Too often does society equate procrastination and self-handicapping with laziness. They are often seen as synonymous with one another. If you are putting off your assignments or your chores or your responsibilities at work until the last minute, you must be lazy, right? Society is quick to call individuals lazy when they do not live up to social norm standards. I believe that procrastination and self-handicapping are cries for help and should be treated as such instead of being treated as a sign of laziness.
In the vast majority of classes I have taken since childhood up until now, my teachers have addressed procrastination when referring to the assignments and projects in their classes. They all had the same thing to say about it: “Don’t do it.” Some have even included the word “lazy” while addressing the subject. This line of thinking was instilled in me since childhood. If this line of thinking could affect the way I looked at procrastination and self-handicapping, it could easily have affected other children my age as well. What does that message say to those who suffer from executive dysfunction or issues with impulse control? It can produce feelings of inadequacy and worthlessness in children or adolescents who do not understand why they procrastinate or self-handicap.
Gruman et al. (2016) explains that the causes of procrastination and self-handicapping include a reduction in motivation which can stem from feelings of stress and overwhelm the students feel about the assignment that they are avoiding. If students are made to feel that they are lazy, inadequate, or worthless, the stress they feel toward assignments will increase and their procrastination and self-handicapping behaviors will worsen. Equating procrastination and self-handicapping with laziness is the fuel that feeds the fire. If a student is so overwhelmed by a task that they would rather hurt their grades than handle the stress they are feeling while doing the task, that should be cause for concern instead of judgement of their character. It is a fundamental attribution error to assume a student is lazy for procrastinating or self-handicapping.
Instead of making assumptions about students that procrastinate, we should be concerned about the causes of procrastination. If this is a common behavior amongst students, then we should be looking into why so many students are so overwhelmed. It could be a result of their mental health, their physical health, their home life, the school structure, etc. There are many possible causes. Since children and adolescent brains are still developing, it is important to address widespread issues amongst them with the intent to help them. We must nurture young minds since we have the knowledge and means to do so.
Reference:
Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (Eds.). (2016). Applied social psychology : Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. SAGE Publications.
I agree with your post. I love that you said, “If a student is so overwhelmed by a task that they would rather hurt their grades than handle the stress they are feeling while doing the task, that should be cause for concern instead of judgment of their character.” There have been MANY times where I just felt too stressed or overwhelmed to work on classwork and instead of dealing with it at the time, I’d rather just deal with the consequences or added stress later, when the project is actually due.
There could be many reasons why students many procrastinate on doing assignments and projects. For example, I have a job, as many other students do, and after working a 10 hour day I will often refuse to do classwork too just because I already feel so mentally exhausted that I don’t even think I would be able to think properly. And as you quoted Gruman et. al., (2016), I often procrastinate on my assignments because I feel overwhelmed by other assignments and daily life activities. Also, many students have other classes that they may have decided to prioritize for many reasons such as that they’re more challenging or they find that class to be more interesting. Continuously, I like that you brought up teachers, especially in highschool, talking about procrastination and laziness like they go hand-in-hand but I don’t think that is true in the slightest. I am not a lazy person in the slightest, I would even say I probably overwork myself a little too much, but I procrastinate on some assignments pretty often. There are many assignments that I have found that I can do the day of and get a great grade on them. The only fault I have found with doing this sometimes is that life does throw curveballs and unexpected life events happen that could get in the way of getting something done and then because I did wait until the last minute, the assignment does get done.
References
Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (Eds.). (2016). Applied social psychology : Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. SAGE Publications.
I wholeheartedly agree with your thoughts on procrastination.
When I was younger, I tended to procrastinate especially when I became overwhelmed with the number of things I had to do, or just avoided a task due to its difficulty. Although I work very well under pressure and would get the tasks done on time, the amount of stress I caused myself just was not necessary. On numerous occasions I can remember my parents telling me that I was lazy because I would always wait until the last minute – hence why your post strikes a chord within me.
As you mention, it’s very easy for those on the “outside” (parents, teachers, etc.) to make assumptions regarding those who procrastinate. As you said, it’s very important for them to focus on the REASONS for procrastination rather than just writing it off as laziness. I would take this a step further and say that they should develop a strategy to HELP.
At some point in High School, I had a teacher that could tell many of my assignments seemed rushed and not well thought out. She knew that I was capable of more and took the time to talk to me about it. When I explained how overwhelmed I become when I have more than one thing to accomplish, she made a suggestion that really changed my life. She told me to focus on one thing at a time and forget about everything else until my task was finished. Although it is sometimes hard to block everything else out and focus on the task at hand, it’s a skill I’ve worked on throughout my life. I do not tend to procrastinate much anymore, and I recognize when I start to slip back into old habits. When reading our lesson, I learned that this is called self-regulation. As stated in the textbook, “Being able to self-regulate behavior and being intrinsically motivated is important to how tasks are managed, planned and completed” (Gruman et al. 2016). This is something that I believe should be taught in school as part of a “life skills” curriculum, as, time management is essential in almost everything we do.
References
Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (Eds.). (2016). Applied social psychology : Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. SAGE Publications.