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 Procrastination
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Welcome to my compendium website about Procrastination:
The important words found on this site include: Procrastination  Procrastination

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Brian Nelson
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3    Stop Procrastinating with the Secrets of Productivity

 

Procrastination I'd like you to take a little quiz with me.

Have you ever ...

... Put off your biggest project at work, until it became a complete nightmare?

... Rushed to write a report or presentation the night before "the big day"?

... Turned in an assignment ... after it was due?

... Felt as if your best hours were being frittered away on nonessential and unimportant activities?

... Bought a "Time Management" program and then never used it?

If so, then keep reading -- this article is for you.

According to Psychology Today, around 20% of people consider themselves chronic procrastinators.  Even more people struggle with procrastination from time to time. 

Maybe that explains the huge offering of books, articles, and programs to help procrastinators learn how to become more productive. But, as you probably know by now, to-do lists and daily planners don't always cut it. There has to be a better way of ending the procrastination habit.

Victor Hugo, the famous author of Les Miserables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, had a particularly creative method for dealing with his tendency to procrastinate. He would order his servant to confiscate all his clothes for a few hours at a time. With little temptation to leave his room, he was forced to sit down and write. 

Of course, that was back in the 19th century, before the Internet.  Nowadays, poor Hugo would probably end up checking his email and reading his favorite blogs.

In any case, you'll be happy to know ... There is a better way to end procrastination. And increase productivity as well.

The Real Story behind Procrastination, and How to End It

Perhaps you've started blaming your lack on productivity on lack of ability. Maybe you've started giving yourself negative labels: "lazy" or "stupid" or "incapable".

But experts agree that one of the top causes of procrastination is fear. That's right, fear: Fear of failing. Fear of disappointment. Fear of success. Fear of criticism. 

Ending procrastination isn't a matter of scheduling your time more efficiently, or even hiding your clothes.

Ending procrastination starts with ending negative thought patterns and ends with creating new, empowering thought patterns instead.  

This means ...

    • Silencing the voices inside your head that make you feel worried, discouraged, or self-doubting
    • Recognizing and addressing fear, and transforming that energy into motivation instead
    • Giving yourself permission to make mistakes
    • Learning how to effectively clear your mind, achieving concentration and focus and letting go of stress
    • Recognizing your tasks as something you choose to do, not something you have to do
    • Viewing your work in small manageable pieces, rather than one large and unconquerable task
    • Installing new mental habits that stop procrastination in its tracks and reinforce your productive focus

For many people, the negative thought patterns and habits that lead to procrastination are deeply ingrained.  Procrastination is a deep-seated habit. But you can transform the way you approach work. To do so, you need to target your habits and thinking patterns at the core level.

Now, here's my exciting news: an easy, enjoyable, effective way to change your habits at the deepest level.

Hypnosis Is a Clinically Proven Method for Changing Habits

As far back as 1955, hypnosis was empirically proven to be beneficial in helping people end procrastination.  A Duke University sociology professor, Hornell Hart, developed a study in which participants were given posthypnotic suggestions through self-hypnosis. Over 2/3rds of the participants who chose to combat procrastination reported complete success, and all participants but one reported partial success. These impressive results laid the groundwork for much more research into this area.

In a 1981 study published by the Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy, another researcher investigated the role that negative thought patterns (which the author termed negative self-hypnosis) hold in reinforcing problematic behaviors.  Positive self-hypnosis was suggested as a useful method of cognitive behavior therapy to deal with these negative patterns.

Now, in the early 21st century, hypnosis has become widely recognized as a valuable method for helping people change their behavior and though patterns.  A recent Wall Street Journal article, "Altered States: Hypnosis Goes Mainstream," detailed the many ways that hypnosis is being used by medical practitioners to help their patients address mind-body problems.  And the Psychology Today article quoted earlier in the article advises that procrastinators learn to change their habits through "highly structured cognitive behavioral therapy". 

During hypnosis, you enter a highly relaxed yet focused state.  In this state, your subconscious and conscious minds are able to communicate the most effectively. With the right psychologist's help, you can start to control the way you respond to your environment. 

Productivity Psychology

There is a branch of psychology 100% focused on increasing productivity.  Corporations pay thousands of dollars to psychologists with this focus because executives who get more quality work done in less time save them a lot of money.  

Productivity psychologists first help you eliminate procrastination and then help you move beyond what you would normally consider "productive."

When you combine a top notch productivity psychologist with advanced hypnosis techniques, you get a method for improving productivity that is un-matched. 

We found a productivity psychologist, Dr. Neil Fiore, Ph.D., with over 30 years of hypnosis experience to help us create such a program.

Dr. Fiore is widely recognized as one of America's top productivity experts.  His Clients include executives at Levi Straus, The Smithsonian, Shell Oil and many others.   We had him take the same techniques he uses with his well known clients and record them in a strategic home use program - so that anybody could experience these benefits without having to pay corporate prices.
4

The Law of Forced Efficiency
 
By Brian Tracy (Brian Tracy International)

"Concentration, in its truest, unadulterated form, means the ability to focus the mind on one single solitary thing." -Komar

This law says that, "There is never enough time to do everything, but there is always enough time to do the most important thing."

You Always Find the Time

When you run out of time and the consequences for non-completion of a key task or project can be really serious, you always seem to find the time to get it done, often at the very last minute. You start early, you stay late and you drive yourself to complete the job rather than to face the negative consequences that would follow if you didn't get it completed within the time limit.

Rule: "There will never be enough time to do everything you have to do."

You Are Already Overwhelmed

The fact is that the average person today is working at 110% to 130% of capacity. And the jobs and responsibilities just keep piling up. Everyone has stacks of reading material they still have to go through. One study concluded recently that the average executive has 300-400 hours of reading and projects backlogged at home and at the office. What this means is that you will never be caught up. Get that out of your mind. All you can hope for is to be on top of your most important responsibilities. The others will just have to wait.

Deadlines Can Be Counterproductive

Many people say that they work better under the pressure of deadlines. Unfortunately, years of research indicate that this is seldom true.

Under the pressure of deadlines, often self-created through procrastination and delay, people suffer greater stress, make more mistakes, and have to do redo more tasks, than under any other conditions. Often the mistakes that are made when people are working under tight deadlines lead to defects and cost overruns that lead to substantial financial losses in the long-term. Sometimes the job actually takes much longer to complete when people rush to get the job done at the last minute and then have to redo it.

The Key Question You Should Ask

The key question you can ask is "What is the most valuable use of my time, right now?"

This is the core question of time management. This is the key to overcoming procrastination and becoming a highly productive person. Every hour of every day, there is an answer to this question. Your job is to ask yourself the question, over and over again, and to always be working on the answer to it, whatever it is.

Do first things first and second things not at all. As Goethe said, "The things that matter most must never be at the mercy of the things that matter least."

The more accurate your answers to this question, the easier it will be for you to set clear priorities, to overcome procrastination and to get started on that one activity that represents the most valuable use of your time.

Action Exercises

Take a few minutes each day and sit quietly where you cannot be disturbed. During this time, let your mind relax and just think about your work and activities, without stress or pressure.

In almost every case, during this time of solitude, you will receive wonderful insights and ideas that will save you enormous amounts of time when you apply them back on the job. Often you will experience breakthroughs that will change the direction of your life and work.
5 
11 Causes and Cures for Procrastination
   
ProcrastinationSomewhere between your idea of accomplishing something, and seeing it accomplished, there may be something lacking -- the act of actually doing it.

Procrastination happens to most people, some of the time. To some people it happens most of the time ...

This quick and inspiring article points out how procrastination can have the short-term benefit of making you feel in control and at peace. Unfortunately this is serenity on borrowed time, and is usually followed by intense panic.

He lists 11 common causes of procrastination, followed by tips to nip the slacker-habit in the bud.

Complicated Task Anxiety, for example, can be cured by breaking a large, complex project into smaller tasks that can easily be accomplished one-at-a-time. Then, all you need to do is get going on one of those small "starter" tasks.

Automate simple, but boring and repetitive tasks whenever you can, to diminish burn-out from boredom. And minimize distractions. See my video on How to Radically Reduce the Time You Spend on Emails, for example, and make sure you're in a room where you can concentrate without distractions.
6   Learn the Secrets of How To Get Things Done Quickly & Easily
People often ask me how I'm able to write this newsletter twice a week, run a full-time medical practice with a staff of 50, write and promote two successful books with my most recent book and direct one of the top ten health sites on the entire Web.
 

There are a number of "right" answers to this inquiry, but one of the most significant things allowing me to accomplish so much is compiling and working off of a very good "To Do" list.

Without a doubt my commitment to writing things down and having a system in place to remind me of my action items has been a major reason I’ve been able to achieve all that I have.

I thought I had a good handle on this until I started to do some research for the new love in my life, Dr. Kendra Pearsall, who is an incredibly brilliant naturopathic doctor but happened to be, like many of us, organizationally impaired. Like most of you, she was frequently overwhelmed with too much to do, too little time to do it, and also a general sense of unease that something important was being missed.

The Nightingale-Conant line of audiotapes had long proved to be an outstanding resource, so I figured they might help Dr. Pearsall as well. I have listened to many dozens of their tape series, and recently purchased one on improving organization that I thought would be a good resource to help Dr. Pearsall reach higher levels of efficiency.

Meanwhile, though, I thought there would be very little that these tapes could offer me as I felt I had a terrific strategy on keeping organized. Well, nothing could be further from the truth!

I love audio tapes as I can multi task, such as prepare my meals or run, while listening to the information. Well, let me tell you that I was absolutely blown away by the profound brilliance and simplicity of the material that I listened to on this particular tape.

It’s called "Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity" by David Allen. The full audiocassette series costs $79.95 and is well worth the price, but by far your best value is the book-version of Allen’s "Getting Things Done." It contains nearly 300 pages of Allen’s "pure gold" information for just $11.20 at Amazon, and is truly one of the most useful books I’ve ever read in my life.

David Allen's approach to managing yourself and your world may be amongst the best advice you ever receive, too. It is profoundly practical, realistic, hands-on, and superbly focused with hundreds of tips, tools, and techniques for improving your personal productivity. Interestingly, I found that this $11.20 book-version of "Getting Things Done" had far more worthwhile details than even the $79.95 tapes.

I believe that most people who’ve already read and applied Allen’s information would say they’d have gladly paid $1000 beforehand if they knew what his insights held in store -- not just motivation but real methods to achieve higher levels of goal fulfillment, mental reassurance and honest-to-goodness organization.

And although I originally purchased Allen’s insights for someone else, it has turned out to be one of the most important books I’ve ever read in my life -- I would easily pay $10,000 for this information. That may sound extreme, but you’ll see what I mean when you read "Getting Things Done" and start applying its principles in your life.

Fortunately, of course, you don’t have to pay $10,000 or even $1000. For a mere $11.20 you can get this crucial information. (This book is so good, however, that those who buy hardcover versions when they know the book will be used excessively should definitely consider spending the extra $6 for "Getting Things Done" in hardcover. The hardcover version has been out since January 2001, while the paper edition was just released in January of this year.)

The "Getting Things Done" book is all that you will need. It requires no special add-ons or binders to purchase, as with some organization programs. You can easily implement the system with pencil and paper.

If you are one of the 40,000 health care professionals that receive this newsletter, or you manage any aspect of any sort of business, let me assure that this book is an absolute mandatory read. I am making this book required reading for my entire administrative staff in my office and on the Web team, and I think you’ll be inspired to do the same.

But if you don’t entirely trust my exuberance for "Getting Things Done," just read the seventy-plus reader reviews at Amazon, which are overwhelmingly five-star reviews. In particular, check out the review from Don Mitchell, an Amazon Top-Ten Reviewer, who gave it his highest rating and provided an in-depth overview of the book, including stating that "The process advocated by this book is described with lots of systems flow charts that will appeal to all of the engineers and left-brained people. The right-brained people will find lots of discussions about emotions, feelings, and stress. So both types of thinkers should do well with this material. "

This amazing book really will appeal to all types, and it will help you no matter what type of responsibilities you are trying to juggle in life, be it health issues, family, work, etc. So avoid procrastination and get this book now while you are thinking of it. I am certain you will find that this book can change your life.

I normally don’t recommend hard cover versions, but this is one you need to have as you will use it so much. However, if you can’t afford the extra $6 or don’t believe me, then at least grab a paperback version of "Getting Things Done" and start reading this life-changing book as soon as you can.

7
How to Radically Reduce Time You Spend on Email
   
 

Read more about the book I mentioned in the video, "".

This is Dr. Mercola, and I want to welcome you to another video update. Today's subject is about time saving, which is in fact related to your health. If you don't have enough time, you're not going to be able to pursue activities that are going to make you healthy, such as exercise, and shopping for, and preparing, good foods.

For most of us, e-mail is a significant time drain. I don't know about you, but I frequently get up to 150, maybe even 200, e-mails a day, and it tends to consume a large portion of my day. So I thought I'd share with you a strategy that I'm going to be adopting, which I think you'll find useful too.

I learned about this strategy in a new book which I've really been enjoying called, Four Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss. This book gives you some really great principles for reducing the amount of things you're doing in life, while still being able to achieve your goals.

With respect to e-mail, a helpful strategy is to check e-mail only twice a day. Yes! Twice a day! This deals with the problem we run into when we get into the habit of e-mailing and responding in a quick fashion, which in turn increases the likelihood of generating additional e-mail.

I'm very excited about adopting this new strategy, because the less e-mail I have to do, the more time I have to pursue other activities. Hopefully, this is helpful for you. I recommend picking up a copy of Tim Ferriss' book, in which you'll find many other helpful hints.

Thanks for watching. I hope this info helps you to save more time, and so, enable you to take control of your health.

   Comments  on Spending Less time on Email.
 
 
 
 
I would save hours per week if only Dr. Mercola's newsletter were shorter and less interesting!  (But keep up the good work, please.)  I am pleased that text has been added to his videos, because I can read much faster than he can talk, and I am a visual learner, so I get more out of a printed text too.  The video clips from other sources are often interesting but too long, so I usually regretfully skip them.
    Vital Votes comments are sometimes fascinating, other times repetitious or irrelevant, and it takes a while to weed out the wheat from the chaff.  I'm honing my skimming skills.  I keep seeing some of the same people commenting.  You folks must have plenty of time!  Nice meeting you!  Please try to keep comments concise and to the point.
 
 
 
I think that checking your e-mail only twice a day is a good thing if you are an immediate responder.  I've always been diligent about replies, but not immediate unless need be.  I admit I peek to see if I have any new mail more than twice a day, but I only reply when time permits. 

Yes, replying more does get you more e-mail!  In the case of my Mom though, it is usually a 1 or two liner and she recently told me she likes to get mail.  So, I consider her desire to keep in touch with her 6 children who are all far away. 

I can definitely see how in Dr. Mercola's business e-mail could be a giant time sucker.  As with everything, it depends on your situation. 

I actually have several addresses, and my mail is sorted as it comes in with handy filters.  So, I can check the address that my message boards come to when I feel like replying.  I can check the address that close friends and family comes to more often to make sure they don't need an instant reply.  And, I can check my survey, fun stuff address whenever I feel like it - usually only once or twice a week (and I leave that mail online so as not to tempt me when I see something new in a mailbox).  It makes for a convenient system for me. 

 
Time to Upgrade Your Brain? Fun and Easy Ways to Maximize Your Unlimited Brain Power
 
POSTED BY
Dr. Mercola  
May 25, 2007
 
 
Although it may be true you only use a fraction of your brain at any point in time, there's still plenty you can do to maximize your virtually unlimited brain power.

Physical exercise is one obvious recommendation that never fails, but the Ririan Project lists another 33 simple, no-nonsense strategies to unleash your brain's capacity for learning.

