Sandra Chard

1
Managing Your Procrastination
"It's a job that's never started that takes the
longest to finish." J. R. R. Tolkien (1892 -
1973)

• Sandra Chard
• Debra Pretty
• Student Development Services
• University of Western Ontario

2
Overview

• Video
• Introduction
• Overcoming Procrastination
• Activity
• Video
• Resources

3
Video
Tales of Mere Existence Procrastination http
//www.youtube.com/watch?v4P785j15Tzk
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Work, School, and Life in Balance How do you
know?

• You are satisfied and happy
• You handle many responsibilities
• You are healthy
• You believe you have control
• Choices are informed and not forced

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Procrastination What is it?

• To voluntarily delay an intended course of action
  despite expecting to be worse off for the delay
  (Piers Steel)
• Put off intentionally the doing of something that
  should be done (Merriam-Webster Collegiate
  Dictionary)
• To postpone doing something, especially as a
  regular practice (Encarta World Dictionary)

http//www.procrastinus.com/
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Procrastination Who does it?

• Procrastination is an almost universal
  affliction, one that occurs in almost every
  culture and is reported as early as 800 BC.
• It affects 95 of the population (Ellis Knaus,
  1977)
• and approximately 20 of those chronically
  (Harriott Ferrari, 1996).

Gröpel, P., Steel, P. (2008). A mega-trial
investigation of goal setting, interest
enhancement, and energy on procrastination.
Personality and Individual Differences, 45 (5),
406-411.
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An insight negative reinforcement

• Procrastination is reinforcing - every time you
  delay, it reinforces your negative attitude
  toward that task. Every time you put off
  something you dislike, you
• strengthen the habit of not doing
• practice avoidance instead of participation
• avoid acquiring training and skills, and
• indoctrinate yourself with fears.
• Active participation in anything tends to give
  you a positive attitude toward that activity
  inactivity helps acquire an unfavorable attitude.
  

http//sas.calpoly.edu/asc/ssl/procrastination.htm
l
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Myth 1

• I can't function in a messy environment. I
• can't possibly write this paper until I have
• cleaned my apartment
• Challenge
• There are no conditions that are necessary in
  order for you to write, save two 1) You must
  have a writing implement (e.g., a keyboard or a
  pen) and 2) you must have someplace for writing
  to go, such as into a computer or onto a piece of
  paper. If, when faced with a writing project, you
  start piling up prerequisites for all the things
  you must do before you can possibly start
  writing, consider whether you might in fact be
  making excusesin other words, procrastinating.

http//www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/procrastin
ation.html
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Myth 2

• I know it's time for me to start writing,
• but I just haven't done enough research yet.
• I'll spend one more night at the library, and
• then I'll start writing my paper
• Challenge
• Truth be told, you will never collect all the
  information you possibly could for your paper.
  Better to write a tightly-crafted argument with
  the information you have NOW, AT THIS VERY
  MOMENT, than to keep doing research and risk
  throwing your paper together at the last minute.

http//www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/procrastin
ation.html
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Myth 3

• I do my best work under pressure
• Challenge
• There are lots of other ways to create pressure
  for yourself, besides waiting until the night
  before the paper is due to start writing it. You
  can set a time limit for yourselffor example, "I
  will write this paragraph in ½ hour"or you can
  pretend that the paper is a timed essay exam. If
  you do this a week or two before the paper is
  due, you'll have a draft in plenty of time to
  revise and edit it.

http//www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/procrastin
ation.html
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Myth 4

• In order to work on my paper, I
• must have six uninterrupted hours
• Challenge
• You can and should work on a paper in one hour
  blocks (or shorter). This will help you break the
  writing task down into smaller pieces, thereby
  making it seem more manageable. If you know that
  you can work on one part of the paper for one
  hour, then it won't seem so daunting, and you
  will be less likely to procrastinate.

http//www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/procrastin
ation.html
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Myth 5

• What I write has to be perfect,
• " AND/OR "I can't write anything
• until I have a perfect
• thesis statement/intro
• Challenge
• A first draft (or a second, or a third, or
  evenegad!the final product) does not have to be
  perfect. When we write an early draft, we need to
  turn off our internal critic and just get some
  words down on the page. The great thing about
  starting early on a writing project is that it
  leaves us plenty of time for revision, editing,
  and proofreading so, we can set ourselves free
  to just let our writing flow, without worrying
  about sentence-level concerns such as grammar,
  punctuation, and style.

http//www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/procrastin
ation.html
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Why Do We Really Procrastinate?

