Psychology

Procrastination

[Author Name(s), First M. Last, Omit Titles and Degrees]

[Institutional Affiliation(s)]

Author Note

Procrastination

Procrastination is an ailment and is considered by many as the best way to avoid undesirable tasks ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"vPW7EfeQ","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Gargari, Sabouri, & Norzad, 2011)","plainCitation":"(Gargari, Sabouri, & Norzad, 2011)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":326,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/CY9UNV33"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/CY9UNV33"],"itemData":{"id":326,"type":"article-journal","title":"Academic procrastination: The relationship between causal attribution styles and behavioral postponement","container-title":"Iranian journal of psychiatry and behavioral sciences","page":"76","volume":"5","issue":"2","author":[{"family":"Gargari","given":"Rahim Badri"},{"family":"Sabouri","given":"Hossein"},{"family":"Norzad","given":"Fatemeh"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2011"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Gargari, Sabouri, & Norzad, 2011). According to ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"9ush9lNv","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Fiore, 2007)","plainCitation":"(Fiore, 2007)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":323,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/JLV8P67K"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/JLV8P67K"],"itemData":{"id":323,"type":"book","title":"The Now Habit: A Strategic Program for Overcoming Procrastination and Enjoying Guilt-free Play","publisher":"Tarcher/Penguin","URL":"https://books.google.com.pk/books?id=obLBn7OKcI8C","ISBN":"978-1-58542-552-5","author":[{"family":"Fiore","given":"N. A."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2007"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} Fiore (2007), procrastination is, “a mechanism for coping with the anxiety associated with starting or completing any task or decision.” This means that such individuals tend to begin their work hours before the deadline, no matter how extensive their workload may be. To add insult to injury, these individuals often fail to make it in time. They usually make it to places in the nick of time or late and tend to believe that they “have the time”. According to a study carried out in 2015, it was reported than people lose as much as 55 days in a year to procrastination. That is about 218 minutes of procrastination in a day alone ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"wxri4b3e","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Myrick, 2015)","plainCitation":"(Myrick, 2015)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":325,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/YDJ93VEQ"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/YDJ93VEQ"],"itemData":{"id":325,"type":"article-journal","title":"Emotion regulation, procrastination, and watching cat videos online: Who watches Internet cats, why, and to what effect?","container-title":"Computers in human behavior","page":"168-176","volume":"52","author":[{"family":"Myrick","given":"Jessica Gall"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2015"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Myrick, 2015). That is not all, given the frequency of procrastination, and the reasons associated with it, it has been divided into type.

Fiore also states that there are four different types of procrastinators ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"AlIlnTl1","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Fiore, 2007)","plainCitation":"(Fiore, 2007)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":323,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/JLV8P67K"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/JLV8P67K"],"itemData":{"id":323,"type":"book","title":"The Now Habit: A Strategic Program for Overcoming Procrastination and Enjoying Guilt-free Play","publisher":"Tarcher/Penguin","URL":"https://books.google.com.pk/books?id=obLBn7OKcI8C","ISBN":"978-1-58542-552-5","author":[{"family":"Fiore","given":"N. A."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2007"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Fiore, 2007). The first kind is “anxious” procrastinator. These are the people that tend to set unrealistic goals, especially for a given period of time. Such a procrastinator is usually really bad at time management and packs in more work than they are physically capable of completing at any given time of the day. At the end of the day, the bulk of incomplete tasks looming over their heads tends to make them anxious, hence the name. The second type of procrastinator is the “fun” procrastinator. They would much rather engage in an activity they consider fun than complete the task at hand.

Finally, the two forms of procrastinators that I can relate or associate with are the “plenty of time” procrastinator and the “perfectionist” procrastinator. Whenever I get a task assigned to me, I mentally begin brainstorming the perfect ways to execute the task at hand. I spend a whole lot of time in the preparatory phase instead of writing anything, courtesy of my belief that I “still have the time” Later when push comes to shove, I go into high-gear and start writing when there is barely any time left on the clock. Even at this point my stubbornness to get the perfect assignment ready often takes over and I miss out on my deadline. This has happened more time than I care to admit, and I believe that I need a fool-proof way to fix my issues.