 

Some are classics like organizing your space for mental work, as cluttered surroundings lead to cluttered thoughts and reinforce the chaos. Or, always start by learning the basics, before moving on to more challenging aspects of your project. Other basic, but great, ideas include:

  • Think and learn holistically, by relating everything you learn to things you already know. This creates a web of information where each part reinforces the other.
  • Pay undivided attention to whatever it is you want to be able to recall later, as multi-tasking reduces the amount of information you will remember.
  • Give yourself deadlines. Often you will find you can accomplish more in less time than you thought.
  • Squelch those negative thoughts! Happy, hopeful thoughts have an overall calming effect on the brain, helping it work more efficiently.

Reducing or eliminating prescription and over-the-counter drugs is also one of the best things you can do to boost brain capacity. Drug interactions and side effects from pharmaceuticals can have a devastating impact on your brain function and memory.

Ririan Project, May 22, 2007

Exercise Improves Brain Power
 
A preliminary study has found that exercise may rev up a person's brain power.

In the study, the researchers measured the thinking ability of 20 men and women aged 18 to 24 after 30 minutes of moderately heavy to heavy running on a treadmill. Once the participants' heart rates had returned to resting levels, they were wired up to an instrument that measures brain waves called an electroencephalogram (EEG).

They then took two computer tests, one more difficult than the other. These results were compared with results from tests the participants took without exercising beforehand.

Brain wave measurements showed that exercising increased the speed of the decision-making process.

Specifically, brain activity kicked in 35 milliseconds faster after exercise compared with when study participants did not exercise. Although that may sound like a small amount of time, that it is actually quite significant.

In addition, the respondents answered more accurately after exercise then they did when they had not exercised.

If the findings hold true, they can be added to a growing body of research on the beneficial effects of even short periods of activity. One recent study found that 10 minutes of moderate exercise daily can improve mood and reduce fatigue.

Another study reported that stair climbing for 2 minutes several times a day can lower total cholesterol, raise HDL cholesterol and improve the resting pulse rate in sedentary young women.
9

CHOICE AND PROCRASTINATIOIN [*].(Statistical Data Included)

Source: Quarterly Journal of Economics

Publication Date: 01-FEB-01

Author: O'DONOGHUE, TED ; RABIN, MATTHEW

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CHOICE AND PROCRASTINATIOIN [*].(Statistical Data Included)

COPYRIGHT 2001 MIT Press Journals

Recent models of procrastination due to self-control problems assume that a procrastinator considers just one option and is unaware of her self-control problems. We develop a model where a person chooses from a menu of options and is partially aware of her self-control problems. This menu model replicates earlier results and generates new ones. A person might forgo completing an attractive option because she plans to complete a more attractive but never-to-be-completed option. Hence, providing a nonprocrastinator additional options can induce procrastination, and a person may procrastinate worse pursuing important goals than unimportant ones.

"The better is the enemy of the good."

Voltaire
I. INTRODUCTION
Most of us procrastinate. We delay doing unpleasant tasks that we wish we would do sooner. Such procrastination can be very costly. We skip enjoyable events in mid-April because we procrastinate in completing our taxes; we die young because we procrastinate in quitting smoking, starting a diet, or scheduling a medical checkup; and we are denied tenure because of our own, coauthors', or journal referees' procrastination.

There is a growing literature in economics that assumes people have self-control problems, conceived of as a time-inconsistent taste for immediate gratification. An often discussed implication of such preferences is procrastination. [1] These models of procrastination assume that a potential procrastinator has only one task under consideration, and hence the only concern is when the person completes the task. In most situations, however, a person must decide not only when to complete a task, but also which task to complete, or how much effort to apply to a chosen task. If a person must revise a paper for resubmission, she can either respond minimally to the editor's suggestions or expend more effort to respond thoroughly. If she is choosing how to invest some money, she can either thoughtlessly follow the advice of a friend, or thoroughly investigate investment strategies. If she is putting together a montage of Johnny Depp photos, she can either haphazardly throw together a few press clippings or work devou tly to construct the shrine that he deserves.

In this paper we develop a model of procrastination in which a person must choose not only when to do a task, but also which task to do. The model makes a number of realistic predictions incompatible with the conventional assumption of time-consistent preferences. These include the possibilities that providing a person with an attractive new option can cause her to switch from doing something beneficial to doing nothing at all, and that a person may procrastinate more severely when pursuing important goals than unimportant ones.

We also develop a formal model of partial naivete, where a person is aware that she will have future self-control problems, but underestimates their magnitude. The literature on self-control problems has focused entirely on two assumptions regarding a person's beliefs about her future self-control problems: that she is sophisticated--fully aware of her future self-control problems--or that she is naive--fully unaware of her future self-control problems. We believe that introducing a model of partial naivete to the growing literature on time-inconsistent preferences is an important ancillary contribution of this paper. Economists have been predisposed to focus on complete sophistication; but since our results show that any degree of naivete can yield different predictions than complete sophistication, our analysis suggests that restricting attention to complete sophistication could be a methodological and empirical mistake even if people are mostly sophisticated.

In Section II we describe a formalization of time-inconsistent preferences originally developed by Phelps and Pollak [1968] in the context of intergenerational altruism and later employed by Laibson [1994] to capture self-control problems within an individual: in addition to time-consistent discounting, a person always gives extra weight to current well-being over future well-being. These "present-biased preferences" imply that each period a person tends to pursue immediate gratification more than she would have preferred if asked in any prior period.

In Section III we present our model of task choice. We suppose that a person faces a menu of possible tasks. Each period she must either complete one of these tasks or do nothing, without being able to commit to future behavior. Completing a task requires that the person incur an immediate cost, but generates an infinite stream of delayed benefits; tasks may differ in both their costs and their benefits. We assume that the person behaves optimally given her taste for immediate gratification and given her beliefs as to how she will behave in the future, where her beliefs reflect her (sophisticated, naive, or partially naive) perceptions of her future self-control problems.

Naivete about future self-control problems leads a person to be overoptimistic about how soon she would complete a task if she were to delay now, and hence is an important determinant of procrastination. Akerlof [1991] emphasizes the role of naivete in putting off unpleasant tasks, and O'Donoghue and Rabin [1999a] show that even mild self-control problems can cause severe procrastination for a completely naive person, but not for a completely sophisticated person. [2] Section III fleshes out the logic behind these earlier results, and generalizes them by allowing for both a menu of tasks and partial naivete. We show that for any specific environment there is a lower bound on the degree of naivete needed to generate severe procrastination. But we also show that for a person with any degree of naivete, no matter how little, there exist environments where that person procrastinates severely.

In Section IV we turn to the core new results of this paper--those regarding the role of choice for procrastination. The implications of choice for procrastination derive from the fact that the two aspects of a person's decision--which task to do and when to do it--are determined by two different criteria. A person plans to do the task which, taking into account her taste for immediate gratification, yields her the highest long-run net benefit. But whether the person ever completes that task depends on a comparison of its immediate cost to the benefits forgone by brief delay, and has very little to do with either its long-run benefit or the features of other tasks available.

The disjunction between these two criteria can produce some realistic behavior patterns inconsistent with conventional economic models. Our first main finding is that providing a person with additional options can induce procrastination. If a new option has a sufficiently high long-run net benefit, the person will plan to do this new option rather than what she would have otherwise done; and if this new option has a sufficiently large cost relative to its immediate benefit, the person now procrastinates. For example, a person might immediately invest her savings in her company's 401(k) plan if there were a single investment option available, but might procrastinate if she must choose from a menu of different investment options because she constantly plans to figure out her best option in the near future. As Voltaire should have meant by the opening quote (but did not), a person may never complete a good task because of persistent but unfulfilled aspirations to do a better job. [3]

Our second main finding is that people may procrastinate more in pursuit of important goals than unimportant ones, or equivalently that increasing importance can exacerbate procrastination. The more important are a person's goals, the more ambitious are her plans. But the more ambitious are her plans-- i.e., the higher is the effort she intends to incur--the more likely she is to procrastinate in executing those plans. We formalize this intuition by supposing that the long-run net benefit of all tasks are increased either by making the person more patient or by increasing per-period benefits, and identify classes of situations where a sufficiently large increase in the long-run benefits of all tasks induces a person to procrastinate.

Our model does not imply that people always procrastinate the most when pursuing their most important goals. Indeed, this possibility requires the combination of self-control problems, naivete, and multiple options. If any of the three factors is missing, increasing the long-run net benefits of all tasks makes the person more likely to do a task. Even with all three factors present, increased importance can sometimes reduce procrastination. But our model shows that any presumption that people do not procrastinate on important tasks should be dismissed. [4]

We view it as neither a flaw nor a virtue that some of our results are paradoxical from the perspective of traditional economic analysis. Rather, we are interested in their economic relevance. In O'Donoghue and Rabin [1999c], for instance, we argue with some calibration exercises that such issues can be an important determinant of whether and how a person invests her savings for retirement. Investing for retirement is perhaps the single most important economic decision that people (should) make. Our theoretical model matches what seems to be empirically true: in spite of--or perhaps because of--its immense importance, many people never get around to carefully planning their investment for retirement. We conclude the paper in Section V with a brief discussion of the results in that paper, as well as a discussion of how the intuitions in this paper might play out in extensions of our model, such as supposing that a person must allocate time among more than one task, or can improve upon what she has done in the past.

II. PRESENT-BIASED PREFERENCES AND BELIEFS

The standard economics model assumes that intertemporal preferences are time-consistent: a person's relative preference for well-being at an earlier date over a later date is the same no matter when she is asked. But there is a mass of evidence that intertemporal preferences take on a specific form of time inconsistency: a person's relative preference for well-being at an earlier date over a later date gets stronger as the earlier date gets closer. [5] In other words, people have self-control problems caused by a Tendency to pursue immediate gratification in a way that their "long-run selves" do not appreciate.

In this paper we apply a simple form of such present-biased preferences, using a model originally developed by Phelps and Pollak [1968] in the context of intergenerational altruism and later used by Laibson [1994] to model time inconsistency within an individual. [6] Let [u.sub.t] be the instantaneous utility a person gets in period t. Then her intertemporal preferences at time t, [U.sup.t], can be represented by the following utility function:

[U.sup.t]([u.sub.t],[u.sub.t+1],...,[u.sub.T]) [equivalent] [[delta].sup.t][u.sub.t] + [beta] [[[sigma].sup.T].sub.[tau]=t+1] [[delta].sup.[tau]][u.sub.[tau]].

This two-parameter model is a simple modification of the standard one-parameter, exponential-discounting model. The parameter [delta] represents standard "time-consistent" impatience, whereas the parameter [beta] represents a time-inconsistent preference for immediate gratification. For [beta] = 1, these preferences are time-consistent. But for [beta] [less than] 1, at any given moment the person has an extra bias for now over the future.

To examine intertemporal choice given time-inconsistent preferences, one must ask what a person believes about her own future behavior. Two extreme assumptions have appeared in the literature: sophisticated people are fully aware of their future self-control problems and therefore correctly predict how their future selves will behave, and naive people are fully unaware of their future self-control problems and therefore believe their future selves will behave exactly as they currently would like them to behave. [7]

While our main goal in this paper is to analyze the role of choice for procrastination, an ancillary goal is to extend the analysis of time-inconsistent preferences beyond the extreme assumptions of sophistication and naivete. Hence, we also examine behavior for a person who is partially naive--she is aware that she has future self-control problems, but she underestimates their magnitude. To formalize this notion, let [beta] be a person's beliefs about her future self-control problems--her beliefs about what her taste for immediate gratification, [beta], will be in all future periods. A sophisticated person knows exactly her future self-control problems, and therefore has perceptions [beta] = [beta]. A naive person believes she will not have future self-control problems, and therefore has perceptions [beta] = 1. A partially naive person has perceptions [beta] [epsilon] ([beta], 1). In the next section we shall define within our specific model a formal solution concept that applies to sophisticates, naifs, par tial naifs, and (by setting [beta] = 1) time-consistent agents. We then show in the context of our model how and when partial naivete leads to procrastination. [8]

III. THE MODEL AND SOME RESULTS

Suppose that there are an infinite number of periods in which a person can complete a task, and each period the person chooses from the same menu of tasks, X [subset] [[R.sup.2].sub.+]. While we permit X to be finite or infinite, we assume that it is closed. Task x [epsilon] X can be represented by the pair (c,v), where if a person completes task x in period [tau] she incurs cost c [greater than or equal to] in period [tau] and initiates a stream of benefits v [greater than or equal to] in each period from period [tau] + 1 onward. While we discuss more realistic alternatives in the conclusion, throughout our analysis we assume that the tasks are mutually exclusive and final: the person can complete at most one task, and can complete that task at most once.

The set of actions available each period is A [equivalent] X [union] {[empty set]}. Action x [epsilon] X means "complete task x," and action [empty set] means "do nothing." We describe behavior by a strategy s [equivalent] ([a.sub.1],[a.sub.2], ...) which specifies an action [a.sub.t] [epsilon] A for each period t. [9] In this environment there are two relevant questions about a person's behavior: (1) when, if at all, does she complete a task? and (2) which task does she complete? Given a strategy s [equivalent] ([a.sub.1],[a.sub.2], ...), let [tau](s) denote the period in which the person completes a task, and let x(s) denote the specific task that the person completes. Formally, [tau](s) = min{t\[a.sub.t] [neq] [empty set]} and x(s) = [a.sub.[tau](s)], with [tau](s) = [infinity] and x(s) = [empty set] if [a.sub.t] = [empty set] for all t. While the question of which task the person completes and when she completes that task are of obvious interest, we shall often focus only on whether the person ever completes any task. Hence, the strategy [s.sup. [empty set]] [equivalent] ([empty set],[empty set],...,[empty set],...) plays a prominent role in our analysis.

Our solution concept, "perception-perfect strategies," requires that at all times a person have reasonable beliefs about how she would behave in the future following any possible current action, and that she choose her current action to maximize her current preferences given these beliefs. Let [s.sup.t] [equivalent] ([[a.sup.t].sub.t+1], [[a.sup.t].sub.t+2], ...) represent the person's period-t beliefs about future behavior, where [[a.sup.t].sub.[tau]] represents the person's belief in period t for what action she would choose in period [tau] if she were to enter period [tau] not yet having completed a task. Given the person's beliefs [s.sup.t], let [V.sup.t]([a.sub.t],[s.sub.t],[beta],[delta]) represent the person's period-t preferences over current actions conditional on following strategy [s.sub.t] beginning in period t + 1. [10] Then,

 [MATHEMATICAL EXPRESSION NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]

The three cases in this equation correspond to three different possibilities of when, relative to period t, the person completes the task. In the first case, the person completes task (c,[upsilon]) now, and therefore she does not discount the immediate cost c by [beta], but does discount the delayed reward [delta][upsilon]/(1 - [delta]) by [beta]. In the second case, the person does nothing now and expects to complete task (c,[upsilon]) in [tau] periods, and therefore discounts both the cost and reward by [beta]. In the third case, she does nothing now and expects never to complete any task, and therefore her payoff is zero.

With this notation, a person in period t chooses her current action at [a.sub.t] to maximize her current preferences [V.sup.t] given her beliefs [s.sup.t]. To predict behavior in our model, however, we do not allow arbitrary beliefs. Rather, a person's beliefs should be a function of her perception of her future self-control problems, [beta], in conjunction with some coherent theory of how she will behave given such self-control problems. We require beliefs to be dynamically consistent:

10 Speaking of Procrastination

Oops! I definitely forgot to do this on Thursday.

I certainly find it strange that when “holy” and “sinful” days occur in close proximity that many “religious” people celebrate the sinful with greater vigor. In Christianity we have Halloween but hardly any focus on All Hallows Day (Nov. 1st) and Mardi Gras certainly supercedes Lent. (I understand that similar practices accompany the beginning of Ramadan in Islam.) Even those of us who do not put much stock in considering one day holier than another practice the same. Sin receives considerable attention, for example, on Saturday but praising God on Sunday gets neglected. (This occurs frequently on college campuses. Watch how many university students partake in “make-up” communion on Sunday nights because God wasn’t worth waking up for.) Is not holiness, salvation, and reconciliation worthy of our celebration?

