Introduction
Everyone procrastinates. We put things off because we don’t want to do them, or because we have too many other stuff on our plates. Putting things off—big or small—is part of being human. If you’re scanning this handout, however, the likelihood is that your procrastination is troubling you. You suspect that you may be a much better writer only if you didn’t put off writing projects until the last second. You discover that simply when you yourself have really gotten taking place a paper, it is time for you to change it in; so, you won’t ever really have time and energy to revise or proofread carefully. You like the rush of adrenaline you obtain whenever you finish a paper ten full minutes before it’s due, however you (along with your body) are getting fed up with pulling all-nighters. You feel okay about procrastinating whilst in college, but you worry that this habit shall follow you into your working life.
You can tell whether or not you need to do something regarding your procrastination by examining its consequences. Procrastination may have external consequences (you get a zero regarding the paper in) or internal consequences (you feel anxious much of the time, even when you are doing something that you enjoy) because you never turned it. If you put off washing the laundry, however the dishes don’t bother you, who cares? Whenever your procrastination leaves you feeling discouraged and overburdened, however, it’s time to take action.
Is there hope?
You are a hopeless procrastinator, take heart if you think! No one is beyond help. The fact that you procrastinate does not always mean that you are inherently lazy or inefficient. Your procrastination is not an untamable beast. It is a practice who has some specific origin, and it’s also a practice you could overcome. This handout shall help you start 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 get up and never procrastinate again tomorrow. However you might get up tomorrow and do one or two simple things that will allow you to finish that draft a little earlier or with less stress.
You may never be surprised to discover that procrastinators are generally self-critical. So, as you consider carefully your procrastination and struggle to develop different work habits, play the role of gentle with yourself. Punishing yourself every time you recognize you have put something off won’t help you change. Rewarding yourself when you make progress shall.
About it. if you don’t care why you procrastinate—you would like to know what to complete about it—then you may as well miss out the next area of this handout and go to the section labeled “What to do” If you skip to the strategies, however, you may only end up more frustrated. Taking the time to know about why you procrastinate may help you avoid the cycle whereby you swear down and up you have a paper due, you are up until 3 a.m that you will never procrastinate again, only to find that the next time. trying to complete the initial (and only) draft—without knowing why or the method that you got there.
Why it is done by us
So that you can stop putting off your writing assignments, you will need to understand why you have a tendency to do this when you look at the first place. Some of the reasons that people procrastinate include the following:
Because our company is afraid
- Concern with failure: then you may avoid working on it in order to avoid feeling the fear if you are scared that a particular piece of writing isn’t going to turn out well.
- Anxiety about success: Some procrastinators (the writer of the handout included) fear that if they begin working at their full capacity, they will develop into workaholics. 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 since we procrastinate compulsively, we assume. The procrastinator who fears success could also assume that around them, thus losing their capacity to be friendly and to have fun if they work too hard, they will become mean and cold to the people. Finally, this particular procrastinator may genuinely believe that when they stop procrastinating, chances are they will begin writing better, which will increase other people’s expectations, thus ultimately enhancing the number of pressure they experience.
- Fear of losing autonomy: some social people delay writing projects as a means of maintaining their independence. When they receive a writing assignment, they procrastinate as a means of saying, “You can’t make me try this. I am my own person.” Procrastinating helps them feel more accountable for situations (such as for instance college) by which they think that other folks have authority.
- Concern about being alone: Other writers procrastinate since they desire to feel constantly attached to other people. For example, you might procrastinate before you come in such a bind that someone needs to come and rescue you. Procrastination therefore means that other individuals will likely to be taking part in your daily life. You may even put off writing because you don’t wish to be alone, and writing is oftentimes a solitary activity. With its form that is worst, procrastination itself could become a companion, constantly reminding you of most that you must do.
- Concern about attachment: as opposed to fearing separation, some social people procrastinate to be able to create a barrier between themselves and others. They might delay so that you can create chaos within write my essay their lives, believing that the chaos will keep other folks away.
Whether these fears appear in our conscious or subconscious minds, they paralyze us and keep us from following through, until discomfort and anxiety overwhelms us and forces us to either a) obtain the written piece done or b) stop trying. (The preceding is a directory of Chapters 2-4 of Jane B. Burka and Lenora M. Yuen’s Procrastination: Why You Do It, What to Do about any of it.)
Because we expect ourselves to be perfect
Procrastination and perfectionism often go hand in hand. Perfectionists have a tendency to procrastinate themselves, and they are scared about whether or not they can meet those high standards because they expect so much of. Perfectionists sometimes think that it is advisable to give a half-hearted effort and maintain the fact that they could have written a fantastic paper, rather than give the full effort and risk writing a mediocre paper. Procrastinating guarantees failure, nonetheless it helps perfectionists maintain their belief that they may have excelled should they had tried harder. Another pitfall for perfectionists is that they tend to ignore progress toward a target. Provided that the writing project is incomplete, they feel as though they aren’t getting anywhere, instead of recognizing that each and every paragraph moves them closer to a finished product.
Because we don’t like our writing
You could procrastinate on writing because you don’t love to re-read everything you have written; you hate writing a first draft and then being obligated to evaluate it, in every its imperfection. By procrastinating, you ensure that you don’t have time and energy to read over your work, thus avoiding that uncomfortable moment.