Using the ABC analysis, I carried out a self-assessment of my problem and figured out the basic cause of my issue. In the ABC analysis, the letters stand for Antecedent, Behavior, and Consequence respectively ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"QoRAxMAL","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Dyer, 2013)","plainCitation":"(Dyer, 2013)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":328,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/K9Q4J28I"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/K9Q4J28I"],"itemData":{"id":328,"type":"chapter","title":"Antecedent-Behavior-Consequence (A-B-C) Analysis","container-title":"Encyclopedia of Autism Spectrum Disorders","publisher":"Springer New York","publisher-place":"New York, NY","page":"175-180","event-place":"New York, NY","URL":"https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1698-3_1003","ISBN":"978-1-4419-1698-3","author":[{"family":"Dyer","given":"Kathleen"}],"editor":[{"family":"Volkmar","given":"Fred R."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2013"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Dyer, 2013). It enables an individual to develop a deeper understanding of patterns, and the associated functions, of behavior. It is basically used to diagnose challenges faced by an individual on the autism spectrum, however, it just does as well as a tool of self-assessment. According to the ABC analysis, I have a tendency to:

Term

Analysis

Antecedent

The belief that I have plenty of time.

Behavior

Research material in an effort to make it perfect.

Consequence

Begin working really close to the deadline and miss it entirely at times.

At this point in life, I believe that it is high time that I figure out a way to fix my issues. According to ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"0uJpEJtG","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Eckert, Ebert, Lehr, Sieland, & Berking, 2016)","plainCitation":"(Eckert, Ebert, Lehr, Sieland, & Berking, 2016)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":329,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/3SEE75J7"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/5VyEEXyp/items/3SEE75J7"],"itemData":{"id":329,"type":"article-journal","title":"Overcome procrastination: Enhancing emotion regulation skills reduce procrastination","container-title":"Learning and Individual Differences","page":"10-18","volume":"52","author":[{"family":"Eckert","given":"Marcus"},{"family":"Ebert","given":"David D."},{"family":"Lehr","given":"Dirk"},{"family":"Sieland","given":"Bernhard"},{"family":"Berking","given":"Matthias"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2016"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} Eckert, Ebert, Lehr, Sieland, & Berking (2016), there are a few ways one can overcome procrastination. They are:

Forgive yourself for procrastinating behavior. Self-forgiveness is an excellent tool to reduce guilt and motivate oneself to do better.

Commit to the Task. By committing to a task and choosing to do it, instead of avoiding it is a step in the right direction. It is supposed to help me deal with my problem proactively.

Promise yourself a reward. Doing anything distasteful gets a whole lot better if one promises to reward themselves upon completion.

Make someone check up on me. When I know that there are eyes watching, I have a tendency to perform better than I did earlier. I hate disappointing others, so this may help.

Minimize distractions. Keep away from things that can distract you. This includes social media and any other similar knick-knacks.

In conclusion, if any procrastinator, including myself, stays on the path and proactively works towards eliminating certain behavioral patterns from their lives, they may have a good chance to get the better of their procrastination soon.

References

ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"uncited":[],"omitted":[],"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Dyer, K. (2013). Antecedent-Behavior-Consequence (A-B-C) Analysis. In F. R. Volkmar (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Autism Spectrum Disorders (pp. 175–180). Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1698-3_1003

Eckert, M., Ebert, D. D., Lehr, D., Sieland, B., & Berking, M. (2016). Overcome procrastination: Enhancing emotion regulation skills reduce procrastination. Learning and Individual Differences, 52, 10–18.

Fiore, N. A. (2007). The Now Habit: A Strategic Program for Overcoming Procrastination and Enjoying Guilt-free Play. Retrieved from https://books.google.com.pk/books?id=obLBn7OKcI8C

Gargari, R. B., Sabouri, H., & Norzad, F. (2011). Academic procrastination: The relationship between causal attribution styles and behavioral postponement. Iranian Journal of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, 5(2), 76.

Myrick, J. G. (2015). Emotion regulation, procrastination, and watching cat videos online: Who watches Internet cats, why, and to what effect? Computers in Human Behavior, 52, 168–176.