Oh well, following this widely established pattern of allowing the world to shape Christian thought rather than Christian thought transforming the world, I offer you my top ten names for funeral parlors in honor of Halloween:

10) A Grave Undertaking – Funerals for the redundant (primarily aimed at bureaucrats)
9) Coffin Fit – tailor made funeral wear (specializing in smoking jackets)
8) Six Feet Under – Special services for the gravitationally challenged
7) Grave at the Office – Funerals for those married to their jobs
6) Mickey Mausoleum – Cemetery for obsolete Disney characters
5) Inter-Mission – Inexpensive burials for those in Christ who know that death is only a brief inconvenience
4) Coffin and Cremation – Funeral home and coffee shop
3) We Urn It – We store a loved one the old-fashioned way, or services provided for Christian women named “Penny.”
2) Remains to be Seen – World leaders in glass coffins (think about it, think “Lenin” if it helps; I consider this particularly clever which means I’m probably the only one that gets it. This of course has no correlation to any supposed intelligence I may possess. It merely serves as further proof of my strange, some would say non-extant, humor.)
and 1) Expiration Date – Ensuring romance in the hereafter

Celebrate God’s grace this weekend!

October 20, 2005

I’m Bjored

I never thought I would like children. When we got married, Deborah wanted twelve and I didn’t want any. I lost the argument twice, though, and am so thankful I did. Jonathan and Katrina have been (and continue to be) the most marvelous blessings. Because of them we continue to have children in different ways. I find myself adopting dozens of kids each year at OC. They are especially dear to me, and we are so proud when they go off to medical school or study gerontology (even if it is in Kansas), choose to serve others in Portland rather than move up the corporate ladder in a major U.S. company, or go on the mission field.

Last night we brought home Danny, our twelfth foster child. He weighs six pounds and nine ounces. Most off that weight is in his fingers. They are HUGE! I could have been a concert pianist with those hands. He came from the hospital in an OU jersey. I was surprised at first, but then I figured it made sense. If he had been a girl, I’m sure he would have been wearing an OSU shirt. They’re obviously saving his Notre Dame outfit for when he becomes a man.

I have been neglecting one of my favorite adopted daughters. This top ten list is in her honor. Angie, I promise I will call soon. (But please send me your new phone number so I can.) Here are my top ten items related to northern Europe: the land of fair skin, blonde hair (and lots of it), beautiful smiles, 22 hour days, and disco.

10) Lapptop – computers distributed at OC’s wireless campus in Stockholm
9) Swede Tattle Line – A volunteer Crimestoppers network manned by Scandinavian Barbershop Quartet singers
8) Foto Finnish – 24 hour picture processing franchise in Helsinki
7) The Wizard of Oslo – Norway’s favorite saga about Dorothea and her dog Tjotjo and their battle against the Vicked Vitch of the Vest who attempts to bring back the men’s three piece suit
6) How Swede, How Heavenly – famous Lutheran hymn
5) Bjorn in the USA – well known song by Bjuce Springsteensen
4) The Lapp of Luxury – the best that money can affjord
3) Neither Rhyme, Norwegian – common proverb about the Scandinavians’ inability to master assonance
2) Blue Swede Shoes – Footwear for depressed northern Europeans
And 1) Momentary Lapps of Reason – the other name for the Society of Part-time Scandinavian Philosophers (SPSP).

Hug a kid today!

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Thursday’s Top Ten

Due to sleep deprivation, I decided not to hurt myself by thinking today. So I am rehashing material from last night. Oklahoma Christian puts on a variety show each Spring put on by students. The different social clubs put together short skits while hosts and hostesses, picked from the top musical talent on campus, provide the real talent in between. (Grammar fanatics, please don’t harass me about ending a sentence with two prepositions. As Churchill once said, “There are some things up with which I shall not put.”)

The last two years, playing off of the popularity of “American Idol,” the student directors have held a singing contest for one of the host/hostess spots. Since I have a reputation for being mean, I have played the role of the nasty, self absorbed judge. (Any similarities with other nasty, self-absorbed judges living or dead are merely coincidental.) Here are my top ten lines from that experience:

10) (to the audience) “Oh shut up. You have nothing worthwhile to say to me until you too know what it’s like to be always right.”
9) (to the other judges) “How can you judges say that’s the best song for his voice? One episode of Barney the Dinosaur would provide many more.”
8) “You sang that like a Democrat-voting math major; you definitely had Al-Gore-Rhythm.”
7) “That was really… loud. I think there’s a moose somewhere in Kansas that thinks you have just asked her out on a date.”
6) “Why choose a song with only four chords, especially when you get only three of them right?”
5) “You have single-handedly proven that Country Music is an oxymoron.”
4) “I never knew you had it in you… I hope you’ve finally got it out, those hairballs can be painful.”
3) “You sounded just like him! For a moment, when I closed my eyes, you WERE Elmer Fudd.”
2) “You really have a good ear….  It’s the other one that really needs to get fixed.”
And 1) “Wow! You left me speechless. That’s really something since I know how to say ‘That stunk’ in eleven different languages.”

Friday, October 07, 2005

Procrastination as Opposed to Amateur Crastination

Have you missed me? I apologize for being so antisocial, but I have not had much choice. I hope, however, that this will be remedied come Monday.

Since all I have been doing this last month is reading Ethiopic, it seemed easiest to me to come up with a top ten list that deals with African nations. This very well could be my stupidest list, but since I allocated five minutes for its construction and came in several minutes under that, what should you expect? So, here are my top ten African nation thingies (I’m brain dead and cannot think of a better title.)

10) Togo where no man has gone before,
9) I’m Ghana wash that man right out of my hair (from the musical South Pacific which, of course, is not even close to Ghana),
8) I Congo on,
7) Oh yes you can, Uganda make it happen,
6) Egypt - getting ripped off on Ebay,
5) Tunesia (a disease where you forget you are a fish)
4) A Fish Called Rwanda,
3) Sudan Impact,
2) Abyssinia in all the old familiar places (another obscure musical reference),
and 1) Shake Djibouti.

Ok, back to writing in the office I currently call home. Be blessed.

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12    OK, so everyone is admitting to procrastination and trying to justify their reasons. That was what the article was about. As long as you accept it and use that as an excuse for not doing things the cycle will continue.

I too procrastinate...however I generally do not make excuses except to tell the truth. My parents taught me to accept mistakes and go on. Even without the excuses my cycle is to procrastinate on homework that is due way into the future. When the due date is near I tend to start work, but as you can see with this post tonight (with the due time looming on the very near horizon) I am just sitting down to try and catch whatever points i can.

If procrastination is wrong why is being late generally accepted? I can be late for work or a date but if a paper is late there is nothing to do about it (with strict teachers). But if I have a lenient teacher with no sure due date that is when it goes to a back burner so that other things can get done (even if that just means reading a book).

Where is the decision on right or wrong. I could argue that Kant would say procrastination is alright because our teachers expect it and knowingly allow us to turn in our work late. But a utilitarian would say it is wrong because there is then a backload of work for that teacher and the only good that I can see is that i get a grade(unless it is lower because a teacher is back loaded with work and decides to lower the grade because of it.)

Can't say for sure, but I think it is only yourself to blame if you procrastinate.

13   Procrastination
Look up Procrastination in
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Procrastination is the deferment or avoidance of an action or task to a later time. Psychologist and author Neil Fiore defines procrastination as:

"a mechanism for coping with the anxiety associated with starting or completing any task or decision."[1]

For the person procrastinating this may result in stress, a sense of guilt, the loss of productivity, the creation of crisis, and the chagrin of others for not fulfilling one's responsibilities or commitments. While it is normal for individuals to procrastinate to some degree, it becomes a problem when it impedes normal functioning. Chronic procrastination may be a sign of an underlying psychological or physiological disorder.

The word itself comes from the Latin word procrastinatus: pro- (forward) and crastinus (of tomorrow). The term's first known appearance was in Edward Hall's Chronicle (The union of the two noble and illustre famelies of Lancestre and Yorke), first published sometime before 1548.[2] The sermon reflected procrastination's connection at the time to task avoidance or delay, volition or will, and sin.

A procrastinator is therefore an individual who avoids tasks or who is avoiding a particular task.

 

 Causes of procrastination

 Psychological

The psychological causes of procrastination vary greatly, but generally surround issues of anxiety, low sense of self-worth and a self-defeating mentality. Procrastinators are also thought to have a higher-than-normal level of conscientiousness, more based on the "dreams and wishes" of perfection or achievement in contrast to a realistic appreciation of their obligations and potential.[3]


Author David Allen brings up two major psychological causes of procrastination at work and in life which are related to anxiety, not laziness. The first category comprises things too small to worry about, tasks that are an annoying interruption in the flow of things, and for which there are low-impact workarounds; an example might be organizing a messy room. The second category comprises things too big to control, tasks that a person might fear, or for which the implications might have a great impact on a person's life; an example might be the adult children of a deteriorating senior parent deciding what living arrangement would be best.

Graduate students are frequent subjects of academic procrastination studies, often because they do not finish their dissertation (sometimes referred to as "ABD" for "all but dissertation").[citation needed]

A person might unconsciously overestimate or underestimate the scale of a task if procrastination has become a habit.[citation needed]

From the behavioral psychology point of view, James Mazur has said that procrastination is a particular case of "impulsiveness" as opposed to self control. Mazur states that procrastination occurs because of a temporal discounting of a punisher, as it happens with the temporal discount for a reinforcer. Procrastination, then, as Mazur says, happens when a choice has to be made between a later larger task and a sooner small task; as the absolute value of the task gets discounted by the time, a subject tends to choose the later large task. From the behavioral stand, there's no such thing as anxiety or unconscious decisions, everything is in the environment.

 Physiological

Research on the physiological roots of procrastination mostly surrounds the role of the prefrontal cortex. This area of the brain is responsible for executive brain functions such as planning, impulse control, attention, and acts as a filter by decreasing distracting stimuli from other brain regions. Damage or low activation in this area can reduce an individual's ability to filter out distracting stimuli, ultimately resulting in poorer organization, a loss of attention and increased procrastination. This is similar to the prefrontal lobe's role in Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), where underactivation is common. [3]

 Procrastination and mental health

Procrastination can be a persistent and debilitating disorder in some people, causing significant psychological disability and dysfunction. These individuals may actually be suffering from an underlying mental health problem such as depression or Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD).

While procrastination is a behavioral condition, these underlying mental health disorders can be treated with medication and/or therapy. Medication can improve an individual's attention span (in the case of ADHD) or improve overall mood (in the case of depression). Therapy can be a useful tool in helping an individual learn new behaviors, overcome fears and anxieties, and achieve an improved quality of life. Thus it is important for people who chronically struggle with debilitating procrastination to see a trained therapist or psychiatrist to see if an underlying mental health issue may be present.

Severe procrastination and/or ADD can cross over into internet addiction or computer addiction. In this instance the individual has a compulsion to avoid reality by surfing the web or playing video games (see Game addiction) or looking at online pornography (see Pornography addiction). Although these are relatively new phenomena, they are being considered as psychiatric diagnoses by mental health professionals.

 Perfectionism

Traditionally, procrastination has been associated with perfectionism, a tendency to negatively evaluate outcomes and one's own performance, intense fear and avoidance of evaluation of one's abilities by others, heightened social self-consciousness and anxiety, recurrent low mood, and workaholism. Slaney (1996) found that adaptive perfectionists were less likely to procrastinate than non-perfectionists, while maladaptive perfectionists (people who saw their perfectionism as a problem) had high levels of procrastination (and also of anxiety).[4]

 Academic procrastination

While academic procrastination is not a special type of procrastination, procrastination is thought to be particularly prevalent in the academic setting[citation needed], where students are required to meet deadlines for assignments and tests in an environment full of events and activities which compete for the students' time and attention. More specifically, a 1992 study showed that "52% of surveyed students indicated having a moderate to high need for help concerning procrastination"[5].

Some students struggle with procrastination due to a lack of time management or study skills, stress, or feeling overwhelmed with their work.[citation needed] Students can also struggle with procrastination for medical reasons such as ADD/ADHD or a learning disorder.

 Student Syndrome

Student syndrome refers to the phenomenon that many students will begin to fully apply themselves to a task just before a deadline. This leads to wasting any buffers built into individual task duration estimates.

The term originated in Eliyahu M. Goldratt's novel style book, Critical Chain, and the principle is also addressed in the book entitled Agile Management for Software Engineering: Applying the Theory of Constraints for Business Results by David J. Anderson, and Eli Schragenheim.

For example, if a group of students goes to a professor and asks for an extension to a deadline they will usually defend their request by noting how much better their project will be if they are given more time to work on it; they request this with the intent to distribute their work time across the remainder of the time until the deadline. In reality however, most students will have other tasks or events that place demands on their time. They will often end up close to the same situation they started with, wishing they had more time as the new delayed deadline approaches.

This same behavior is seen in businesses; in project and task estimating, a time- or resource-buffer is applied to the task to allow for overrun or other scheduling problems. However with Student syndrome the latest possible start of tasks causes the buffer for any given task to be wasted beforehand, rather than kept in reserve. Like students, many workers do not complete assignments early, but wait until the last minute before starting, often having to rush to submit their assignment minutes before the deadline. A similar phenomenon is seen every year in the United States when personal tax returns are due - Post Offices remain open until midnight on the final day as people queue to get their tax return postmarked.

 Types of procrastinators

 The relaxed type

The relaxed type of procrastinators view their responsibilities negatively and avoid them by directing energy into other tasks. It is common, for example, for relaxed type procrastinating children to abandon schoolwork but not their social lives. Students often see projects as a whole rather than breaking them into smaller parts. This type of procrastination is a form of denial or cover-up; therefore, typically no help is being sought. Furthermore, they are also unable to defer gratification. The procrastinator avoids situations that would cause displeasure, indulging instead in more enjoyable activities. In Freudian terms, such procrastinators refuse to renounce the pleasure principle, instead sacrificing the reality principle. They may not appear to be worried about work and deadlines, but this is simply an evasion.[6]

 The tense-afraid type

The tense-afraid type of procrastinator usually feels overwhelmed with pressure, unrealistic about time, uncertain about goals and many other negative feelings. Feeling that they lack the ability or focus to successfully complete their work, they tell themselves that they need to unwind and relax, that it's better to take it easy for the afternoon, for example, and start afresh in the morning. Usually have grandiose plans rather than being realistic. Their 'relaxing' is often temporary and ineffective, and leads to even more stress as time runs out, deadlines approach and the person feels increasingly guilty and apprehensive. This behavior becomes a cycle of failure and delay, as plans and goals are put off, penciled into the following day or week in the diary again and again. It can also have a debilitating effect on their personal lives and relationships. Since they are uncertain about their goals, they often feel awkward with people who appear confident and goal-oriented, which can lead to depression. Tense-afraid procrastinators often withdraw from social life, avoiding contact even with close friends.[6]
14  Structured Procrastination
The Author Procrastinating

Author practices jumping rope with seaweed while work awaits.

I have been intending to write this essay for months. Why am I finally doing it? Because I finally found some uncommitted time? Wrong. I have papers to grade, textbook orders to fill out, an NSF proposal to referee, dissertation drafts to read. I am working on this essay as a way of not doing all of those things. This is the essence of what I call structured procrastination, an amazing strategy I have discovered that converts procrastinators into effective human beings, respected and admired for all that they can accomplish and the good use they make of time. All procrastinators put off things they have to do. Structured procrastination is the art of making this bad trait work for you. The key idea is that procrastinating does not mean doing absolutely nothing. Procrastinators seldom do absolutely nothing; they do marginally useful things, like gardening or sharpening pencils or making a diagram of how they will reorganize their files when they get around to it. Why does the procrastinator do these things? Because they are a way of not doing something more important. If all the procrastinator had left to do was to sharpen some pencils, no force on earth could get him do it. However, the procrastinator can be motivated to do difficult, timely and important tasks, as long as these tasks are a way of not doing something more important.

Structured procrastination means shaping the structure of the tasks one has to do in a way that exploits this fact. The list of tasks one has in mind will be ordered by importance. Tasks that seem most urgent and important are on top. But there are also worthwhile tasks to perform lower down on the list. Doing these tasks becomes a way of not doing the things higher up on the list. With this sort of appropriate task structure, the procrastinator becomes a useful citizen. Indeed, the procrastinator can even acquire, as I have, a reputation for getting a lot done.

