What is Procrastination? Procrastination is putting off or avoiding doing
something that must be done. It is natural to procrastinate occasionally.
However, excessive procrastination can result in guilt feelings about not doing
a task when it should be done. It can also cause anxiety since the task still
needs to be done. Furthermore, excessive procrastination can cause poor performance
if the task is completed without sufficient time to do it well. In short,
excessive procrastination can interfere with school and personal success.
Here are 7 reasons why
People procrastinate: (Contributed by Bro. Bode Awuyo)
1. Fear – Success/failure. You might think success is strange to fear. Who
wouldn’t want to be successful, right? It’s a big fear for many because being
successful is life-changing, full of losses and gains. So, people, especially teenagers, procrastinate because they do not have the level of confidence to believe in their ability to succeed.
2. Their desire isn’t strong enough. They haven’t really made the decision to
have what they want. This is so true for teenagers. Ask some of them what they want to become and you either hit a brick wall or a long string of mismatched desires. And as long as their planning is deficient, so will time be running!
3. Goals/dreams don’t inspire them. Too often teenagers have little or no idea what they
really want and they pursue goals they think they should want or what others
want for them. That’s one reason why many successful people feel unhappy – like
something is missing. They are living somebody else’s life rather than one that
would make them happy. This feeling rather than popping into action consumes their time.
4. Loss of a momentum and motivation. Without support and accountability, some
teenagers lose steam and enthusiasm quickly and fall back into old behaviors. One of these old behaviours is procrastination which leads to a waste of precious time.
5. Negative self-talk and beliefs. This is a huge reason why teenagers
procrastinate. All the conversations they have in their heads that scare them
and make them feel like crap. They construct stories about inevitable outcomes
(worse case scenarios, what happened in the past will surely repeat) that they
believe as truth! It’s amazing what we do to ourselves, isn’t it?
6.
Overwhelmed with too many options. Sometimes, many teenagers don’t know where to start or what
to choose. It’s a double-edged sword. Having choices is important and yet,
having too many causes confusion. Often they make a hasty choice to get it
over with, defer to someone else to take responsibility, or do nothing.
7.
Too many distractions cause them to lose focus. They become overwhelmed,
and confused, and stressed. They lack structure, routines, and boundaries to
help them stay on track. Meanwhile, nothing gets done and time is ticking.
How Do I Know if I Procrastinate Excessively?
You procrastinate excessively
if you agree with five or more of the following statements;
1.
I often put off starting a task I find difficult
2.
I often give up on a task as soon as I start to find it difficult.
3.
I often wonder why I should be doing a task.
4.
I often have difficulty getting started on a task.
5.
I often try to do so many tasks at once that I cannot do any of them.
6.
I often put off a task in which I have little or no interest.
7. I often try to come up with reasons to do something other than a task I have
to do.
8.
I often ignore a task when I am not certain about how to start it or
complete it.
9.
I often start a task but stop before completing it.
10.
I often find myself thinking that if I ignore a task, it will go away.
11.
I often cannot decide which of a number of tasks I should complete first.
12.
I often find my mind wandering to things other that the task on which I am
trying to work.
What Can I Do About Excessive Procrastination?
Here are some things you can do to control excessive procrastination
1.
Motivate yourself to work on a task with thoughts such as "There is no
time like the present," or "Nobody's perfect."
2.
Prioritize the tasks you have to do.
3.
Commit yourself to completing a task once started.
4.
Reward yourself whenever you complete a task.
5.
Work on tasks at the times you work best.
6.
Break large tasks into small manageable parts.
7.
Work on tasks as part of a study group.
8.
Get help from teachers and other students when you find a task difficult.
9.
Make a schedule of the tasks you have to do and stick to it.
10.
Eliminate distractions that interfere with working on tasks.
11.
Set reasonable standards that you can meet for a task.
12.
Take breaks when working on a task so that you do not wear down.
13.
Work on difficult and/or unpleasant tasks first.
14.
Work on a task you find easier after you complete a difficult task.
