Last week, as our break began, I realized I had a week to get tons a stuff done. To relax at home and just get some stuff out of the way. Turns out, I did anything but what all I wanted to accomplish. Sure, I got some readings done for a class and tried to catch on on some studying, but I failed to do other things that I really could have crossed off my list for good, especially with finals coming up. Before I knew it, it was Sunday and I was on my way back to happy valley and feeling like I’d wasted time. This isn’t a first time I’ve felt this way however, procrastination is not stranger to me. Still, I question why I can’t just change myself and have a better work ethic over night, even after I plan to do things and make note of them. Procrastination is than just laziness!…or is it?
I found, in my research, that procrastination has a number of worthy excuses. Of course, there aren’t too many excuses that would hold up in class and allow you to actually be excused for assignments. However, these excuses are real for some procrastinators. They don’t put things off simply because they don’t want them done! Some people may be poor at regulating themselves and so they often aren’t able to internalize their intentions and act on them, others put things off for fear of failure, and some just may not like their classes or the work assigned and so they avoid it until necessary. So, what makes one a true procrastinator or just a kid with poor time management skills? I honestly, may be the latter, and although there is no clear answer to this as of yet, there are some possible causes out there that may have more credibility than those previously mentioned. Things such as mental disorders could be possible cause of procrastination.
In terms of Depression, it’s no surprise that it may cause procrastination. When a person is depressed they often experience an extreme form of sadness that leaves them hopeless and unable to see anyway to make things better. Depression doesn’t cause procrastination, but it can make it far worse. A depressed person is even less likely to see anything they do as able to make difference in their lives. However, considering that statistically depression is no where near as many people who experience procrastination, there have to be other reasons.
Another is a thing referred to as Irrational Beliefs. People who suffer this often suffer from simple not feeling good enough. In their minds they don’t measure up to what they think they should be, they have unrealistic views of the world that aren’t realistic and react to the world in ways optimistic and/or pessimistic ways that don’t enhance them emotionally. The people who suffer this mentally virtually allow these things to get in the way of their own happiness and motivation. They procrastinate due to anxiety and fear of failure. Here, it’s said that this problem could essentially stem from low self-confidence.
Procrastination for people with ADHD/ADD is just as bad if not worse! People with these disorders are often easily distracted, impulsive and disorganized. These people have difficulty staying focused, controlling their behavior and paying attention. Therefore, doing work and keeping focused on completing that work is a task hard to manage for them. This link talks all about the problem.
Although I set out to find out why I was procrastinating so much, I found that there may be no real underlying reason, at least not one that couldn’t be combated with few changing habits. I definitely don’t have any of the disorders mentioned above, so if you’re like me, we all may just have sucky time management skills. Sorry, we’re not special snow flakes and all we really need is to do invest in planners.
Sources
http://healthcenter.ncsu.edu/counseling-center/resources/mental-health-and-wellness-topics/irrational-beliefs/
http://www.undoingdepression.com/about-depression/quick-tips/procrastination/
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-procrastination-equation/201101/crazy-procrastinating-maybe
http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2013/10/31/adhd-experts-reveal-their-favorite-ways-to-manage-procrastination/
It is hard for me to relate to this post because I am not a procrastinator. I am the type of person who does it right away. That may sound good, but it is not. I do it right away and then I rush and usually it does not get done to its full potential whatever it may be. I have to disagree with you when you said “Procrastination for people with ADHD/ADD is just as bad if not worse! ” I am not disorganized at all. I do agree with when you said impulsive as i mentioned above i rush to do everything. There are times when i mentally plan in my head I’m going to do this, study for that, and write this by tomorrow. And then i fail to accomplish everything. Sometimes when Im studying I want to get everything done and not have to worry about it I rush through it and then nothing i studied sinks into my brain. According to http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-procrastination-equation/201101/crazy-procrastinating-maybe, I definitely agree with what the article says about ADHD and procrastination.
I can strongly relate to this post because I am a procrastinator myself. However, I’m the type of person that holds unrealistic beliefs of what I am capable or not capable of doing – sort of like perfectionism – and whenever I hold off an assignment (especially these science blogs) it’s because I’m afraid of failing or not doing something correctly. It’s a sort of fear that prevents my from doing something, not because I don’t want to, but because I don’t want it to be done badly and I figure I might as well wait until I have a better understanding or more knowledge on the subject which thus leads to my procrastination. Here’s an article that talks about the relationship between perfectionism and procrastination: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/dont-delay/201210/perfectionism-procrastination-and-distress