The most perfect situation for structured procrastination that I ever had was when my wife and I served as Resident Fellows in Soto House, a Stanford dormitory. In the evening, faced with papers to grade, lectures to prepare, committee work to be done, I would leave our cottage next to the dorm and go over to the lounge and play ping-pong with the residents, or talk over things with them in their rooms, or just sit there and read the paper. I got a reputation for being a terrific Resident Fellow, and one of the rare profs on campus who spent time with undergraduates and got to know them. What a set up: play ping pong as a way of not doing more important things, and get a reputation as Mr. Chips.

Procrastinators often follow exactly the wrong tack. They try to minimize their commitments, assuming that if they have only a few things to do, they will quit procrastinating and get them done. But this goes contrary to the basic nature of the procrastinator and destroys his most important source of motivation. The few tasks on his list will be by definition the most important, and the only way to avoid doing them will be to do nothing. This is a way to become a couch potato, not an effective human being.

At this point you may be asking,

 "How about the important tasks at the top of the list, that one never does?"
Admittedly, there is a potential problem here.

The trick is to pick the right sorts of projects for the top of the list. The ideal sorts of things have two characteristics, First, they seem to have clear deadlines (but really don't). Second, they seem awfully important (but really aren't). Luckily, life abounds with such tasks. In universities the vast majority of tasks fall into this category, and I'm sure the same is true for most other large institutions. Take for example the item right at the top of my list right now. This is finishing an essay for a volume in the philosophy of language. It was supposed to be done eleven months ago. I have accomplished an enormous number of important things as a way of not working on it. A couple of months ago, bothered by guilt, I wrote a letter to the editor saying how sorry I was to be so late and expressing my good intentions to get to work. Writing the letter was, of course, a way of not working on the article. It turned out that I really wasn't much further behind schedule than anyone else. And how important is this article anyway? Not so important that at some point something that seems more important won't come along. Then I'll get to work on it.

Another example is book order forms. I write this in June. In October, I will teach a class on Epistemology. The book order forms are already overdue at the book store. It is easy to take this as an important task with a pressing deadline (for you non-procrastinators, I will observe that deadlines really start to press a week or two after they pass.) I get almost daily reminders from the department secretary, students sometimes ask me what we will be reading, and the unfilled order form sits right in the middle of my desk, right under the wrapping from the sandwich I ate last Wednesday. This task is near the top of my list; it bothers me, and motivates me to do other useful but superficially less important things. But in fact, the book store is plenty busy with forms already filed by non-procrastinators. I can get mine in mid-Summer and things will be fine. I just need to order popular well-known books from efficient publishers. I will accept some other, apparently more important, task sometime between now and, say, August 1st. Then my psyche will feel comfortable about filling out the order forms as a way of not doing this new task.

The observant reader may feel at this point that structured procrastination requires a certain amount of self-deception, since one is in effect constantly perpetrating a pyramid scheme on oneself. Exactly. One needs to be able to recognize and commit oneself to tasks with inflated importance and unreal deadlines, while making oneself feel that they are important and urgent. This is not a problem, because virtually all procrastinators have excellent self-deceptive skills also. And what could be more noble than using one character flaw to offset the bad effects of another?
16  Procrastination
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Procrastination is the thief of time. - Edward Young (1683-1765)  

Discussion
Procrastination is a complex psychological behavior that affects everyone to some degree or another. With some it can be a minor problem; with others it is a source of considerable stress and anxiety. Procrastination is only remotely related to time management, (procrastinators often know exactly what they should be doing, even if they cannot do it), which is why very detailed schedules usually are no help.

Characteristics
The procrastinator is often remarkably optimistic about his ability to complete a task on a tight deadline; this is usually accompanied by expressions of reassurance that everything is under control. (Therefore, there is no need to start.) For example, he may estimate that a paper will take only five days to write; he has fifteen days; there is plenty of time; no need to start. Lulled by a false sense of security, time passes. At some point, he crosses over an imaginary starting time and suddenly realizes, "Oh no! - I am not in control! There isn't enough time!"

At this point, considerable effort is directed towards completing the task, and work progresses. This sudden spurt of energy is the source of the erroneous feeling that "I only work well under pressure." Actually, at this point you are making progress only because you haven't any choice. Your back is against the wall and there are no alternatives. Progress is being made, but you have lost your freedom.

Barely completed in time, the paper may actually earn a fairly good grade; whereupon the student experiences mixed feelings: pride of accomplishment (sort-of), scorn for the professor who cannot recognize substandard work, and guilt for getting an undeserved grade. But the net result is reinforcement: the procrastinator is rewarded positively for his poor behavior. ("Look what a decent grade I got after all!") As a result, the counterproductive behavior is repeated over and over again.

Positive reinforcement for delay (a good grade) is a principal contributor to continued procrastination.

Other Characteristics

  • Low Self-Confidence - The procrastinator may struggle with feelings of low self-confidence and low self-esteem. He may insist upon a high level of performance even though he may feel inadequate or incapable of actually achieving that level.
  • I'm Too Busy - Procrastination may be used to call attention to how busy he is. "Obviously I cannot do such and such because my affairs are so complicated and so demanding. That is why I am late, etc." The procrastinator may even spend considerable time justifying his reasons, time that could be spent doing the work.
  • Stubbornness - Procrastination may be used as an expression of stubbornness or pride: "Don't think you can push me around. I will do it when I'm good and ready."
  • Manipulation - Procrastination may be used to control or manipulate the behavior of others. "They cannot start if I am not there." Let's face it: deliberate delay drives others crazy.
  • Coping with Pressures - Procrastination is often truly difficult to eradicate since the delay behavior has become a method of coping with day-to-day pressures and experiences. Obviously if one is cured, others will put new demands and expectations upon you. It's easier to have an excuse, to delay, to put off.
  • A Frustrated Victim - The procrastinator often feels like a victim: he cannot understand his behavior or why he cannot get work done like others. The whole thing is a frustrating mystery. The reasons for his behavior are hidden from him.

Benefits of Overcoming Procrastination
What are the benefits of overcoming procrastination? Peace of mind, a feeling of strength and purpose, and healthy feeling of being in charge of your life. While procrastination makes you feel weak, useless, and helpless, taking charge of your life will make you feel strong, competent, and capable. You will experience increased personal freedom!

Four Simple Reasons for Procrastination

  1. Difficult - the task seems hard to do; we naturally tend to avoid difficult things in favor of those which seem easy to us.
  2. Time-consuming - the task will take large blocks of time, and large blocks of time are unavailable until the weekend.
  3. Lack of knowledge or skills - no one wants to make mistakes, so wait until you learn how before you start.
  4. Fears - everyone will know how you screwed up.

The simple cure? Do everything opposite. Tell yourself: this isn't so hard, it won't take long, and I am sure that I know how to do it, or that I can learn while I'm doing it. And no one else really cares because they are all so busy with their own problems.

Four Complex Reasons for Procrastination

  1. Perfectionism - unrealistically high expectations or standards. Everything must go completely right. It may either imposed or self-imposed. The perfectionist is long on criticism and short on praise.
    • It creates a high degree of dissatisfaction and frustration because seldom is anything accomplished that is completely acceptable the very first time. The perfectionist nitpicks it to death.
    • A perfectionist may delay in starting a project because he feels overwhelmed by the sheer amount of energy it will take to criticize and nitpick something, and all the frustration it will generate in the process.
    • The words should, ought, must, have to occur frequently in the person's conversation. (I should get straight A's; I must do everything right the first time, etc.) "If you can't do it right, don't do it at all."
    • The desire to have everything absolutely perfect may mask problems of self-esteem and self-confidence.

    How to resolve: (1) try self-reassurance that this effort or version will be good enough, (2) make an effort to praise what you have done, (3) it's impossible to eradicate all mistakes, and (4) you have undoubtedly found all the fatal errors by now. Finally, remind yourself that great writers, poets, artists at one time or another completed their work; therefore, it will be okay to say that yours is done also.
     

  2. Anger/Hostility - if we are unhappy with someone, we'll often withhold our best efforts. For example, if you are upset with a professor, you are likely to delay in starting a demanding project as a way of "getting even." But you are the one who loses; you are the one with the low grade.
    How to resolve: Determine that you are the one who is feeling upset and see how your actions will actually harm you in the long run. You are not going to let how you feel about a particular class stand in the way of your personal future, are you?
     
  3. Low Frustration Tolerance - circumstances overwhelm you easily; you find situations radically intolerable and terribly unfair. Frustration is characterized by whining and complaining, and such phrases as "it isn't fair," "this is too hard," and "no one else has to," etc. Feeling the way you do, it seems reasonable to "put it off" until you feel better about doing the work. The trouble is, you feel just as frustrated the next day.
    How to resolve: the more you want something and can't have it, the greater your level of frustration. (1) Get help from someone who can show you how to solve the problem; (2) learn how to temporarily postpone your desires. Most of the time, you will eventually get what you want.
     
  4. Self-Downing - this happens when you continually minimize your own skills and abilities and express doubt about your ability to succeed. A person who habitually puts himself down tends to disbelieve himself even when he is successful: it was "just dumb luck." In addition, he may also find it hard to accept praise and compliments for work performed - false modesty. ("Wow, you did so well on the exam!" "Oh, I just lucked out; I really didn't know it all that well.")
    The trouble with self-downing is that, given a long enough time, the person will actually come to believe that he is incapable of certain levels of achievement.
    Self-downing results in procrastination because the person who is uncomfortable with success will seek ways to become less successful and less visible. Turn in that important quarterly report late, and soon success will fade. ("Why did they fire you?" "I told them all along I couldn't sustain the pace, and see! I was right. I can't work at that level.")
    How to resolve: (1) practice accepting compliments about your work performance by simply saying "Thank you." (2) Figure out why you feel uncomfortable with success. Did significant others in your life often make you feel that way? Were you taught to minimize your success? Why is success so scary? Will it make you stand out in the crowd? Do you feel as though others will not accept you if you are successful? (3) Remember to compliment and praise yourself for work accomplished.

The Inner Workings of Procrastination

    A = Activating Event. The activating event is whatever you are putting off, such as studying, tests or unpleasant tasks.

    B = Belief System. These are your "hidden" feelings about the task; your feelings govern your motivation. If you have negative feelings, you will tend to put off or delay. These feelings control your response.

    C = Consequence. This is what we actually do. There are two approaches: rational and irrational. A rational response is "I don't like writing papers at all, but I had better get going on it anyway." An irrational approach is "I hate writing papers, and even though it's due next week, I'll start it later."

The fact is, all tasks are really neutral. Examine your belief system, understand why you dislike the task, then change your way of thinking.

Steps to the Cure

  1. Realize you are delaying something unnecessarily.
  2. Discover the real reasons for your delay. List them.
  3. Dispute those real reasons and overcome them. Be vigorous.
  4. Begin the task.

Practice What You've Learned

  • Think of one thing you are currently procrastinating in, and write it on the line below. It might be personal, school or work-related.
  • Now write all the reasons for your delay. This may take five or ten minutes because some of them are really hidden from you. These reasons are the controlling influences. Write down as many as possible.
  • In the "Arguments Against Delay" column, argue against all the reasons for delay in a convincing manner. If you can argue against them successfully, you will be able to start the task.

I'm delaying on ____ because

  Reasons for Delay Arguments Against Delay
1. _____________________ _____________________
2. _____________________ _____________________
3. _____________________ _____________________
4. _____________________ _____________________

Some Tools That Will Help

  • Make the tasks look small and easy in your mind. ("I've written lots of excellent papers; this is just one more paper.")
  • Do only a small part of the task each time. ("I'll just check out the books tonight. Later on, I'll glance through them.")
  • Five-minute plan: Work on something for just five minutes. At the end of five minutes, switch to something else if you want. Chances are, you'll get involved enough to keep going.
  • Advertise your plans to accomplish something, and let peer pressure push you forward. ("I told everyone that I was going to finish this tonight.")
  • Use a good friend as a positive role model. If you have trouble concentrating, study in the presence of someone who doesn't.
  • Modify your environment - if you can't study at home, find a place where you can study; or, change your study situation at home.
  • Plan tomorrow and establish priorities - some students find that simply writing down reasonable starting and stopping times help them get going.
  • Expect some backsliding. Don't expect to be perfect even when you're trying to get rid of perfectionism! So occasionally, your plans will not work. Accept setbacks and start again.

An Insight
Procrastination is reinforcing - every time you delay, it reinforces your negative attitude toward that task. Every time you put off something you dislike, you:

  1. strengthen the habit of not doing;
  2. practice avoidance instead of participation;
  3. avoid acquiring training and skills, and
  4. indoctrinate yourself with fears.

Active participation in anything tends to give you a positive attitude toward that activity; inactivity helps acquire an unfavorable attitude. In other words, the reason you dislike calculus is because it's hanging over your head, worrying you. Since you haven't acquires skills in it, you can't do the assignments, so why try? Also, there's a test coming up soon, and you MUST do well on it -- except you know you can't. Suddenly everything seems terribly unfair (class is too hard) and you become angry towards the teacher (he goes too fast, and he seems indifferent to my struggles.) The truth is, the sooner you get involved in your studies, the better you will feel.

Common Impediments to Overcoming Procrastination
Procrastination is relatively hard to overcome since you can delude yourself about it so easily. The following is a list of things we often tell ourselves:

  1. Mañana - "I'll do it tomorrow."
  2. Contingent mañana - "I'll do it tomorrow, if ..."
  3. Grasshopperism - "I need to have some well-earned fun first." (In sop's fable, the grasshopper fiddled and played all summer while the ants stored up winter supplies. When winter came, the grasshopper suffered.)
  4. Escapism - "I've got to get out for a while to clear my mind."
  5. Impulsiveness - "My problem will be solved if I change my major, or attend a different college, or "
  6. Music and reading - "I'll relax a while and then get started."
  7. Cavalry to the Rescue - "The professor will get sick and cancel finals!"

Common Rationalizations
Each of these rationalizations needs to be argued against and defeated so that you can experience success. Write a rebuttal for each one.

  1. "I'm more productive when I work under pressure, so I'm postponing all my work until the pressure builds up and then I'll get it done easily."
  2. "I don't know how to do this problem, so I'm waiting until I know how before I do it."
  3. "This task isn't getting done because I really don't want to do it. And that's the honest truth"
  4. "Relax. The world isn't going to come to an end if this doesn't get done."
  5. "This job is easier to do when I'm in the mood, and I'm simply not in the mood right now."
  6. "I waited until the last moment before and it worked out okay, so why not this time?"
  7. "If I wait until the last minute, I won't spend so much time on it."
  8. "If I do this work right now, I'll miss out on a once-in-a-lifetime social event."
  9. "Circumstances beyond my control prevented me from doing so."
  10. "I've worked on this for so long that I have no interest or energy for it."

Finally:
Now that you understand how procrastination works, and how you can greatly reduce its influence in your life, you'll experience more freedom and greater personal self-satisfaction.

Keep working on it. You may still procrastinate, but now you'll be able to resolve the situation much more quickly which in turn will enhance your feelings of self-confidence. When you do succeed, take time to savor the moment so you will remember how good it feels. This will help the next time you need encouragement.

Treat the discovery process like a game, and have some fun with yourself.
17
17 GOOD AND BAD PROCRASTINATION
December 2005

The most impressive people I know are all terrible procrastinators. So could it be that procrastination isn't always bad?

Most people who write about procrastination write about how to cure it. But this is, strictly speaking, impossible. There are an infinite number of things you could be doing. No matter what you work on, you're not working on everything else. So the question is not how to avoid procrastination, but how to procrastinate well.

There are three variants of procrastination, depending on what you do instead of working on something: you could work on (a) nothing, (b) something less important, or (c) something more important. That last type, I'd argue, is good procrastination.

That's the "absent-minded professor," who forgets to shave, or eat, or even perhaps look where he's going while he's thinking about some interesting question. His mind is absent from the everyday world because it's hard at work in another.

