...Strategies to Solving Procrastination Procrastination is an epidemic among college students, and is an issue that most would like to resolve in their day to day lives. Procrastination is loosely defined as intentionally putting things off that you would rather not do in the present. William J. Knaus, states in his article, “Procrastination, Blame, and Change” that procrastination has been around since the beginning of time, and also cites that even Benjamin Franklin included in his 13 virtues: “Resolve to perform what you ought. Perform without fail what you resolve” (Knaus, 2000). In order to solve the problem of procrastination, as well as any other problem, college students should follow a few steps: Identify and select the problem; Analyze the problem; Generate possible solutions; Evaluate solutions; Put the Solution to work; Evaluate the solution; and finally, Apply what you learn (Carter, Bishop, & Kravitz, 2007). We have already identified the problem; procrastination. The next step for a college student would be to analyze why they procrastinate. An online handout, published on The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (n.d.) website, lists several reasons why we procrastinate, such as fear, perfectionism, and simply stated, because it works. Let us first address fear. Fear of failure is where we feel we are inadequate, and our work will reflect that, therefore we don’t even try. With fear of success, one fears that if they start working at their full capacity...
Words: 868 - Pages: 4
...0033-2909/07/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/0033-2909.133.1.65 The Nature of Procrastination: A Meta-Analytic and Theoretical Review of Quintessential Self-Regulatory Failure Piers Steel University of Calgary Procrastination is a prevalent and pernicious form of self-regulatory failure that is not entirely understood. Hence, the relevant conceptual, theoretical, and empirical work is reviewed, drawing upon correlational, experimental, and qualitative findings. A meta-analysis of procrastination’s possible causes and effects, based on 691 correlations, reveals that neuroticism, rebelliousness, and sensation seeking show only a weak connection. Strong and consistent predictors of procrastination were task aversiveness, task delay, selfefficacy, and impulsiveness, as well as conscientiousness and its facets of self-control, distractibility, organization, and achievement motivation. These effects prove consistent with temporal motivation theory, an integrative hybrid of expectancy theory and hyperbolic discounting. Continued research into procrastination should not be delayed, especially because its prevalence appears to be growing. Keywords: procrastination, irrational delay, pathological decision making, meta-analysis Procrastination is extremely prevalent. Although virtually all of us have at least dallied with dallying, some have made it a way of life. Estimates indicate that 80%–95% of college students engage in procrastination (Ellis & Knaus, 1977; O’Brien, 2002), approximately 75% consider...
Words: 28985 - Pages: 116
...Procrastination Carlos Andres Navas GEN/200 May 31, 2011 University of Phoenix Procrastination Procrastination, a common problem that university students face every day; procrastination in a simple definition is putting off for tomorrow what can be done and should be done today. With so many distractions such as technology, friends, and hobbies, procrastination becomes harder to avoid. As I write this paper, the urge to procrastinate comes up, thoughts of I still have a whole week and a half creep up. This same thoughts go through many students; they become deceive and think they can finish an assignment the day before is do; some students take their chances and attempt to do assignments hours before is do. Even though this is possible in some cases, this only causes the students stress and in the majority of cases they turn in a very poorly done assignment. This student will obtain information on what causes procrastination and how to avoid the urge to procrastinate. The online university library, and search engines will be major tools that this student will use to obtain information on this issue. Procrastination is caused by varies reasons. Jhonplaceonline list the top 11 causes which, are complicated-task anxiety, fear of imperfection, indecision, priority confusion, boredom from minutiae, lack of focus, poor organization skills, laziness, lack of focus, early morning lag, post-launch fatigue. I feel the main reason I procrastinate is that I tend to be a perfectionist...
Words: 808 - Pages: 4
...Procrastination Procrastination is the act of intentionally putting off or not doing something that should be done. Most people deal with some form of procrastination in their lives and this is considered normal. However, delaying essential tasks and putting less important things ahead of them can cause negative consequences. Stress and anxiety are often a direct result of procrastinating as well as a lack of confidence and low self-esteem. Guilt is also associated with procrastination because of the perception of others and the potential disappointment of family and friends based on the lack of success. This character trait causes problems in all age groups and in many areas of life including college students and their achievement of educational goals. Unfortunately for me, procrastinating is a characteristic that affects me as a student and has impacted me greatly. There are many ways to sabotage academic success, but a guaranteed way is through procrastination. Procrastinators self-destruct by making choices that hinder their progress and achievement. This characteristic causes students to look for things to distract them and get them off task. Checking email, texting, and scanning social media like Facebook and Twitter are prime examples of distractions that force students to delay important responsibilities. Procrastinators often lie to themselves. Many are convinced that they will feel better about completing an assignment later or that they will work better...
