Ideas on Identifying and Preventing Procrastination

Everybody, at some point in their life, has experienced their own procrastination. Here are a few causes of procrastination within my own life, and perhaps within your life as well.

1.      Disorganization

This is pretty self explanatory. When we are disorganized with our time and resources, we tend to forget assignments and deadlines, lose important papers or rubrics, or lose time in the mess. While I am generally organized in most aspects of my life, there are times where I let my room, car, backpack, and schedule become disorganized. During these times, I tend to tear through my house looking for a textbook or dig through my backpack for an assignment. When I get like this, I tend to procrastinate more because I cannot find the required resources for my work.

The remedy for disorganization is pretty simple, albeit continuous. Staying organized is often a mind set. I recommend finding a personal system for yourself. You can use filing cabinets or folders to hold papers or assignments. Having a bookshelf or other shelves can help to organize books and trinkets in a room. Keeping different subjects and textbooks separate can prevent confusion. There are many ways to become organized, but generally the best is to find your own unique way and go with it.

2.      Fear

Fear is another factor of procrastination. Sometimes we are given assignments that seem overbearing or intimidating. We view them as “impossible” or “too hard,” and become stressed by the idea of even working on it. Sometimes we’re bogged down by the prospect of what grade we will receive. Other times, we are afraid of our own talent. I often have a fear of creative writing because I feel like whatever I write will just simply not be good enough. This form of fear manifests in avoidance. We simply avoid the assignment until we are forced to do it, which it usually at the last minute and under stress, which tends to negatively affect the quality of the work.

The simplest way to solve the problem of fear is to just do it. I know, I know, Nike said it first, but they have it right. We just need to put one foot in front of the other, the rest usually comes together right after. Another way is to break the assignment into different sections or parts and complete them one at a time. When we look at segments instead of a whole, we start to view the overall assignment as less menacing and easier to accomplish.

3.      Lack of Interest

I think this is a very common cause of procrastination. We are so often given assignments that we do not relate to or do not have an interest in that it becomes hard for us to find the motivation to do adequate research or to put enough work into them.

The solution to this problem requires a little bit of creative thinking. When I am faced with a paper or essay about a topic that I am not interested in, I do my best to remind myself how it is important in the big picture. Some essays, regardless of the topic, are meant as practice for the craft of writing. Other assignments, like math homework, are also used as practice for specific skills. Regarding the topic, I also try to look at the value of the information I am to gather, and then relate that to the bigger picture. Even if I am not interested in writing a research paper about aliens or UFO’s, I cans still benefit from knowledge that surrounds the topic. For example, understanding the sociological and psychological aspects of believing in aliens is certainly an interesting topic and can help me to form better ideas and theories in the fields of sociology and psychology.

4.      Perfectionism

This one is also pretty common. The idea of perfectionism is that everything performed or worked on must be perfect or must represent a whole idea. Concerning the latter reason, I am personally petrified to start a project if I do not understand the entirety of the subject invloved. Much like fear, this creates procrastination because of the need to begin and finish the assignment correctly. Another way perfectionism causes procrastination is that a perfectionist tends to focus on the minutest of details. For some assignments, that level of scrutiny and criticism might not be needed. Picking apart an entire paper or project because of small issues or other details can cause bad stress and depression. Perfectionists can also become distracted by their environment, such as a dirty desk, chores, or other things that need to get done. These things can get in the way and momentarily take precedence over a specific assignment, which can lead to procrastination.

Don’t get me wrong, paying close attention to detail is good, and should be practiced in moderation. It is when it starts to affect your school, social, and extracurricular lives that it can become destructive. When I have times like this, I try to put things into perspective: “Do I really need to tear this entire paper apart?” “Have I accomplished the main objective?” Sometimes I try to identify why I am stressed. If I understand why I am stressed it is much easier to deal with and ultimately to cool down.

These are some causes of procrastination within my own life. I hope that you were able to read through them and identify some of your as well. What I hope even more is that by identifying these causes you will be able to find your own solutions and begin to write and work on assignments without leaving them to the night before they’re due!