Managing Procrastination

Most people have experienced procrastination…putting off work that needs to be

done and instead engaging in more enjoyable activities like watching Netflix,

sleeping, eating, seeing friends or watching paint dry! Procrastination can be

defined as the act of delaying a task, and whilst research shows 95% of people

admit to procrastinating, 20% are deemed chronic procrastinators (Ferrari,

O’Callaghan & Newbegin, 2005). These are people who procrastinate at school, work,

home and in their relationships.

People procrastinate for all different reasons. Some people have a fear of failure

or being criticized for their work, some people feel fatigued or unmotivated

when faced with work and others would just prefer to constantly engage in more

enjoyable pursuits. What all of these reasons have in common is that facing a

task makes you feel discomfort – boredom, irritation, despair, exhaustion or

overwhelmed. We procrastinate because procrastination often initially relieves

this discomfort. We distract ourselves and feel instantly better. The difficulty is,

when we procrastinate too much then the work we have to do piles up and

snowballs, meaning there is a smaller amount of time to do a larger amount of

work and we will feel even worse in the future.

Here are three strategies to help you overcome procrastination:

ACTION BEFORE MOTIVATION:

If you procrastinate, you probably wait for motivation to strike before you begin your task. You

may also realize that motivation rarely strikes. Often we need to take action and then

motivation will come, instead of waiting for motivation to take action. Once you begin a task

(even if you don’t feel like it), your motivation begins to build. For example, once you’ve made

yourself read your essay question and develop a plan for each paragraph, you will probably

find the essay seems less overwhelming, and you will have more motivation to continue

working.

"Once you begin a task (even if you don’t feel like it), your motivation begins to build."

To test this out - Set a timer for 15 minutes on your phone or laptop. Get out the

task you have been avoiding and work on it for 15 minutes straight. After 15

minutes assess whether you want to do another 15 minutes or not. Afterwards,

make sure you give yourself a small reward – you just began your work!

BREAK DOWN A TASK INTO SMALL STEPS:

Often people who procrastinate see the task they to complete as huge and overwhelming.

Examples include needing to clean the whole house, write an entire thesis or essay or prepare

for a massive exam. Often breaking large tasks into small bit-size pieces can reduce how

overwhelmed you feel and can increase satisfaction and motivation when you complete each

step.

"Breaking large tasks into small bit-size pieces can reduce how overwhelmed you feel."

To test this out - Take a task that you have been putting off. Let’s look at an

example. Say you have an English essay due in two weeks. Your steps may be as

follows: Read the question, work out what resources you need, gather resources

from class notes, gather quotes from assigned readings, plan the topic of

paragraph 1, 2 and 3, write paragraph, 1, 2 and 3, write the introduction, write

the conclusion, read over and edit essay and submit to teacher. An overwhelming

task has been reduced to 14 more manageable steps.

BITS AND PIECES:

A common situation with people who procrastinate is that they set aside a chunk of time close

to the deadline to do the whole assignment. When that time comes however, the person often

end ups up feel so overwhelmed by the task at hand that not much work gets done and the

person has often underestimates how much time the task really requires. Often doing work in

bits and pieces is more productive.

"Often doing work in bits and pieces is more productive."

To test this out – For a few days, whenever you have 20 minutes here and an

hour there, try to work on a manageable step of your task, rather than waiting

for a huge chunk of time to get started.

Ferrari, J. R., O’Callaghan, J., & Newbegin, I. (2005). Prevalence of procrastination in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia: Arousal and avoidance delays among adults. North American Journal of Psychology, 7(1), 1-6.