That's the sense in which the most impressive people I know are all procrastinators. They're type-C procrastinators: they put off working on small stuff to work on big stuff.

What's "small stuff?" Roughly, work that has zero chance of being mentioned in your obituary. It's hard to say at the time what will turn out to be your best work (will it be your magnum opus on Sumerian temple architecture, or the detective thriller you wrote under a pseudonym?), but there's a whole class of tasks you can safely rule out: shaving, doing your laundry, cleaning the house, writing thank-you notes—anything that might be called an errand.

Good procrastination is avoiding errands to do real work.

Good in a sense, at least. The people who want you to do the errands won't think it's good. But you probably have to annoy them if you want to get anything done. The mildest seeming people, if they want to do real work, all have a certain degree of ruthlessness when it comes to avoiding errands.

Some errands, like replying to letters, go away if you ignore them (perhaps taking friends with them). Others, like mowing the lawn, or filing tax returns, only get worse if you put them off. In principle it shouldn't work to put off the second kind of errand. You're going to have to do whatever it is eventually. Why not (as past-due notices are always saying) do it now?

The reason it pays to put off even those errands is that real work needs two things errands don't: big chunks of time, and the right mood. If you get inspired by some project, it can be a net win to blow off everything you were supposed to do for the next few days to work on it. Yes, those errands may cost you more time when you finally get around to them. But if you get a lot done during those few days, you will be net more productive.

In fact, it may not be a difference in degree, but a difference in kind. There may be types of work that can only be done in long, uninterrupted stretches, when inspiration hits, rather than dutifully in scheduled little slices. Empirically it seems to be so. When I think of the people I know who've done great things, I don't imagine them dutifully crossing items off to-do lists. I imagine them sneaking off to work on some new idea.

Conversely, forcing someone to perform errands synchronously is bound to limit their productivity. The cost of an interruption is not just the time it takes, but that it breaks the time on either side in half. You probably only have to interrupt someone a couple times a day before they're unable to work on hard problems at all.

I've wondered a lot about why startups are most productive at the very beginning, when they're just a couple guys in an apartment. The main reason may be that there's no one to interrupt them yet. In theory it's good when the founders finally get enough money to hire people to do some of the work for them. But it may be better to be overworked than interrupted. Once you dilute a startup with ordinary office workers—with type-B procrastinators—the whole company starts to resonate at their frequency. They're interrupt-driven, and soon you are too.

Errands are so effective at killing great projects that a lot of people use them for that purpose. Someone who has decided to write a novel, for example, will suddenly find that the house needs cleaning. People who fail to write novels don't do it by sitting in front of a blank page for days without writing anything. They do it by feeding the cat, going out to buy something they need for their apartment, meeting a friend for coffee, checking email. "I don't have time to work," they say. And they don't; they've made sure of that.

(There's also a variant where one has no place to work. The cure is to visit the places where famous people worked, and see how unsuitable they were.)

I've used both these excuses at one time or another. I've learned a lot of tricks for making myself work over the last 20 years, but even now I don't win consistently. Some days I get real work done. Other days are eaten up by errands. And I know it's usually my fault: I let errands eat up the day, to avoid facing some hard problem.

The most dangerous form of procrastination is unacknowledged type-B procrastination, because it doesn't feel like procrastination. You're "getting things done." Just the wrong things.

Any advice about procrastination that concentrates on crossing things off your to-do list is not only incomplete, but positively misleading, if it doesn't consider the possibility that the to-do list is itself a form of type-B procrastination. In fact, possibility is too weak a word. Nearly everyone's is. Unless you're working on the biggest things you could be working on, you're type-B procrastinating, no matter how much you're getting done.

In his famous essay You and Your Research (which I recommend to anyone ambitious, no matter what they're working on), Richard Hamming suggests that you ask yourself three questions:
  1. What are the most important problems in your field?
  2. Are you working on one of them?
  3. Why not?

Hamming was at Bell Labs when he started asking such questions. In principle anyone there ought to have been able to work on the most important problems in their field. Perhaps not everyone can make an equally dramatic mark on the world; I don't know; but whatever your capacities, there are projects that stretch them. So Hamming's exercise can be generalized to:

What's the best thing you could be working on, and why aren't you?

Most people will shy away from this question. I shy away from it myself; I see it there on the page and quickly move on to the next sentence. Hamming used to go around actually asking people this, and it didn't make him popular. But it's a question anyone ambitious should face.

The trouble is, you may end up hooking a very big fish with this bait. To do good work, you need to do more than find good projects. Once you've found them, you have to get yourself to work on them, and that can be hard. The bigger the problem, the harder it is to get yourself to work on it.

Of course, the main reason people find it difficult to work on a particular problem is that they don't enjoy it. When you're young, especially, you often find yourself working on stuff you don't really like-- because it seems impressive, for example, or because you've been assigned to work on it. Most grad students are stuck working on big problems they don't really like, and grad school is thus synonymous with procrastination.

But even when you like what you're working on, it's easier to get yourself to work on small problems than big ones. Why? Why is it so hard to work on big problems? One reason is that you may not get any reward in the forseeable future. If you work on something you can finish in a day or two, you can expect to have a nice feeling of accomplishment fairly soon. If the reward is indefinitely far in the future, it seems less real.

Another reason people don't work on big projects is, ironically, fear of wasting time. What if they fail? Then all the time they spent on it will be wasted. (In fact it probably won't be, because work on hard projects almost always leads somewhere.)

But the trouble with big problems can't be just that they promise no immediate reward and might cause you to waste a lot of time. If that were all, they'd be no worse than going to visit your in-laws. There's more to it than that. Big problems are terrifying. There's an almost physical pain in facing them. It's like having a vacuum cleaner hooked up to your imagination. All your initial ideas get sucked out immediately, and you don't have any more, and yet the vacuum cleaner is still sucking.

You can't look a big problem too directly in the eye. You have to approach it somewhat obliquely. But you have to adjust the angle just right: you have to be facing the big problem directly enough that you catch some of the excitement radiating from it, but not so much that it paralyzes you. You can tighten the angle once you get going, just as a sailboat can sail closer to the wind once it gets underway.

If you want to work on big things, you seem to have to trick yourself into doing it. You have to work on small things that could grow into big things, or work on successively larger things, or split the moral load with collaborators. It's not a sign of weakness to depend on such tricks. The very best work has been done this way.

When I talk to people who've managed to make themselves work on big things, I find that all blow off errands, and all feel guilty about it. I don't think they should feel guilty. There's more to do than anyone could. So someone doing the best work they can is inevitably going to leave a lot of errands undone. It seems a mistake to feel bad about that.

I think the way to "solve" the problem of procrastination is to let delight pull you instead of making a to-do list push you. Work on an ambitious project you really enjoy, and sail as close to the wind as you can, and you'll leave the right things undone.
20 Procrastination: Ten Things To Know
Is your procrastination hindering you? Ten things you should know.
By:Hara Estroff Marano

There are many ways to avoid success in life, but the most sure-fire just might be procrastination. Procrastinators sabotage themselves. They put obstacles intheir own path. They actually choose paths that hurt their performance.

Why would people do that? I talked to two of the world's leading experts on procrastination: Joseph Ferrari, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology at De Paul University in Chicago, and Timorthy Pychyl, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. Neither one is a procrastinator, and both answered my many questions immediately.

  1. Twenty percent of people identify themselves as chronic procrastinators. For them procrastination is a lifestyle, albeit a maladaptive one. And it cuts across all domains of their life. They don't pay bills on time. They miss opportunities for buying tickets to concerts. They don't cash gift certificates or checks. They file income tax returns late. They leave their Christmas shopping until Christmas eve.
  2. It's not trivial, although as a culture we don't take it seriously as a problem. It represents a profound problem of self-regulation. And there may be more of it in the U.S. than in other countries because we are so nice; we don't call people on their excuses ("my grandmother died last week") even when we don't believe them.
  3. Procrastination is not a problem of time management or of planning. Procrastinators are not different in their ability to estimate time, although they are more optimistic than others. "Telling someone who procrastinates to buy a weekly planner is like telling someone with chronic depression to just cheer up," insists Dr. Ferrari.
  4. Procrastinators are made not born. Procrastination is learned in the family milieu, but not directly. It is one response to an authoritarian parenting style. Having a harsh, controlling father keeps children from developing the ability to regulate themselves, from internalizing their own intentions and then learning to act on them. Procrastination can even be a form of rebellion, one of the few forms available under such circumstances. What's more, under those household conditions, procrastinators turn more to friends than to parents for support, and their friends may reinforce procrastination because they tend to be tolerant of their excuses.
  5. Procrastination predicts higher levels of consumption of alcohol among those people who drink. Procrastinators drink more than they intend to—a manifestation of generalized problems in self-regulation. That is over and above the effect of avoidant coping styles that underlie procrastination and lead to disengagement via substance abuse.
  6. Procrastinators tell lies to themselves. Such as, "I'll feel more like doing this tomorrow." Or "I work best under pressure." But in fact they do not get the urge the next day or work best under pressure. In addition, they protect their sense of self by saying "this isn't important." Another big lie procrastinators indulge is that time pressure makes them more creative. Unfortunately they do not turn out to be more creative; they only feel that way. They squander their resources.
  7. Procrastinators actively look for distractions, particularly ones that don't take a lot of commitment on their part. Checking e-mail is almost perfect for this purpose. They distract themselves as a way of regulating their emotions such as fear of failure.
  8. There's more than one flavor of procrastination. People procrastinate for different reasons. Dr. Ferrari identifies three basic types of procrastinators:
    • arousal types, or thrill-seekers, who wait to the last minute for the euphoric rush.
    • avoiders, who may be avoiding fear of failure or even fear of success, but in either case are very concerned with what others think of them; they would rather have others think they lack effort than ability.
    • decisional procrastinators, who cannot make a decision. Not making a decision absolves procrastinators of responsibility for the outcome of events.
  9. There are big costs to procrastination. Health is one. Just over the course of a single academic term, procrastinating college students had such evidence of compromised immune systems as more colds and flu, more gastrointestinal problems. And they had insomnia. In addition, procrastination has a high cost to others as well as oneself; it shifts the burden of responsibilities onto others, who become resentful. Procrastination destroys teamwork in the workplace and private relationships.
  10. Procrastinators can change their behavior—but doing so consumes a lot of psychic energy. And it doesn't necessarily mean one feels transformed internally. It can be done with highly structured cognitive behavioral therapy.
21 Overcoming Procrastination

Introduction
William Knaus, a psychologist, estimated that 90% of college students procrastinate. Of these students, 25% are chronic procrastinators and they are usually the ones who end up dropping out of college.

What is Procrastination?
Procrastination is the avoidance of doing a task which needs to be accomplished. This can lead to feelings of guilt, inadequacy, depression and self-doubt among students. Procrastination has a high potential for painful consequences. It interferes with the academic and personal success of students.

Why do Students Procrastinate?

  • Poor Time Management. Procrastination means not managing time wisely. You may be uncertain of your priorities, goals and objectives. You may also be overwhelmed with the task. As a result, you keep putting off your academic assignments for a later date, or spending a great deal of time with your friends and social activities, or worrying about your upcoming examination, class project and papers rather than completing them.
  • Difficulty Concentrating. When you sit at your desk you find yourself daydreaming, staring into space, looking at pictures of your boyfriend/girlfriend, etc., instead of doing the task. Your environment is distracting and noisy. You keep running back and forth for equipment such as pencils, erasers, dictionary, etc. Your desk is cluttered and unorganized and sometimes you sit/lay on your bed to study or do your assignments. You probably notice that all of the examples that you have just read promote time wasting and frustration.
  • Fear and Anxiety. You may be overwhelmed with the task and afraid of getting a failing grade. As a result, you spend a great deal of time worrying about your upcoming exams, papers and projects, rather than completing them.
  • Negative Beliefs such as; "I cannot succeed in anything" and "I lack the necessary skills to perform the task" may allow you to stop yourself from getting work done.
  • Personal problems. For example, financial difficulties, problems with your boyfriend/girlfriend, etc.
  • Finding the Task Boring.
  • Unrealistic Expectations and Perfectionism. You may believe that you MUST read everything ever written on a subject before you can begin to write your paper. You may think that you haven't done the best you possibly could do, so it's not good enough to hand in.
  • Fear of Failure. You may think that if you don't get an 'A', you are failure. Or that if you fail an exam, you, as a person, are a failure, rather than that you are a perfectly ok person who has failed an exam.

How to Overcome Procrastination

  • Recognize self-defeating problems such as; fear and anxiety, difficulty concentrating, poor time management, indecisiveness and perfectionism.
  • Identify your own goals, strengths and weaknesses, values and priorities.
  • Compare your actions with the values you feel you have. Are your values consistent with your actions?
  • Discipline yourself to use time wisely: Set priorities.
  • Study in small blocks instead of long time periods. For example, you will accomplish more if you study/work in 60 minute blocks and take frequent 10 minute breaks in between, than if you study/work for 2-3 hours straight, with no breaks. Reward yourself after you complete a task.
  • Motivate yourself to study: Dwell on success, not on failure. Try to study in small groups. Break large assignments into small tasks. Keep a reminder schedule and checklist.
  • Set realistic goals.
  • Modify your environment: Eliminate or minimize noise/ distraction. Ensure adequate lighting. Have necessary equipment at hand. Don't waste time going back and forth to get things. Don't get too comfortable when studying. A desk and straight-backed chair is usually best (a bed is no place to study). Be neat! Take a few minutes to straighten your desk. This can help to reduce day-dreaming.
22 Overcoming Procrastination

 

Procrastination, the habit of putting tasks off to the last possible minute, can be a major problem in both your career and your personal life. Missed opportunities, frenzied work hours, stress, overwhelm, resentment, and guilt are just some of the symptoms. This article will explore the root causes of procrastination and give you several practical tools to overcome it.

Replace "Have To" With "Want To"

First, thinking that you absolutely have to do something is a major reason for procrastination. When you tell yourself that you have to do something, you're implying that you're being forced to do it, so you'll automatically feel a sense of resentment and rebellion. Procrastination kicks in as a defense mechanism to keep you away from this pain. If the task you are putting off has a real deadline, then when the deadline gets very close, the sense of pain associated with the task becomes overridden by the much greater sense of pain if you don't get started immediately.

The solution to this first mental block is to realize and accept that you don't have to do anything you don't want to do. Even though there may be serious consequences, you are always free to choose. No one is forcing you to run your business the way you do. All the decisions you've made along the way have brought you to where you are today. If you don't like where you've ended up, you're free to start making different decisions, and new results will follow. Also be aware that you don't procrastinate in every area of your life. Even the worst procrastinators have areas where they never procrastinate. Perhaps you never miss your favorite TV show, or you always manage to check your favorite online forums each day. In each situation the freedom of choice is yours. So if you're putting off starting that new project you feel you "have to" do this year, realize that you're choosing to do it of your own free will. Procrastination becomes less likely on tasks that you openly and freely choose to undertake.

Replace "Finish It" With "Begin It"

Secondly, thinking of a task as one big whole that you have to complete will virtually ensure that you put it off. When you focus on the idea of finishing a task where you can't even clearly envision all the steps that will lead to completion, you create a feeling of overwhelm. You then associate this painful feeling to the task and delay as long as possible. If you say to yourself, "I've got to do my taxes today," or "I must complete this report," you're very likely to feel overwhelmed and put the task off.

The solution is to think of starting one small piece of the task instead of mentally feeling that you must finish the whole thing. Replace, "How am I going to finish this?" with "What small step can I start on right now?" If you simply start a task enough times, you will eventually finish it. If one of the projects you want to complete is to clean out your garage, thinking that you have to finish this big project in one fell swoop can make you feel overwhelmed, and you'll put it off. Ask yourself how you can get started on just one small part of the project. For example, go to your garage with a notepad, and simply write down a few ideas for quick 10-minute tasks you could do to make a dent in the piles of junk. Maybe move one or two obvious pieces of junk to the trash can while you're there. Don't worry about finishing anything significant. Just focus on what you can do right now. If you do this enough times, you'll eventually be starting on the final piece of the task, and that will lead to finishing.

