by Isla Sligo-Young
As we near the
start of exam season preparation time procrastination seems an adept topic to
discuss. I am sure that it will plague many of us as we at our desks and try to
review and relearn topics that we may have covered over a year ago. To begin
with I am a chronic procrastinator. It may help to admit this to you now in
order for you to realise my advice is not indelible but from time to time helps
spurs me on to work. So what exactly is procrastination and why do we do it? In a 2013 study,
Dr. Pychyl and Dr. Sirois defined procrastination as “the primacy of short-term
mood repair … over the longer-term pursuit of intended actions.” This study suggests
that every time we put off work until a later date, we effectively reward our
self in removing the negative stimulus of the unpleasant task. Therefore,
leading to a vicious cycle where we continually leave work until a later date.
Some people argue that this behaviour may initially be triggers by an inability
to visualise yourself in the future. Which enables you to push the negative
emotions surrounding the task onto someone else whom you cannot fully perceive
having to deal with them. However, the root cause may be found within the
development of the negative emotions that surround the work. While there may be
a large degree of personal tendency, procrastination may be a way of dealing
with varying levels of: boredom, anxiety, insecurity, frustration and resentment.
Personally, I find this apparent in that I do not struggle to complete maths
homework, even though it is one of my weaker subjects. But find it excruciating
trying to complete longer essays that are a greater display of personal opinion.
So how can
this be dealt with? Firstly, you could try examining why you are feeling a
certain way towards a task. Are you scared that your work is not up to high
enough standard? Do you not think your response is valuable? Are you disinterested
with the topic? This may be helped by doing further research around the topic
or by looking upon it from a new angle. When actually completing the task, you
could try splitting it into smaller more manageable tasks. That you then reward
by taking a break after these smaller tasks, rather than not doing any of the assignment. Behavioural researchers Dan Ariely and Klaus Wertenbroch
recommend using the idea of making a
“precommitment.” Which entails setting your own personal meaningful deadlines before
reaching the finalised limit. In order to develop a more constructive
relationship with a self-imposed deadline that you can attach your own
significance to.
On a shorter more superficial
level you can try breaking the cycle by finding and removing the behaviour that
you may repeat rather than completing the work. For example, I tend to look
through my hair for any split ends. So, if I am struggling with a task I will
plait my hair back completely to stop myself exhibiting this. If you get
distracted by the web, you could try using apps (like Self Control) that block access to certain sites that are
unproductive for work. Or you could try working in an environment with fewer
surrounding stimulus to be distracted by.
Finally, try to do something
productive about your procrastination because ultimately it is wasting your
time that you could be spending working or relaxing this Christmas holiday.
Some interesting further reading
if you are interested:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/25/smarter-living/why-you-procrastinate-it-has-nothing-to-do-with-self-control.html
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