Words: 806 - Pages: 4
...Procrastination: A PUPian Student Must Overcome By: Elloso, Princess L. Yan, Rochelle C. Chapter I : Problem and Background A. Background of the study When you look for the meaning of “procrastination” in the dictionary, it says that “it is an act of putting something off until later”. Obviously it is same for the Filipino term “Mañana Habit” means “mamaya na lang”. This habit is something we have learned from the Spaniards. And as we can see, most of the students do this habit. How it works? First of all, you need to do something NOW, but then you decide to do it later. As a result of the delay, you end up not doing it. Now, you tell yourself or somebody that you will do it TOMORROW. And tomorrow comes, the same cycle happens. Procrastination is finding the most difficult way of doing something. It’s jumping from one idea to another. Instead of starting your work, you procrastinate. You’re looking out the window, you’re staring at your neighbour, you’re watching television and you’re wasting your time instead that you have finish your work. In Psychology, there is this thing called “Present Bias”. It means being unable to grasp what you want. A change over time, what you want now isn’t the same thing you will want later. Procrastination is all about choosing WANT over SHOULD because you don’t have a plan for those times when you expect to be tempted. You must be depth at thinking about thinking because there will always be a war on your brain. B. Statement...
Words: 559 - Pages: 3
...Procrastination is something that we all do to a certain degree, but it is also something that we rarely try to change or work on because it does not seem as important as other issues. I choose to write on this topic for this very reason. If I do not work on it I will continue to procrastinate and this issue will not be addressed. Procrastination is also hindering my school and work performance to a fault in that my grades and work performance could be much better if I just completed assignments diligently and on time. This is also an issue of organization for me because when I do not do things on time then assignments and deadlines pile up. When I decided to deal with my procrastination I did not realize how difficult and demanding it would be. For example I had to make a list of all the things I needed to get done that day and the list was long, but the tough part was when I finished with the items on the list it was again time to make another list, and so on and so forth. So the process, at the beginning, was very overwhelming. However, having a schedule prevented things like homework and work deadlines from piling up and leading to reduced performance. For this project I picked up the self-help book The Procrastinator’s Handbook by Rita Emmett which not only discusses methods to reduce procrastination but also gives a deeper explanation for why we procrastinate. The first point Emmitt stresses is what she calls “tackling the dread” which essentially means understanding why...
Words: 1779 - Pages: 8
...Procrastination is the most efficient form of self-sabotage. Procrastinators go out of their way and choose ways to sabotage themselves. Joseph Ferrari and Timothy Pychyl gave reasons as to why people would sabotage their own lives. They gave ten reasons to explain why. Twenty percent of people identify themselves as chronic procrastinators, admitting to their maladaptive lifestyle, admitting to their problem of self-regulation; part of the reason is because we don’t take the problem seriously as a culture, and we don’t call people out on their phony excuses, instead letting them slide by. Procrastination isn’t a problem of time management, as they have the ability to estimate time the same as everyone else. Procrastinator are made, usually as a result of their family, perhaps because of controlling parent(s), inhibiting the child’s ability to make their own decisions and regulate themselves. Self-regulation often plays a part with alcohol too – as they drink more than they intended too, perhaps as an avoidant coping style. Procrastinators lie to themselves, such as “I do best under pressure,” and “I’ll do this tomorrow”; instead they just squander their resources and perform sub-par. Procrastinators actively look for distractions, particularly ones that require minimum commitment; which acts as another avoidant coping style, to distract themselves from regulating their emotions, such as fear of failure. Dr Ferrari identifies that people procrastinate for three main reasons:...