Replace Perfectionism With Permission To Be Human

A third type of erroneous thinking that leads to procrastination is perfectionism. Thinking that you must do the job perfectly the first try will likely prevent you from ever getting started. Believing that you must do something perfectly is a recipe for stress, and you'll associate that stress with the task and thus condition yourself to avoid it. You then end up putting the task off to the last possible minute, so that you finally have a way out of this trap. Now there isn't enough time to do the job perfectly, so you're off the hook because you can tell yourself that you could have been perfect if you only had more time. But if you have no specific deadline for a task, perfectionism can cause you to delay indefinitely. If you've never even started that project you always wanted to do really well, could perfectionism be holding you back?

The solution to perfectionism is to give yourself permission to be human. Have you ever used a piece of software that you consider to be perfect in every way? I doubt it. Realize that an imperfect job completed today is always superior to the perfect job delayed indefinitely. Perfectionism is also closely connected to thinking of the task as one big whole. Replace that one big perfectly completed task in your mind with one small imperfect first step. Your first draft can be very, very rough. You are always free to revise it again and again. For example, if you want to write a 5000-word article, feel free to let your first draft be only 100 words if it helps you get started. That's less than the length of this paragraph.

Replace Deprivation With Guaranteed Fun

 

A fourth mental block is associating deprivation with a task. This means you believe that undertaking a project will offset much of the pleasure in your life. In order to complete this project, will you have to put the rest of your life on hold? Do you tell yourself that you will have to go into seclusion, work long hours, never see your family, and have no time for fun? That's not likely to be very motivating, yet this is what many people do when trying to push themselves into action. Picturing an extended period of working long hours in solitude with no time for fun is a great way to guarantee procrastination.

The solution to the deprivation mindset is to do the exact opposite. Guarantee the fun parts of your life first, and then schedule your work around them. This may sound counterproductive, but this reverse psychology works extremely well. Decide in advance what times you will allocate each week to family time, entertainment, exercise, social activities, and personal hobbies. Guarantee an abundance of all your favorite leisure activities. Then limit the amount of working hours each week to whatever is left. The peak performers in any field tend to take more vacation time and work shorter hours than the workaholics. By treating your working time as a scarce resource rather than an uncontrollable monster that can gobble up every other area of your life, you'll begin to feel much more balanced, and you'll be far more focused and effective in using your working time. It's been shown that the optimal work week for most people is 40-45 hours. Working longer hours than this actually has such an adverse effect on productivity and motivation that less real work is done in the long run. What would happen if you only allowed yourself a certain number of hours a week to work? What if I came to you and said, "You are only allowed to work 10 hours this week?" Your feeling of deprivation would be reversed, wouldn't it? Instead of feeling that work was depriving you of leisure time, you'd feel you were being deprived of work. You'd replace, "I want to play" with "I want to work," your motivation for work would skyrocket, and all traces of procrastination would vanish.

I also strongly recommend that you take at least one full day off each week with no work whatsoever. This will really recharge you and make you eager to start the coming week. Having a guaranteed work-free day will increase your motivation for work and make you less likely to procrastinate. If you know that the next day is your day off, you'll be less likely to put off tasks, since you won't allow yourself the luxury of allowing them to spill over into your day off. When you think that every day is a work day, however, work seems never-ending, and you always tell yourself, "I should be working." Thus, your brain will use procrastination as a way to guarantee that you get some form of pleasure in your life.

Use Timeboxing

For tasks you've been putting off for a while, I recommend using the timeboxing method to get started. Here's how it works: First, select a small piece of the task you can work on for just 30 minutes. Then choose a reward you will give yourself immediately afterwards. The reward is guaranteed if you simply put in the time; it doesn't depend on any meaningful accomplishment. Examples include watching your favorite TV show, seeing a movie, enjoying a meal or snack, going out with friends, going for a walk, or doing anything you find pleasurable. Because the amount of time you'll be working on the task is so short, your focus will shift to the impending pleasure of the reward instead of the difficulty of the task. No matter how unpleasant the task, there's virtually nothing you can't endure for just 30 minutes if you have a big enough reward waiting for you.

When you timebox your tasks, you may discover that something very interesting happens. You will probably find that you continue working much longer than 30 minutes. You will often get so involved in a task, even a difficult one, that you actually want to keep working on it. Before you know it, you've put in an hour or even several hours. The certainty of your reward is still there, so you know you can enjoy it whenever you're ready to stop. Once you begin taking action, your focus shifts away from worrying about the difficulty of the task and towards finishing the current piece of the task which now has your full attention.

When you do decide to stop working, claim your reward, and enjoy it. Then schedule another 30-minute period to work on the task with another reward. This will help you associate more and more pleasure to the task, knowing that you will always be immediately rewarded for your efforts. Working towards distant and uncertain long-term rewards is not nearly as motivating as immediate short-term rewards. By rewarding yourself for simply putting in the time, instead of for any specific achievements, you'll be eager to return to work on your task again and again, and you'll ultimately finish it. You may also want to read my blog entry on timeboxing.

The writing of this article serves as a good example of applying the above techniques. I could have said to myself, "I have to finish this 2000-word article, and it has to be perfect." So first I remember that I don't have to write anything; I freely choose to write articles. Then I realize that I have plenty of time to do a good job, and that I don't need to be perfect because if I start early enough, I have plenty of time to make revisions. I also tell myself that if I just keep starting, I will eventually be done. Before I started this article, I didn't have a topic selected, so I used the timeboxing method to get that done. Having dinner was my reward. I knew that at the end of 30 minutes of working on the task, I could eat, and I was hungry at the time, so that was good motivation for me. It took me a few minutes to pick the topic of overcoming procrastination, and I spent the rest of the time writing down some ideas and making a very rough outline. When the time was up, I stopped working and had dinner, and it really felt like I'd earned that meal.

The next morning I used the same 30-minute timeboxing method, making breakfast my reward. However, I got so involved in the task that I'm still writing 90 minutes later. I know I'm free to stop at any time and that my reward is waiting for me, but having overcome the inertia of getting started, the natural tendency is to continue working. In essence I've reversed the problem of procrastination by staying with the task and delaying gratification. The net result is that I finish my article early and have a rewarding breakfast.

I hope this article has helped you gain a greater insight into the causes of procrastination and how you can overcome it. Realize that procrastination is caused by associating some form of pain or unpleasantness to the task you are contemplating. The way to overcome procrastination is simply to reduce the pain and increase the pleasure you associate with beginning a task, thus allowing you to overcome inertia and build positive forward momentum. And if you begin any task again and again, you will ultimately finish it.

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24 Procrastination

 What this handout is about...

This handout will help you understand why you procrastinate and offer strategies and to combat this common writer's ailment.

Introduction

Everyone procrastinates. We put things off because we don't want to do them, or because we have too many other things on our plates. Putting things off-big or small-is part of being human. If you are reading this handout, however, it is likely that your procrastination is troubling you. You suspect that you could be a much better writer if only you didn't put off writing projects until the last minute. You find that just when you have really gotten going on a paper, it's time to turn it in; so, you never really have time to revise or proofread carefully. You love the rush of adrenalin you get when you finish a paper ten minutes before it's due, but you (and your body) are getting tired of pulling all-nighters. You feel okay about procrastinating while in college, but you worry that this habit will follow you into your working life.

You can tell whether or not you need to do something about your procrastination by examining its consequences. Procrastination can have external consequences (you get a zero on the paper because you never turned it in) or internal consequences (you feel anxious much of the time, even when you are doing something that you enjoy). If you put off washing the dishes, but the dishes don't bother you, who cares? When your procrastination leaves you feeling discouraged and overburdened, however, it is time to take action.

Is There Hope?

If you think you are a hopeless procrastinator, take heart! No one is beyond help. The fact that you procrastinate does not mean that you are inherently lazy or inefficient. Your procrastination is not an untamable beast. It is a habit that has some specific origin, and it is a habit that you can overcome. This handout will help you begin to understand why you procrastinate and give you some strategies for turning things around. For most procrastinators, however, there are no quick fixes. You aren't going to wake up tomorrow and never procrastinate again. But you might wake up tomorrow and do one or two simple things that will help you finish that draft a little earlier or with less stress.

You may not be surprised to learn that procrastinators tend to be self-critical. So, as you consider your procrastination and struggle to develop different work habits, try to be gentle with yourself. Punishing yourself every time you realize you have put something off won't help you change. Rewarding yourself when you make progress will.

If you don't care why you procrastinate-you just want to know what to do about it-then you might as well skip the next section of this handout and go right to the section labeled "What to do about it." If you skip to the strategies, however, you may only end up more frustrated. Taking the time to learn about why you procrastinate may help you avoid the cycle whereby you swear up and down that you will never procrastinate again, only to find that the next time you have a paper due, you are up until 3 a.m. trying to complete the first (and only) draft-without knowing why or how you got there.

Why we do it

In order to stop putting off your writing assignments, it is important to understand why you tend to do so in the first place. Some of the reasons that people procrastinate include the following:

Because we are afraid.

  • Fear of failure: If you are scared that a particular piece of writing isn't going to turn out well, then you may avoid working on it in order to avoid feeling the fear.
     
  • Fear of success: Some procrastinators (the author of this handout included) fear that if they start working at their full capacity, they will turn into workaholics. Since we procrastinate compulsively, we assume that we will also write compulsively; we envision ourselves locked in a library carrel, hunched over the computer, barely eating and sleeping and never seeing friends or going out. The procrastinator who fears success may also assume that if they work too hard, they will become mean and cold to the people around them, thus losing their capacity to be friendly and to have fun. Finally, this type of procrastinator may think that if they stop procrastinating, then they will start writing better, which will increase other people's expectations, thus ultimately increasing the amount of pressure they experience.
     
  • Fear of losing autonomy: Some people delay writing projects as a way of maintaining their independence. When they receive a writing assignment, they procrastinate as a way of saying, "You can't make me do this. I am my own person." Procrastinating helps them feel more in control of situations (such as college) in which they believe that other people have authority.

     
  • Fear of being alone: Other writers procrastinate because they want to feel constantly connected to other people. For instance, you may procrastinate until you are in such a bind that someone has to come and rescue you. Procrastination therefore ensures that other people will be involved in your life. You may also put off writing because you don't want to be alone, and writing is oftentimes a solitary activity. In its worst form, procrastination itself can become a companion, constantly reminding you of all that you have to do.

     
  • Fear of attachment: Rather than fearing separation, some people procrastinate in order to create a barrier between themselves and others. They may delay in order to create chaos in their lives, believing that the chaos will keep other people away.

Whether these fears appear in our conscious or subconscious minds, they paralyze us and keep us from taking action, until discomfort and anxiety overwhelms us and forces us to either a) get the piece of writing done or b) give up. (The preceding is a summary of Chapters 2-4 of Jane B. Burka and Lenora M. Yuen's Procrastination: Why You Do It, What to Do About It. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1983.)

Because we expect ourselves to be perfect.

Procrastination and perfectionism often go hand in hand. Perfectionists tend to procrastinate because they expect so much of themselves, and they are scared about whether or not they can meet those high standards. Perfectionists sometimes think that it is better to give a half-hearted effort and maintain the belief that they could have written a great paper, than to give a full effort and risk writing a mediocre paper. Procrastinating guarantees failure, but it helps perfectionists maintain their belief that they could have excelled if they had tried harder. Another pitfall for perfectionists is that they tend to ignore progress toward a goal. As long as the writing project is incomplete, they feel as though they aren't getting anywhere, rather than recognizing that each paragraph moves them closer to a finished product.

Because we don't like our writing.

You may procrastinate on writing because you don't like to re-read what you have written; you hate writing a first draft and then being forced to evaluate it, in all its imperfection. By procrastinating, you ensure that you don't have time to read over your work, thus avoiding that uncomfortable moment.

Because we're too busy.

Practical concerns: jobs, other classes, etc.

Because it works.

Unfortunately, procrastination helps reinforce itself. When we avoid doing something we dread (like writing) by doing something we enjoy (such as watching TV, hanging out with friends, etc.), we escape the dreaded task. Given such a choice, it's no wonder that many of us choose to procrastinate. When we write a paper at the last minute and still manage to get a good grade, we feel all the more compelled to procrastinate next time around.

What to do about it

Now that you know a little bit about why you may have procrastinated in the past, let's explore some of the strategies you might use to combat your procrastination tendencies, now and in the future. Experiment with whichever of these strategies appeals to you; if you try something and it doesn't work, try something else! Be patient; improvement will come with practice.

Take an inventory.

Figuring out exactly when and how you procrastinate can help you stop the behavior. It can be difficult to tell when you are procrastinating. Think about the clues that tell you that's what you're doing: for example, a nagging voice in your head, a visual image of what you are avoiding or the consequences of not doing it, physical ailments (stomach tightness, headaches, muscle tension), inability to concentrate, inability to enjoy what you are doing.

How do you procrastinate?

  • Try to ignore the task, hoping against hope that it will go away?
     
  • Over- or under- estimate the degree of difficulty that the task involves?
     
  • Minimize the impact that your performance now may have on your future?
     
  • Substitute something important for something really important? (For example, cleaning instead of writing your paper.)
     
  • Let a short break become a long one, or an evening in which you do no work at all? (For example, claiming that you are going to watch TV for ½ hour, then watching it all night.)
     
  • Focus on one part of the task, at the expense of the rest? (For example, keep working on the introduction, while putting off writing the body and conclusion).
     
  • Spend too much time researching or choosing a topic
     

Once you better understand how you procrastinate, you will be better able to catch yourself doing it. Too often, we don't even realize that we are procrastinating-until it's too late.

Create a productive environment.

If you have made the decision to stop delaying on a particular writing project, it is critical that you find a place to work where you have at least half a chance of actually getting some writing done. Your dorm room may not be the place where you are most productive. Ditto the computer lab. If you have a laptop computer, try going someplace where you can't connect to the Internet (e-mail and the World Wide Web are the bane of the procrastinator's existence-as you probably already know). If you are a procrastinator, then chances are you are already pretty exasperated; don't risk frustrating yourself even more by trying to write in an environment that doesn't meet your needs.

[CAUTION: The most skilled procrastinators will be tempted to take this suggestion too far, spending an inordinate amount of time "creating a productive environment" (cleaning, filing, etc.) and not nearly enough time actually writing. Don't fall into that trap! While cleaning and filing are indeed worthy and necessary activities, if you only do this when you have an approaching writing deadline, then you are procrastinating.]
While you are thinking about where to write, consider also when you will write. When are you most alert? Is it at 8 a.m., mid-morning, mid-afternoon, early evening, or late at night? Try to schedule writing time when you know you will be at your best. Don't worry about when you "should" be able to write; just focus on when you are able to write.

Challenge your myths.

In order to break the procrastination habit, we need to get past the idea that in order to write, we must have all the information pertaining to the topic, and we must have optimal writing conditions. In reality, writers never have all the information, and conditions are never optimal.

Think of a writing project that you are currently putting off. On one side of a piece of paper, write down all the reasons for your delay. On the other side, argue (as convincingly as possible!) against the delay.

Myth #1: "I can't function in a messy environment. I can't possibly write this paper until I have cleaned my apartment."

Challenge: There are no conditions that are necessary in order for you to write, save two: 1) You must have a writing implement (e.g., a keyboard or a pen) and 2) you must have someplace for writing to go, such as into a computer or onto a piece of paper. If, when faced with a writing project, you start piling up prerequisites for all the things you must do before you can possibly start writing, consider whether you might in fact be making excuses-in other words, procrastinating.

Myth #2: "I know it's time for me to start writing, but I just haven't done enough research yet. I'll spend one more night at the library, and then I'll start writing my paper."

Challenge: Truth be told, you will never collect all the information you possibly could for your paper. Better to write a tightly-crafted argument with the information you have NOW, AT THIS VERY MOMENT, than to keep doing research and risk throwing your paper together at the last minute.

Myth #3: "I do my best work under pressure."