15.
Find a good place to work on tasks.
Above all, think positively and get going. Once you are into a task, you
will probably find that it is more interesting than you thought it would be and
not as difficult as you feared. You will feel increasingly relieved as you work
toward its accomplishment and will come to look forward to the feeling of
satisfaction you will experience when you have completed the task.
5 More Reasons You Procrastinate and How to Overcome Them
(Procrastination: To delay, stall, hesitate, put off, or lag). For more from Nate visit him at www.n8tip.com. Below I have listed 5 common causes of procrastination and strategies for
conquering them:
1.
Repulsive Tasks: Some tasks just aren’t any fun. But that doesn’t matter – some things
just have to be done. But there's this effective strategy - When you find
yourself with a backlog of “nasty” tasks, chose just one per day and knock it
out as your first order of business. Why first? Because saving dreaded tasks
until last is great incentive to never get all the way through your list. Plus,
knocking out a nasty task first, keeps them from taunting you the rest of the
day.
2.
Mental Mountains: Complex projects or tasks that have many steps can be
especially overwhelming. Not to mention the mind’s unfortunate knack of making
“mountains” out of “mole hills.” Even tasks that aren’t particularly difficult
sometime “seem” that way when you try juggling all the steps in your head. The
key to moving past mental mountains is breaking larger projects into smaller,
more manageable steps. Remember one step at a time!
3.
Emotional Avoidance: Gaining traction on emotionally charged tasks is
particularly difficult. Whether its fear, grief, resentment, or whatever,
emotional obstacles are barriers that will always hold you back, until you
decided to cross them.
4.
Lack of Energy: Probably the most underappreciated, but very real reason many people fail
to get started on projects is that they’re just too tired. Life in the modern
world can be exhausting. There’s so much going on, so much to do, so many
things vying for your attention, that some days it just drains you. That’s why,
rest, exercise, and nutrition is more important than ever before. If you want
to run at full capacity, you have to be well rested. Trying to tackle projects
when you’re mentally or physically fatigued is a bad idea.
5.
Help is Needed: Some tasks are just too large for you to handle by yourself; others
require expertise you don’t posses. If that’s the case, – it’s time to get
help. As admirable as the pioneering spirit is, it’s not always possible to go
it alone. Whether the job’s too big, you don’t know what you’re doing, or
you’re just not any good at it, asking for help is sometimes the only way to
get some things done. And there’s nothing wrong with asking for help. Sometimes
it’s the only way to get unstuck.
What does the Bible say
about procrastination?
Procrastination is “the act of willfully delaying the doing of something
that should be done,” and in some people it is a habitual way of handling any
task. While the word itself is not found in the Bible, we can find some
principles to help guide us. Sometimes, procrastination is the result of
laziness, and the Bible has plenty to say about that. The Bible commends hard
work and industry (Proverbs 12:24; 13:4) and warns against sloth and slackness
(Proverbs 15:19; 18:9).
One cure for procrastination is more diligence, regardless of the task. The
Christian should be supremely motivated to be diligent in his work, since he is
ultimately serving the Lord. “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart,
as working for the Lord, not for men” (Colossians 3:23). If we put our hearts
into our work, as this verse says to do, we will probably find it difficult to
procrastinate too much.
Some people, upon hearing the Gospel and knowing their spiritual need,
delay in making a response. This is the most dangerous type of procrastination.
Life is short, and we do not know what will happen tomorrow (James 4:13-14).
The Bible urges us to get right with God today. “See to it, brothers, that none
of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But
encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you
may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. As has just been said: ‘Today, if you
hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion’” (Heb
3:12-13, 15). To procrastinate and put off getting right with God is to harden
one’s own heart.
Quote of the Week!
“Procrastination is the fear of success. People procrastinate because they
are afraid of the success that they know will result if they move ahead now.
Because success is heavy, carries a responsibility with it, it is much easier
to procrastinate and live on the “someday I’ll” philosophy.” Denis Waitley.
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