Words: 434 - Pages: 2
...9020781966 Research Paper The problem that I am going to attempt to solve is procrastination. I have a horrible problem with procrastination, most of the time I am not too bad with it, but there are times when I just don’t want to do something and I will keep putting it off till I am forced to have to do it. I wish I would just get it done and not have to worry about it. So I want to discover ways to manage my time effectively and hopefully stave off the ability to procrastinate. The information that I will gather will be about time management skills, how to keep a schedule and how to say no. I will research using Google to find how other people manage their time, and what steps they take to keep to a schedule. I will also research how to best manage a busy schedule and make sure that everything that needs to get done is getting done and how to recognize when I am procrastinating and the steps I can take to avoid those traps. I will look at articles, e-books and forums for information and tips. For my selected problem it is not necessary to have scientific methods to help solve it, I almost think it best to learn from others with the same concerns and the steps they took to solve it. So I think the forums are probably my best bet. I will also look for polite ways to tell people that I am not available. Especially since this is one of the major factors for my procrastination. I tend to say yes, just because what I really need to do does not sound like as much...
Words: 769 - Pages: 4
...Procrastination, It Happens To the Best of Us Procrastination is something that everyone experiences in their life, not wanting to do the dishes but realizing you have no clean cups, having homework due for a class but not doing the homework till the night before. For some it is something that happens every once in a while, but for others it’s a habit that is really hard to break. Here are some ways to avoid procrastination; getting help from your instructor, avoiding whining and people who whine and complain, and forcing yourself to start. I’m In the Same Boat Procrastination is so much fun, not! When procrastinating you think it makes things so much easier. Just like tonight, I have had this assignment for 6 days and rather than doing it the first day it was assigned to me I waited until 10:26 pm to actually write this paper. Why did I wait so long? Well, I went to Ohio this weekend to celebrate my best friends 21st birthday, anyone in their right mind would say “I have a paper to write, how about I not wait until I’ve driven for 3 hours to get home after a party to do homework” but then there’s me, who thought not completing the assignment early on in the week somehow gave me more time to do other things. I never said I was the brightest blub of the bunch. Excuses are the easiest thing to think about when wanting to put off an assignment, I’m too tired right now, I can get it done tomorrow, no I won’t be extremely tired or exhausted after a weekend for planning a party...
Words: 873 - Pages: 4
...Procrastination [Author Name] Overcoming procrastination is not an easy task; it is the act of putting things off to a later date or time for no specific reason. Even the most efficient and punctual individuals become victims to it. As a procrastinator, having an unlimited amount of time to fulfill a task makes it much more difficult to complete. Everyone procrastinates at one point in his or her life; however, most people don’t know the cause of this action. It is simply an uncontrollable pattern, which can have a bad effect on work, and on you. Another problem is that you run out of ideas. As an upcoming college student, I will be required to fulfill certain task with strict deadlines. I feel as if this will be difficult for me because in high school, the deadlines are flexible and you don’t really have to worry about whether or not its late, most teachers usually accepts it with one point off. I believe it will be difficult for me to manage my time efficiently and complete my assignments on time. I have learned to create a to-do list; I try to list everything, big and small. I make sure to include the things I typically put off. Then as I work through my day I check off each of the items off my list, that way I will be able to know what I have left to finish. From past experiences, I have also learned to stop thinking about the assignment and to just do it. Most people think and try to come up with “the perfect plan”. A plan where they don’t have to make mistakes...
Words: 397 - Pages: 2
...kaluadagang2@gmail.com TUTOR’s NAME : DR. SITI HASNAH BINTI HASSAN LEARNING CENTRE : P.PINANG LEARNING CENTRE ACADEMIC PROCRASTINATION (Personality traits and academic achievement) INTRODUCTION Procrastination has more and more become a matter of interest across multiple disciplines (Ainsle, 2005); Academic procrastination is defined as the intentional and needless deferral or delay of work that must be completed to the point of experiencing discomfort (Schraw, Watkins, & Olafson, 2007; Solomon & Rothblum, 1984). A few students use procrastination as an active, strategic behavior (Chu & Choi, 2005; Corkin, Yu, & Lindt, 2011; Steel, 2007); however, the present study uses the most common definition of the term procrastination to refer to the passive, needless delay of work on any academic task. In Zimmerman’s model, procrastination falls in the performance control phase, and has been described as the quintessential failure of self-regulation (Steel, 2007). In general, the academic procrastination behavior is a problem for a number of college or university students. A student procrastinates with regard to starting an assignment, and is unable to devote enough time to complete the assignment. As a result, there is a risk of a decrease in the quality of the assignment or of missing the deadline. This research makes the hypothesis that procrastination is related to the following personality trait factors: (1) the task difficulty (2) the students’ effort (3) enjoyableness...