• Stress and Anxiety we often feel too
  overwhelmed and worried to even being working on
  tasks.
• Difficulty Concentrating it may be difficult to
  begin working because it is noisy, the phone is
  ringing, your roommate is watching a great TV
  show, the sun is shining, your desk is too
  cluttered etc.
• Negative Beliefs Thoughts such as I cannot
  succeed at this and I lack the necessary skills
  to perform the task creep into your mind.
• Fear of Failure You may think that if you dont
  achieve a certain mark, you are a failure. Or,
  if you do fail an exam, you think that you, as a
  person, are a failure, rather than that you are a
  perfectly ok person that has failed an exam.

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Why Do We Really Procrastinate?

• Boring Tasks you think that the work required
  of you is useless, boring, or a waste of your
  time.
• Unrealistic Expectations/Perfectionism You may
  think that you always have to achieve As,
  especially if you did in high school. You may
  believe you MUST read everything ever written on
  a subject before you can begin to write a paper.
  Or, you may believe you MUST read and take notes
  on every single sentence and paragraph and
  chapter in your textbooks.
• Poor Time Management You may be uncertain of
  your priorities, goals, and objectives. You may
  not be managing your time wisely.
• Preoccupation with Personal Problems You may be
  focusing on problems un-related to the task e.g.
  financial difficulty, relationship issues, family
  problems etc.

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10 ways to deal with procrastination

1. Challenge self-defeating perfectionistic beliefs
   because they slow you down. Use realistic
   statements to help your perspective (Doing
   something is better than nothing, or Things get
   done one step at a time).
2. Just start! Action leads to action ... Pick
   anything and do it!
3. Get something or anything down on paper when
   beginning a task. Editing comes later! Try
   writing quickly so the inner-critic cant
   interfere.

Wendy Vaughan, M.A., Counselling Services,
University of Waterloo http//www.firstyearstudent
s.uwaterloo.ca/sl101/2008.01.htmlCounselling2
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10 ways to deal with procrastination

1. Jot down distracting thoughts. Dont try to
   continue concentrating when distracted. Set
   aside time to focus on these concerns after
   getting something done.
2. Ask yourself, If I can only get one thing done
   today, what would it be?
3. Be assertive and set limits on distractions from
   friends. Reduce interruptions of phone, email,
   MSN, or having an open door.

Wendy Vaughan, M.A., Counselling Services,
University of Waterloo http//www.firstyearstudent
s.uwaterloo.ca/sl101/2008.01.htmlCounselling2
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10 ways to deal with procrastination

1. Work in your high energy time of day. Do you
   know how to use your circadian rhythm?
2. Identify what energizes and motivates you into
   action (music, calling a friend, getting
   organized, going for a run, studying in a variety
   of different places) and combine this with trying
   to work.

Wendy Vaughan, M.A., Counselling Services,
University of Waterloo http//www.firstyearstudent
s.uwaterloo.ca/sl101/2008.01.htmlCounselling2
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10 ways to deal with procrastination

1. Dont keep doing the same ineffective things.
   What have you tried in the past? What helped and
   didnt help?
2. Note where you are starting from and set small,
   realistic goals (SMART) from there. Chunk large
   projects and tasks into very small 15 minute
   pieces of work and just do the next step.

Wendy Vaughan, M.A., Counselling Services,
University of Waterloo http//www.firstyearstudent
s.uwaterloo.ca/sl101/2008.01.htmlCounselling2
19
Activity Daily Plans

• Get out a sheet of paper and make a to-do list of
  all the specific things youd like to get done
  tomorrow.
• Beside each item, place one of the following
  letters
• A for what must be done tomorrow
• B for what should be done or youd like to get
  done
• C for what can easily be postponed a day or two
• Now look at your B items. Place these into either
  the A list or the C list.

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Activity Daily Plans

• Transfer your top-priority tasks (your As) onto
  a slip of paper or a notepad.
• As the day goes by, refer to your list and
  complete your A tasks as you can, crossing off
  each one as soon as its done.
• Tip many people write their to-do list for
  tomorrows tasks at the end of each day, as this
  eliminated lying in bed worrying about forgetting
  something

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Video
PROCRASTINATION - Motivation http//www.youtube.c
om/watch?vKe6ChHLfLdk
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Useful Resources

• Procrastination and time management
• http//www.learningcommons.uoguelph.ca/
• Stress management
• http//www.mindtools.com/smpage.html
• http//www.cmha.ca/english/coping_with_stress/
• Stress and the immune system
• http//mentalhealth.about.com/od/stress/a/stressi
  mmune604.htm
• Stress and anxiety
• http//www.coun.uvic.ca/personal/stress-anxiety.
  html
• Self-esteem
• http//www.ucalgary.ca/wellnessguide/selfesteem