Challenge: There are lots of other ways to create pressure for yourself, besides waiting until the night before the paper is due to start writing it. You can set a time limit for yourself-- for example, "I will write this paragraph in ½ hour"-- or you can pretend that the paper is a timed essay exam. If you do this a week or two before the paper is due, you'll have a draft in plenty of time to revise and edit it.

Myth #4: "In order to work on my paper, I must have six uninterrupted hours."

Challenge: You can and should work on a paper in one hour blocks (or shorter). This will help you break the writing task down into smaller pieces, thereby making it seem more manageable. If you know that you can work on one part of the paper for one hour, then it won't seem so daunting, and you will be less likely to procrastinate.

Some writers find, however, that they do need longer blocks of time in order to really produce anything. Therefore, like all of the strategies outlined here, if this one doesn't work for you, throw it out and try something else. You might still find, however, that you are more productive when you plan to write "all morning" rather than "all day."

Myth #5: "What I write has to be perfect, " AND/OR "I can't write anything until I have a perfect thesis statement/intro."

Challenge: A first draft (or a second, or a third, or even-egad!-the final product) does not have to be perfect. When we write an early draft, we need to turn off our internal critic and just get some words down on the page. The great thing about starting early on a writing project is that it leaves us plenty of time for revision, editing, and proofreading; so, we can set ourselves free to just let our writing flow, without worrying about sentence-level concerns such as grammar, punctuation, and style. You'll find some other thoughts on editing in our handouts on proofreading and revision.

Break it down.

The day you get the paper assignment (ideally), or shortly thereafter, break the writing assignment up into the smallest possible chunks. By doing this, the paper never has a chance to take on gargantuan proportions in your mind. You can say to yourself, "Right now, I'm going to write the introduction. That's all, just the introduction!" And you may be more likely to sit down and do that, than you will to sit down and "write the paper."

Get a new attitude.

We shoot ourselves in the foot, to begin with, by telling ourselves how horrible a particular writing assignment is. Changing our attitude toward the task, when possible, may go a long way toward keeping us from procrastinating. Tell yourself that the task isn't so bad or difficult, that you either know how to do it, or that you can learn how while you're doing it. You may find, too, that if you start early on a particular assignment, your attitude never has a chance to get very negative in the first place! Simply starting to write can often help us feel more positive about writing.

Ask for help.

  • Get an anti-procrastination coach. If you are really determined not to procrastinate, then get help from the supportive people in your life. Tell someone about your writing goal and timeline, and ask them to help you determine whether or not your plan is realistic. Once or twice a week, email with a friend, relative, or mentor, in order to report (admit?) on your progress, and declare your promise for the next week (or few days). If, despite your very good intentions, you start procrastinating again, do not think, "Oops, I Did It Again; all is lost." Instead, talk to someone about it. They may be able to help you put your slip into perspective and get back on track.
     
  • Get a buddy. See if you can find a friend to work alongside you. They don't have to be writing a paper; in fact, they can be playing Solitaire, for all you care. What matters is that you arrange to meet them at the library (or wherever you have decided to write) at a particular time and stay there for a specific period of time, thus creating accountability.
     
  • Get help with your writing. If you are procrastinating because you think you are a weak writer, then ask someone (a Writing Center tutor, a current or former professor or teaching assistant, a friend) to help you improve.
     
  • Form a writing group. A writing group is a great way for undergraduate and more advanced writers alike to create accountability, get feedback, and simply get reminded that you are not alone in the struggle to produce and to improve your writing. See our writing group packet at for more information on how to form and sustain a writing group. Dissertation writers may benefit not only from joining a writing group but also from reading our handout on the dissertation. This handout was written by a former Writing Center staff member who eventually completed her dissertation.

Get unblocked.

Sometimes, we procrastinate because we feel stuck on a particular essay or section of an essay. If this happens, you have several options:

  • Turn off the screen. Type with a dark screen, so you can't see what you've written, decide you don't like it, and delete it immediately. Sometimes procrastination stems from insecurity about what to say, or whether we have anything to say. The important thing, in that case, is to get started and KEEP GOING. Turning off the screen may help lessen your fear and turn off your internal critic. When you turn it back on (or print out what you've written), you may find that you do have something to say, after all.
     
  • Write about writing. Take 15 minutes and write a letter to yourself about why you don't want to write this. This lets you vent your frustrations and anxieties. Then, Take 15 minutes and write about what you could do to get unstuck. You can also try writing about what you're going to write, making an initial assessment of the assignment. You won't have the pressure of writing an actually draft, but you will be able to get something down on paper.
     
  • Write the easiest part first. You don't have to start at the beginning. Whatever section you can do, do it! If you think that's wimpy, and you would rather do the hardest part first so that you can get it out of the way, that's fine-whatever works for you. If you start writing and you get stuck, write about why you're stuck.
     
  • Talk it out. Try tape-recording yourself speaking the ideas you want to include in the paper, and then transcribe the tape.

Make yourself accountable.

Set a writing deadline (other than the paper's due date) for yourself by making an appointment at the Writing Center or telling your TA (or a former TA) that you're going to give them a draft on such-and-such a date. If you make your Writing Center appointment for several days before the paper is due, then you may be motivated to have a draft finished, in order to make the appointment worthwhile.

Leave your work out.

Keeping your work (books, notes, articles, etc.) physically out, in full view, gives you a reminder that you are in the middle of the paper, or that you need to start. Also, if you write in more than one shift, it can be helpful to leave off in the middle of a paragraph and leave your 'tools' where they are. When you return to the paper, you'll be able to "warm up" by finishing that paragraph. Starting a new section cold may be more difficult.

Work on improving your writing when you don't have a deadline.

Investigate your writing process. First of all, you may not think you have a thing called a "writing process." But you do-everyone does. Describe your writing process in detail.

Ask Yourself:

  • When do I usually start on a paper?
  • What tools do I need (or think I need) in order to write?
  • Where do I write?
  • Do I like quiet or noise when I write?
  • How long a block of time do I need?
  • What do I do before I start?
  • What do I do at the end?
  • How do I feel at the end (after I have turned it in)?

Then ask yourself:

  • What do I like about my writing process?
  • What do I want to change?

Once you can see your writing process, then you can make a decision to change it. But take it easy with this-only work on one part at a time. Otherwise, you'll get overwhelmed and frustrated-and we all know where that leads, straight down the procrastination road.

Evaluate your writing's strengths and weaknesses.

If you aren't ready to evaluate your writing process completely (and it's okay if you aren't), then you could try just listing your strengths and weaknesses as a writer. For instance, perhaps you are great at creating thesis statements, but you have trouble developing arguments. Or, your papers are very well-organized, but your thesis and argument tend to fall a little flat. Identifying these issues will help you do two things: 1) When you write, you can play to your strength; and 2) You can choose one weakness and do something about it when you DON'T have a deadline.

Now, doing anything when you don't have a deadline may sound strange to a procrastinator, but bear with me. Let's say you've decided that your writing is too wordy, and you want to work on being more concise. So, some time when you don't have a paper-but you do have a free hour-you waltz into the Writing Center and tell your tutor, "Hey, I want learn how to write more clearly." You confer, and you come away with some simple strategies for eliminating wordiness.

Here is why this may make a difference the next time you write a paper, regardless or whether or not you have procrastinated (again!): You print out your draft. It's 1 a.m. You go to bed. The next morning, you read over your paper (it's due at noon). You say to yourself, "Hmmm, I notice I'm being too wordy." BUT, rather than concluding, "Oh, well, it's too late, there isn't anything I can do about that," (as you may have in the past), you can choose to employ some of what you learned (previously, when you weren't under the gun) to make your writing more concise. You edit the paper accordingly. You turn it in.

When your instructor hands the papers back the following week, there are far fewer instances of "awkward," "unclear," etc. in the margins. Voila! You've made a positive change in your writing process!

What does this have to do with procrastination? Well, making one small change in your writing process creates momentum. You begin to feel more positive about your writing. You begin to be less intimidated by writing assignments. And-eventually-you start them earlier, because they just aren't as big a deal as they used to be.

Evaluating the strengths and weaknesses in your writing gives you a sense of control. Your writing problems are solvable problems. Working on your writing when you don't have a deadline helps you gain insight and momentum. Soon, writing becomes something that, while you may not look forward to it, you don't dread quite as much. Thus, you don't procrastinate quite as much.

This strategy also accounts for the fact that if you perceive procrastination as having been successful for you in the past, you aren't going to give it up right away

Hone your proofreading and editing skills.

If you procrastinate on writing because you don't like to re-read what you have written, the good news is this: you can learn specific proofreading, revising, and editing strategies. If you finish your paper ahead of time, and you re-read it, and you don't like it, you have options. Writing a first draft that you don't like doesn't mean you're a terrible writer. Many writers-in fact, I would venture to say most-hate their first drafts. Neither Leo Tolstoy nor Toni Morrison nor John Grisham produce(d) brilliant prose the first time around. In fact, Morrison (a big fan of revision) said recently, "You don't have to love it just because you wrote it!" If you practice some revision and editing strategies, you may feel more comfortable with the idea of re-reading your papers. You'll know that if you find weaknesses in the draft (and you will), you can do something to improve those areas.

Learn how to tell time.

One of the best ways to combat procrastination is to develop a more realistic understanding of time. Procrastinators' views of time tend to be fairly unrealistic. "This paper is only going to take me about five hours to write," you think. "Therefore, I don't need to start on it until the night before." What you may be forgetting, however, is that our time is often filled with more activities than we realize. On the night in question, for instance, let's say you go to the gym at 4:45 p.m. You work out (1 hour), take a shower and dress (30 minutes), eat dinner (45 minutes), and go to a sorority meeting (1 hour). By the time you get back to your dorm room to begin work on the paper, it is already 8:00 p.m. But now you need to check your email and return a couple of phone calls. It's 8:30 p.m. before you finally sit down to write the paper. If the paper does indeed take five hours to write, you will be up until 1:30 in the morning-and that doesn't include the time that you will inevitably spend watching "Will & Grace."

And, as it turns out, it takes about five hours to write a first draft of the essay. You have forgotten to allow time for revision, editing, and proofreading. You get the paper done and turn it in the next morning. But you know it isn't your best work, and you are pretty tired from the late night, and so you make yourself a promise: "Next time, I'll start early!"

Make an unschedule.

The next time you have a writing deadline, try using an un-schedule to outline a realistic plan for when you will write. An un-schedule is a weekly calendar of all the ways in which your time is already accounted for. When you make an un-schedule, you consider not only your timed commitments such as classes and meetings, but also your untimed activities such as meals, exercise, errands, laundry, time with friends and family, and the like. It is not a list of what you should do in a given week; rather it is an outline of the time that you will necessarily spend doing other things besides writing.

Once you have made your un-schedule, take a look at the blank spaces. These represent the maximum number of hours that you could potentially spend writing. By starting with these blank spaces as a guide, you will be able to more accurately predict how much time you will be able to write on any given day. You may be able to see, for instance, that you really don't have five hours to spend writing on the night before the paper is due. By planning accordingly, you will not only get a better night's sleep, you may also end up with a better paper!

The un-schedule might also be a good way to get started on a larger writing project, such as a term paper or an honors thesis. You may think that you have "all semester" to get the writing done, but if you really sit down and map out how much time you have available to write on a daily and weekly basis, you will see that you need to get started sooner, rather than later. In addition, the unschedule may reveal especially busy weeks or months, which will help you budget time for long-term projects.

Perhaps most importantly, the un-schedule can help you examine how you spend your time. You may be surprised at how much (or how little) time you spend watching television, and decide to make a change. It's especially important that you build time for fun activities into your un-schedule. Otherwise, you will procrastinate in order to steal time for relaxation.

You can also use the un-schedule to record your progress towards your goal. Each time you work on your paper, for example, mark it on the un-schedule. One of the most important things you can do to kick the procrastination habit is to reward yourself when you write something, even if (especially if) that writing is only a little piece of the whole. Seeing your success on paper will help reinforce the productive behavior, and you will feel more motivated to write later in the day or week.

Set a time limit.

Okay, so maybe one of the reasons you procrastinate on writing projects is that you just plain hate writing! You would rather be at the dentist than sitting in front of your computer with a blank Microsoft Word document staring you in the face. In that case, it may be helpful to set limits on how much time you will spend writing before you do something else. While the notation "Must work on Hemingway essay all weekend" may not inspire you to sit down and write, "Worked on Hemingway essay for ½ hour" just might. Or, if you tell yourself that you will write "all weekend," for instance, the sheer agony of the thought may keep you from doing any writing at all. If, however, you say that you will write for two hours on Saturday afternoon, you may actually accomplish something. The important thing here is to keep your commitment to yourself. Even if, at the end of the two hours, you think you could keep going, stop. Go outside and enjoy the weather. Your procrastinating self needs to be able to trust your new non-procrastinating self the next time you say you will only write for a certain amount of time. If you go overboard this time, then the next time you say, "I'll write for two hours and then stop," the procrastinator within will respond, "Yeah, right! I'm going rollerblading!"

On the other hand, it may work better for you to trick yourself into working on your paper by telling yourself you're only going to write for two hours, but then continuing to work if you're feeling inspired. Experiment with both approaches and see which one seems to work best for you.

Be realistic about how long it takes you to write.

Procrastinators tend to be heroic about time; they estimate that it will take them two hours to complete a task that would take most people four. Once you have determined that procrastination is hurting your writing, begin taking notice of how long it actually takes you to write. Many students have a "page an hour" rule. Perhaps you can write a page in an hour if you are totally rested, fed, and focused, your roommate isn't home, and the wind is blowing just right. But what if the phone rings, what if you are tired, and what if you have to go to the bathroom? When you estimate how long it will take you to write something, expect that there will be interruptions along the way.

Parting thoughts

As you explore why you procrastinate and experiment with strategies for working differently, don't expect overnight transformation. You developed the procrastination habit over a long period of time; you aren't going to stop magically. But you can change the behavior, bit by bit. If you stop punishing yourself when you procrastinate and start rewarding yourself for your small successes, you will eventually develop new writing habits. And you will get a lot more sleep.

25 Fast facts: Procrastination

Introduction

Procrastination is probably the single most common time management problem. Everyone procrastinates to some extent; however, there are several reasons why university students rank highly among those most vulnerable to procrastination:

  1. There is always a tremendous amount of work to do. Regardless of how much time you spend studying, it can seem impossible to get "finished."
  2. For most students, only a small number of hours each day are spent in classes and labs. The majority of time is unstructured, and you're responsible for deciding what to do and when to do it.
  3. In the university environment, particularly in residence, there is usually something more enjoyable to do than studying. Many activities compete for a limited number of hours in a week; studying is often pushed to the bottom of the list.
  4. Procrastination is common among high-achieving and high-ability students because of its connection to perfectionism.

Given these conditions, it's not hard to understand why procrastination is such a common problem for university students. Learning some strategies to control procrastination can help make getting started less painful and reduce getting behind. Good time management doesn't necessarily mean working harder or working more - it means working smarter. Here's how.

Realistic Goal Setting

One common reason for procrastinating is that often too much of the same activity must be done at one sitting. Rather than spending three hours in one evening reading fifty pages for Psychology, plan to read for one hour each day over three days. This is especially important for subjects which are difficult or unpleasant. If you spend thirty to sixty minutes each day, rather than leaving a week's work for one marathon session, you'll be far less likely to put the work off.

Plan to Work & Play

In the section above we've used the term "plan" - something which is usually missing from the procrastinator's vocabulary. if you use the "I do whatever I feel like doing whenever I feel like doing it" method of time management, this scenario is probably familiar to you: you can't work effectively because your mind is on the other things you'd rather be doing, yet you feel guilty when you're not working because there's so much waiting to be done.

Although there is something to be said for waiting for inspiration to strike, it is usually not a very efficient way to get things done. Planning does not mean rigid or elaborate scheduling, but it does require some skill and intelligent decision making. A good time plan is probably the single most effective way to control procrastination. for information about time planning, see the Fastfacts entitled Effective Time Planning Strategies , or check out Learning Time , our award-winning Web-based workshop on time management issues.