Words: 5979 - Pages: 24
...EFFECTS OF PROCRASTINATION We always hear that nobody is perfect in this world but I wonder why everybody wants to be a perfect person if it is impossible then. It is undeniable that everyone has their own bad habit and we all know that bad habit is categorized as a weakness. However, I believe that we can change it to be a good quality that we can own by improve ourselves. This is because there is always a room for improvement. Me, myself has my own bad habit that is procrastination. I have promised to myself that I want to change this habit as I can see the effects on me; cannot complete my task on time, lowered down my grade and make me become lazy. One of the effects is I cannot complete my task on time. Therefore, it can hinder me from be a good student. As a college student, I cannot run from many assignments. Besides, the time given to complete the assignments is not too long. As a good student, I suppose to manage my time wisely so that I can finish all the assignments on time but as I have this bad habit, I cannot complete it. I always procrastinate. As a result, I was late to submit my assignment and my teacher will scold me for that mistake. I know that procrastinate is not good for me but I cannot help it. I always hold to these words, “better late than never”. My friends told me that I had misunderstood to these words but I am keep on denying it as I want to cover my mistake. It is clearly visible that procrastination has affected my life by hinder...
Words: 770 - Pages: 4
...English 101 16, September 2013 Procrastination Strikes Again From the time we are very young our parents tell us to be prepared, to do our homework, not to leave anything for the last minute. However, these lessons never seemed to stick for me. For most of my life being unprepared was what I was known for, “I’ll get to it later”, and “I still have time”, were some of my favorite mottos. That is, until a very rude awakening made me realize that we never have as much time as we think to get everything done. It was the first semester of my sophomore year and Wentworth Institute of Technology. Everyone was busy working on their midterm designs projects, everyone with the exception of myself and a few other students who also thought they would have more time. We were all given three weeks to prepare for our midterm critiques, where we were all expected to present a comprehensive design for an outdoor shelter. As usual I had begun the assignment with great enthusiasm, which had fizzled out to less than interested in just two days. I began telling myself the presentation was no big deal; I could finish all of the requirements in one week no problem. And so the procrastinating began, all of a sudden my other assignments seemed much more important as I did everything in my power to avoid working on the presentation. Everything would work out fine, I kept telling myself there is still time. One week before the presentation the nerves had begun to set in and I finally decided to...
Words: 740 - Pages: 3
...may have lasting affects on us. This debt not only affects us it may affect our children and loved ones. For example, if you accumulate some bad debts, it’s possible that your children may inherent your debt and therefore are responsible for it. That’s not a burden you want to put on your kids just because you were being irresponsible. Or if the mortgage is not paid in a timely manner, the bank or mortgage company may proceed with a home foreclosure. So as you can see, it is very easy to tell ourselves that we will pay that bill later or put the check in the mail tomorrow. What’s not easy though is dealing with the consequence of getting the check in the mail too late and losing a home as a result. Procrastination Can Negatively Effect Our Employment The effects of procrastination is not limited to our finances, this may also have serious consequences on our health. How many times have you heard stories of people having aches and putting off going to the doctor? When they finally go to the doctor it's only out of absolute necessity and then they find out that ache was something serious. We have all heard these stories, fortunately sometimes the person gets to the doctor just in time to catch something life threatening, other times they aren’t so lucky. Or what about the time when you had a tooth ache that you ignored that could have been fixed with a...
Words: 551 - Pages: 3
...Academic Procrastination and Academic Achievement Luciano, Kristel Joy A. ABPsych 2-2 Introduction to Psychology Psych 125 Academic Procrastination and Academic Achievement Nowadays, procrastination has been a common phenomenon happening in our daily lives. This practice can be observe almost everywhere, in our home, at work, in different fields and especially at school. In this fast-paced era where everything seems to be moving quite rapidly. Some people find it difficult to manage their tasks and so they tend to result to procrastination. This practice can be observe most commonly in schools or universities especially on college students where the student needs to manage their time between tasks. Like studying for multiple tests, completing their assignments, reviewing for future quizzes, completing their term papers and projects and doing extracurricular activities which will determine their academic achievement or academic performance. Yet, students still engage themselves in delaying their tasks. This widespread phenomenon is also known as procrastination. Academic Procrastination According to Solomon and Rothlum (1984) The term procrastination is defined as the act of needlessly delaying tasks to the point of experiencing subjective discomfort or putting off that which is necessary...
Words: 2781 - Pages: 12
