Procrastination
Procrastinators are people who put off what’s in their best interest to complete. If you replace high priority tasks with low ones, or otherwise "waste time" by watching TV, playing on the Net, talking on the phone, or hanging out with friends, you’re among the more than 50% of students who procrastinate during college.
Causes
People who put things off may have one or more of these traits:
- Lack a realistic sense of time; they think there’s more than there really is
- See the task as bigger than it is
- Want someone else to be responsible (there’s no one to tell them to study, pick up, finish a task, or get their act together; it’s completely up to them)
- Become paralyzed in face of their own high standards
- Procrastinate to hide fears of anticipated failure or loss of control
- Like the last-minute excitement of not having quite enough time and/or the feeling of excessive caffeine and not enough sleep
Effects
Although procrastination seems harmless and is often joked about, putting things off can have serious consequences. These may include:
- Incompletes or failed classes
- Losing professors’ trust
- Missing opportunities; losing jobs
- Fines and other financial difficulties
- More entrenched psychological or medical problems
- More stress
- Poor performance, resulting in selfdeprecation, doubt, and frustration
What to do
Observe yourself. Notice when you procrastinate, and the techniques you use. Ask yourself what you get out of putting things off. Notice how much better you feel when you finish a task.Some tips:
- Pretend that you’re not a procrastinator (for an hour, or a day)
- Work on an assignment the day you get it, even if only for a short time
- Organize all materials before beginning a task
- Break tasks into small pieces; focus on one at a time
- Experiment with lists, planners, calendars, and dry-erase boards
- Figure out your prime times: when you work best, do chores best, like most to socialize
- Put reminders of your priorities in books,on mirrors,walls, refrigerators
- Test your sense of time: write down how long you think a project will take, and time it
- Be clever about using little bits of time
- Grab an impulse to work on a project, and stay with it while it lasts
- Instead of watching TV or otherwise playing, take a short nap
- Connect things you avoid with things you enjoy (e.g., go to the gym after reading some English, or read some English after going to the gym)
- Ask friends for support
- Work alongside a non-procrastinator
- Don’t say negative things to yourself; instead, encourage yourself by saying things like "perfection gets in the way of success" and "the sooner it’s done the sooner I can relax"
Why suffer the consequences of procrastination? Changing habits takes time, but if you aren't making progress, get help. Call CAPS for help.
Making a “to-do” list
- Identify key areas in your life (e.g. "class-related," "personal chores,""fun activities")
- Write each area at the top of a column on the same page, so everything is visible at a glance
- Write what you have to do under each heading
- Prioritize items in each column
- Assign times to entries
- Enjoy crossing off done entries
- Update your lists often