Make a Molehill

Procrastination often results when the task seems difficult, unpleasant, or overpowering. You can bring the task down to size and make it less intimidating by using this method. As soon as you receive a big assignment, set aside a mere 10 or 15 minutes a day to work on it. By the end of one week, you'll have spent at least an hour on the task, and you may have found that it's not quite as scary as you thought. By spending only a few minutes each day, you are accomplishing a small, and therefore less intimidating, task - one that is less likely to get put off. Once you are involved and maybe even interested in the task, you may be motivated to spend more time on it. Be cautious, however, since very large tasks such as a thesis require larger blocks of time. Manageable, daily periods of work are the key, while starting early helps to ensure that due dates will be met.

Self Discipline?

Students often blame their problems with procrastination on laziness or a lack of self discipline. However, the cause is usually not as simple as that. For example, there is an interesting connection between procrastination and perfectionism. Students for whom nothing less than an A will do may procrastinate on an assignment so that when their mark is not up to their standard, they can blame it on the fact that they did the assignment in a hurry. They create an emotional "out" - the low mark does not reflect their true ability, so there is no loss of self esteem.

Procrastination can sometimes be an indication of a fear of failure, or of disappointing family. Sometimes it is a symptom of a lack of motivation, the loss of a sense of purpose for being at university. In fact, there are many reasons why students procrastinate. The strategies in this Fastfacts can help with procrastination temporarily, but understanding why you procrastinate is essential for its long-term management. You can explore the connection between procrastination and other issues in more detail in Learning Time , our Web-based workshop mentioned under Strategy 2.

Get Help

The Learning Peer Helpers in the Learning Commons offer University of Guelph students free individual assistance and advice with controlling procrastination, time planning, and many other learning and study issues. Students can drop in, make an appointment, call ext. 53632 or e-mail . Visit the Learning Services Home Page to find out more about our programs, resources, and services.

Others in this series

Learning Time Webshop

Learning Time is an award-winning, Web-based workshop on time management and related topics. It's a comprehensive compendium of information, strategies, suggestions, and advice designed to resolve the persistent or recurring time management issues commonly faced by experienced undergraduate and graduate university students. Learning Time is currently open and free to all visitors.

Resources Elsewhere

  1. A section, Procrastination , from the online book Psychological Self-Help by C.E. Tucker-Ladd
  2. The University of Buffalo's Overcoming Procrastination
  3. T. Quek's The Problem of Procrastination
  4. K. Ellis's Motivation and Anxiety , from a Web site designed primarily to promote a book on goal-setting
  5. The ToDo Institute's approach to Procrastination and Getting Things Done , based on Eastern traditions of health and healing
26  The Problem of Procrastination

There is a poster that depicts a huge polar bear lying prone on a flue of ice. The caption under it reads, "When I get the feeling to do something, I lie down until the feeling goes away". Such is the sigh of the resigned procrastinator: broken by frustration, unable to catch up, chained by depression and sustained by the simple apathetic response, "I don't care anymore".

Yet most people who procrastinate have not contentedly handed in their resignations. In fact, we struggle incessantly to shake off procrastination. We plan and schedule; we write down and underscore; we promise and make resolutions; we organize and reorganize. Generally, we accomplish a short lived refreshment from procrastination, and then crash soundly back into it. The reason? The problem of procrastination is one that often goes beyond self-discipline and whipping oneself from stasis to stress. It is usually the symptom of a multifaceted set of problems that defy a single solution.

Procrastination: Why does it seem so strong?

An ancient proverb states: "It is not the size of the tree but the depth of its roots that make it strong." Procrastination usually has very deep roots.

 

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1) Disorganization

Procrastination and disorganization are integrally linked. Yet it is errant to assume that all disorganization is the same. In fact, procrastination-oriented disorganization occurs in four primary areas.

(a) A poor distinction between urgency and priority. In the beginning of the urgency-priority cycle, procrastinators tend to attend to "comfort" tasks which are most convenient, interesting, or within reach. Priority is sacrificed for convenience. As these tasks are being attend to, however, other tasks begin to pile up, and soon a backlog of tasks cry out for attention. A jumble of new and old tasks become marked as urgent, and the procrastinator is forced to drop current tasks to attend to the urgent ones. In a sense, what is urgent has become priority. This confusion continues as tasks split into three categories which cry out for attention and which are increasingly difficult to distinguish, namely, priority/urgent; priority/non- urgent; non-priority/urgent. Meanwhile, the attractiveness of the non-urgent, non-priority comfort tasks still lure the procrastinator to do them. The result is that the procrastinator becomes subject to the tyranny of the urgent, is unable to establish proper priorities, and constantly seeks reprieve from these stresses by attending to tasks that are neither urgent nor priority!

(b) Distractibility. Closely related to the tendency of procrastinators to attend to comfort tasks is the problem of distractibility. It is not surprising to find procrastinators explaining that a task is left unattended to because "something else came up". Setting better emotional boundaries (e.g., saying "No" to yourself) in order to stay on task usually helps to limit attention to the multitude of off-task behaviours (distractions).

(c) Forgetfulness. Unfortunately, no amount of prioritizing or boundary drawing can prevail over disorganized forgetfulness. Typically, procrastinators assume they have an excellent memory and they often insist that they remember even though they appear to have forgotten ("Of course, I remember. I was just about to do it"). Multiple slips of "reminder" paper adorn their pockets and purses, and they seem to use more than one appointment book or none at all (both practices have the same effect) . A step in the right direction is to acknowledge a problem with forgetfulness, although it must never be used as an excuse for inaction.

d) Lumping. Finally, a major part of procrastination- oriented disorganization comes in the form of "lumping" or "chunking", that is, the errant perception that most tasks come as an inseparable whole (a "lump") that cannot be subdivided and dealt with systematically. The harried teenager who thinks of "cleaning my room" as a massive single-lump task would likely procrastinate over cleaning his room.

(2) Fear

Fear motivated procrastination usually expresses itself as avoidance and the intense desire to either delay performing a task or wait for its expiration so that it no longer has to be dealt with. Often, one task is related to another, and the cluster of avoided tasks increases over time. As outstanding tasks mount, the procrastinator becomes resigned, depressed and inactive. The internal struggles of fear-motivated procrastination are usually of two types: the rational versus the irrational ("I know that I should, so why can't I just do it") and discipline vs discomfort ("I planned to do it, but when the time came, I just didn't feel like it."). Attempts at resolving these conflicts must start at the level of dealing with the fear rather than with logic or greater discipline.

(3) Perfectionism

Most procrastinators do not think of themselves as perfectionists. "If I'm a perfectionist, I would get things done," they say. Not necessarily. In fact, perfectionism can lead to "starts and spurts" performance, meaning that an individual goes on a cleaning spree, or attacks a task with great energy and then slumps back in exhaustion after having exasperated, irritated, or alienated everyone around. Perfectionism has also been found to be strongly related to depression and an extremely critical spirit (either self or other critical).

What is perfectionism, then? Perfectionism is a form of rigidity or inflexibility that is marked by three major characteristics: (1) The intense desire to jump in and do things yourself because others just can't do it right; (2) the insistent attitude that you wouldn't even start on something if you can't do it well; and (3) the profound need for closure, indicated by agitation or discomfort should something be left "hanging". Each of these characteristics "drives" the perfectionist to procrastinate. For perfectionistic procrastinators, the first step in dealing with procrastination is acknowledging and disliking these three basic tendencies. Then practical solutions can be applied systematically.
 (4) Procrastination As An Indicator

Procrastination may also be an indicator of a more serious physical or psychological problem that would respond positively to treatment. Often, such procrastination is not observed by the one procrastinating, but by others close to that person. Extreme anxiety, severe clinical depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, attention deficit disorder with or without hyperactivity, and illnesses that are related to memory loss are examples of such dysfunctions that may lead to procrastination.

Taking Charge of Procrastination

(1) What am I afraid of? In fear-motivated procrastination, it is necessary to identify the fear to begin with. For example, a person trying to find a job over an extended period of time may have developed a fear of being rejected...yet again. A high school student drags her feet in completing her class project because of a fear of obtaining another failing grade. The accounts analyst finds it a chore to complete even one assignment towards his CGA certification because of his fear of the material itself. This last example may in fact have to do with his lack of aptitude in his chosen field! In a nutshell, both the fear and the sources of that fear must be confronted before the behaviours expressed by procrastination can be addressed. Often, a trained counsellor would be able to help in identifying the sources of fear and their effects on self-esteem, then provide some direction in dealing with these problems.

2) Get yourself an appointment book. And please...don't go overboard with this idea. Procrastinators often start ambitiously. (Remember the problem of "lumping"?) They run out and buy the most expensive bells-and-whistles appointment book, invest in an elaborate electronic daytimer, or photocopy reams of get-your-life-together organizers readily available on the market. You hear the reasoning, "Hey, if it's gotta be done, it's gotta be done right!" (Do you hear the perfectionist?) Eventually, the massive effort comes to an anticlimactic halt when they "run out of steam", and discouragement sets them three steps back after having dashed two steps forward. It is far wiser to purchase a simple appointment book, preferably one that is about the size of a small paperback that has a one week spread when the book is opened. Appointment books help to address the problems of disorganization and even poor memory.

First, learn to use it every day. Write down things you are going to do or that you have already done. Look ahead into the next week, if you like, but don't plan your life for the next year. To help you use the book more, write in important telephone numbers and addresses as you acquire them. Carry it around with you all day. Make its presence with you a habit.

Second, learn how to plan ahead realistically. Break down tasks into tangible stage goals, and provide these goals with appropriate deadlines. Then write these deadlines into your appointment book.

Third, provide yourself with daily "to do" lists that you write into your book. Even small, easy-to-do or habitual items could be added to the list. Check the items off as you go along. The point is to register accomplishment tangibly as you move through the day.

3) "Dechunking". Breaking a task down into manageable chunks ("dechunking") usually removes the threat of having to do a large task all at once. Sometimes, a task may be underestimated as costing very little energy and time when it really takes up a good chunk of your energies. Learn to break tasks down to 15 minute chunks to begin with. As you get more practised at it, increase the size of your chunks. It would be very helpful to use your appointment book to plan your dechunking.

Breaking Free

Procrastination has a way of ruling our lives if we do not bring it under control. Many resigned procrastinators simply confess, "I'm just lazy" and hope that the explanation suffices. Not by a long shot. Laziness is procrastination out of control. It takes a great deal of wisdom and effort to break the clutches of procrastination, but the results are often worth the while.

"Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men; knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve."

Epistle to the Colossians 3:23-24
27   Self-help Brochures

Overcoming Procrastination

Procrastination technically refers to the avoidance of a specific task or work which needs to be accomplished. But this technical explanation doesn't begin to capture the emotions triggered by the word. For most of us, the word &quotprocrastination" reminds us of past experiences where we have felt guilty, lazy, inadequate, anxious, or stupid--or some combination of these. It also implies a value judgment; if you procrastinate, you are bad, and as such, you lack worth as a person.

Procrastination and Its Causes

In order to understand and solve your procrastination problems, you must carefully analyze those situations where your work is not being completed. First, determine whether the cause is poor time management; if so, you will need to learn and develop time management skills. If, however, you know how to manage your time but don't make use of those skills, you may have a more serious problem. Many individuals cite the following reasons for avoiding work:

  • LACK OF RELEVANCE. If something is neither relevant nor meaningful to you personally, it may be difficult to get motivated even to begin.
  • ACCEPTANCE OF ANOTHER'S GOALS. If a project has been imposed or assigned to you and it is not consistent with your own interests, you may be reluctant to spend the necessary time to see it to conclusion.
  • PERFECTIONISM. Having unreachable standards will discourage you from pursuing a task. Remember, perfection is unattainable.
  • EVALUATION ANXIETY. Since others' responses to your work are not under your direct control, overvaluing these responses can create the kind of anxiety that will interfere with work getting accomplished.
  • AMBIGUITY. If you are uncertain of what is expected of you, it may be difficult to get started.
  • FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN. If you are venturing into a new realm or field, you don't have any way of knowing how well you'll do. Such an uncertain outcome may inhibit your desire to begin.
  • INABILITY TO HANDLE THE TASK. If through lack of training, skill, or ability you feel that you lack the personal resources to do the job, you may avoid it completely.

Procrastination Takes Many Forms

Once you have surmounted the emotional block by acknowledging your procrastination (guilt, anxiety, feelings of inadequacy), and after you have analyzed the underlying causes, you need to clearly specify how you procrastinate. Consider the following examples.

  1. Do you act as though if you ignore a task, it will go away? The mid-term exam in your chemistry class is not likely to vaporize, no matter how much you ignore it.
  2. Do you underestimate the work involved in the task, or overestimate your abilities and resources in relationship to the task? Do you tell yourself that you grasp concepts so easily that you need only spend one hour on the physics problems which would normally take you six?
  3. Do you deceive yourself into believing that a mediocre performance or lesser standards are acceptable? For example, if you deceive yourself that a 2.3 GPA will still get you into the medical school of your choice, you may be avoiding the decision to work harder to improve your grade point average and thus may have to alter your career plans. This form of avoidance can prevent your from consciously making choices about important goals in your life.
  4. Do you deceive yourself by substituting one worthy activity for another? Suppose you clean the apartment instead of writing your term paper. Valuing a clean apartment is fine but if that value only becomes important when there is a paper due, you are procrastinating.
  5. Do you believe that repeated &quotminor" delays are harmless? An example is putting off writing your paper so you can watch five minutes of your favorite television program. If you don't return to writing the paper after five minutes have elapsed, you may stay tuned to the television for the entire evening, with no work being done on the paper.
  6. Do you dramatize a commitment to a task rather than actually doing it? An example is taking your books on vacation but never opening them, or perhaps even declining invitations for pleasurable events, but still not pursuing the work at hand nor getting needed relaxation. This way you stay in a constant state of unproductive readiness to work--without ever working.
  7. Do you persevere on only one portion of the task? An example is writing and rewriting the introductory paragraph of the paper but not dealing with the body and the conclusion. The introductory paragraph is important, but not at the expense of the entire project.
  8. Do you become paralyzed in deciding between alternative choices? An example involves spending so much time deciding between two term paper topics that you don't have sufficient time to write the paper.

What to Do about Procrastination

If you can visualize yourself in one or more of these vignettes, you may be ready to overcome your problems with avoidance or procrastination. The following is a list of additional steps which may help you to deal with your avoidance problems:

  • Extract from the above examples those principles which apply to you. Write them down.
  • Make honest decisions about your work. If you wish to spend only a minimal amount of effort or time on a particular task, admit it--do not allow guilt feelings to interfere with your realization of this fact. Weigh the consequences of various amounts of investment in a project and find the optimal return for your investment. This step exposes intentional reasons for avoiding work. If you have been unintentionally avoiding work, admit to yourself that you do want to achieve certain goals and accept the responsibilities involved in meeting those goals.
  • Work to acquire an adequate understanding of what is necessary to accomplish a task within a given time frame.
  • Distinguish between activities which dramatize your sense of commitment and those which will help you accomplish the task. Devote only that amount of time which is appropriate for each part of a task. Develop an overview of the entire project and visualize the steps that are needed to reach completion.

Effective Planning

The larger, more involved, the project, the more difficult it is to plan effectively to carry it out. The following steps may be helpful:

  • Segment the task. The entire job may seem impossible, but smaller segments may seem more manageable. Divide the task into small steps.
  • Distribute the small steps reasonably within the given time frame. "Reasonably" is the key word; you must allot sufficient time for each step. Do not fool yourself by believing you can do more than is humanly possible.
  • Realize that humans periodically need variety and relaxation. Intersperse rewards, relaxation, and gratification for work completed. This will help you feel less resentful of the task and the work that still needs to be done.
  • Monitor your progress on the small steps. Watch for the pitfalls discussed earlier. Assess problems when they arise and do something about them quickly. Keep track of the segments and how they fit together to form the whole picture. Reassess time commitments as necessary.
  • Be reasonable in your expectations of yourself. Perfectionistic or extremely strict expectations may cause you to rebel or may sabotage your progress.

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