on the back burner until a later time because it's not something you want to engage at the moment. There are a few reasons procrastinating happens including, disarray and misjudging precisely what needs to be done and how to do it. When you overcome procrastinating, you will realize what it is, the manner by which it happens and experience a feeling of accomplishment by not permitting it to happen once more. When I think of this my husband automatically comes to mind; although his procrastination may be a mild form, indeed it is procrastination!
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Procrastination brings out the best and the worst in people. In my case leaving tasks and assignments forces my puny brain to excrete all the useful information it has retained. My procrastination has pushed me to new heights and on rare occasions, caused me to fail miserably.
Procrastination happens when these conflicts occur in our lives and we don't want to negotiate them. For example, I'm supposed to finish a paper for school but I want to play video games. I'll think about the former but want to do the later. The choices are about two things that are relatively mutually
Procrastination is a form of self-handicapping that can be applied to almost any aspect in one’s life. The most common thread of procrastination is fear; fear of failure, fear of unpleasant or painful experiences, and the fear of missing out. When you fear failure you are prone to avoid involve yourself to begin with. “Out of the fear of failing and looking bad, they would often spend vast amounts of time on a project without making any real progress because at a subconscious level they don’t ‘want to’ finish – a finished project will make them vulnerable for criticism and consequently failure” (Klassen et al. 918) If an procrastinator believes that a task is going to be an undesirable experience then they will feel constrained not to do it. All these fears can lead a person to self-handicap. A lot of times, a person who might both self-handicap and procrastinate, will use drugs and/alcohol to utilize their actions; an example is drinking the night before an exam. This individual, who chooses to go out before the exam, is giving themselves an excuse to why they will not do well on this exam. This is
Procrastination has often been lumped into one broad category, understood as the action of delaying to initiate or complete a task, often done through means of finding distractions or by displaying other avoidant characteristics. One mainstream interpretation distinguishes between “arousal type” procrastinators (those who procrastinate until they experience a sense of euphoria, resulting from approaching deadline pleasures), “the avoiders” (who may lack confidence in their abilities to complete tasks sufficiently and procrastinate due to a fear of failure) along with “decisional procrastinators” (who struggle with the initiation stage) (Marano, 2003). While many reasons for procrastinating exist (disinterest in the task, prioritizing other
Jim has appealed to his boss for months: “I’m ready for more responsibility. I’m ready to be taken more seriously.”
I believe that procrastination is learned not necessarily an inborn characteristic. It may be a result of my parents authoritarian style parenting. My parents were very strict in raising me and siblings. Beatings would be given as positive punishment for simple malfeasances as to reduce the likelihood of that behavior in the future. They valued blind obedience to their demands, such completing household chores, working hard to get good grades, playing sports to stay in shape, soliciting a job to help the financial situation, and so on. As a child I was not allowed to question my parents or show any disloyalty because my opinion, quite frankly, did not matter. However, this backfired on my parents as when I entered college without the
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Procrastination happens when a task is put off until a later time because the task is not desirable. There are several reasons procrastination happens including, confusion and misunderstanding exactly what needs done and how to do it. Procrastination causes lack of production, loss of time, and decrease in revenue. “Procrastination is one main cause of poor management, lost productivity, and lost revenue” (Ricci, 2004).
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I had my eyes on his stance which stated that the habit of procrastination is caused by the personality of the individuals. He also mention that fear of failing the task is the reason why we tend to procrastinate the task. I would say that I have the same opinion with the author on this. We usually tend to work on something that we have faith and knowledge because, it is easier for us to start and keep it on the right track without fear of being rejected or fail. Fear of failure made us prefer to push the task aside as we believe that we are not ready yet to get it done. Fear often manifests itself as procrastination. Most people fear failure, criticism and rejection. It’s only normal. We all want to feel good about ourselves. Failure, criticism and rejection are not pleasant experiences. They lower our self-esteem and make us feel bad about ourselves, so we often avoid doing things that we think might lead to failure, criticism or rejection (B. Bilanich,
Besides, this bad habit can create problems. It can create higher stress levels, it can also lead to feeling of guilt, inadequacy, fear, depression, self doubt. For example, if you put off an assignment, you can feel guilty about not starting it earlier. This can lead to depression because you feel incompetent because you couldn’t get the job done, or at least not very well. Overcoming procrastination is difficult, especially if you’re a passive procrastinator. However, there are some ways to help you stop, or at least limit your procrastinating : creating a list of priorities is always a good advice. At school, we are taught time management skills because our life is essentially a race against time. We have so many tasks at hand but very little time. This is why prioritization of work is important so that no time is wasted along the way. Determine which task needs to be completed first base on deadlines and the importance of the task. Don’t feel inferior when facing a difficult task. Therefore, rather than saying “I should have” the day before the task is due, say “I’m going to”