Human beings and Procrastination
Human beings have the tendency of setting aside important issues and only attend to them during the last minute. The act of putting important issues aside or re-scheduling them for a later time reflects on the perennial struggles that human beings have and their inability to predict the future and its outcomes. Procrastination is, therefore the act of delaying or avoiding tasks altogether and hence has a counterproductive or irrational effect on the perpetrators and their actions. People often have different reasons for procrastinating with a large number of them being perfectionists who opt not to perform an action in comparison to failure. Most of the people who procrastinate often hold the perception that they perform well under pressure. The reasons for procrastination might not be entirely true and relevant. The brighter side is that it is possible to overcome procrastination.
The Prevalence and Negative Effects of Procrastination
It is estimated that nearly a fifth of all the adults and half the students' populations have a tendency to procrastinate. Arenson (160) states that although procrastination has short-term benefits it also has long-term costs that overshadow the benefits. Some of the negative effects of procrastination include constant worrying and a negative attitude, increased stress levels, poor performance and even paranoia in some extreme instances (Arenson 177). The question remains why do people still procrastinate? There are various reasons and instances that prompt people to procrastinate depending on the circumstance, set up and the effects or the actions that follow procrastination.
Reasons for Procrastination
Some individual has less self- compassion and self-identity and hence tend to procrastinate. Most of the people that have a diminished self-identity and self-compassion syndrome often feel the need to procrastinate (Burka & Lenora 110). Such categories of people often experience increased stress levels during the performances of tasks and hence feel the need to procrastinate. One of the ways to conquer such this psychological condition is to accept one's self and become optimistic about the future. Since procrastination is also a learned behavior, most people learn this behavior from their role models such as parents and elder siblings. Some people also have a low self-esteem and hence feel that they will not be effective in performing the task at hand and, thereby, procrastinate. In instances when one develops a form of bias when performing a task there is also a high tendency to procrastinate. Poor timing and time management might also prompt people to procrastinate (Burka & Lenora 67). In general, people who procrastinate often tend to focus on the present gains as opposed to the future gains.
Strategies to Overcome Procrastination
Although procrastination is a common act among many people, there are some counter strategies that can help reduce and eventually overcome the issue of procrastination. Most people often procrastinate because tasks appear overwhelming when approached from a general perspective (Ferrari 56). However, when the tasks are broken down into smaller manageable tasks, they are not as complicated. It is much easier to accomplish a great milestone when concentrating on one thing at a time. Breaking goals and objectives into smaller chunks often help a person to prioritize the needs and hence address the most pressing and rewarding needs as opposed to every need at once (Ferrari 45). When a project is broken down, for instance, it becomes easier to categorize the needs and work in a more logical manner until the projects are completed.
It is important to set deadlines when undertaking a task so as to instil a sense of vision and focus on the person performing the task. An end in sight often creates a form of motivation and hope to a person undertaking a task and hence eradicates the tendency to procrastinate (Burka & Lenora 82). Without a clear deadline, most tasks in our minds tend to be vague and overwhelming and this might result in procrastination. Although some people state that deadlines have a negative effect when performing tasks, the opposite of this allegation tends to be true.
When undertaking tasks most people tend to strive for perfection and hence end up giving up along the way or lowering their expectations. However, research shows that it is much more important to do a task to completion than to do it perfectly and exit along the way. According to Arenson (94), when staring at a blank page or a whiteboard, a task often becomes much more complicated and cumbersome. It is important to lessen the planning and waiting duration when performing a task so as to eradicate all forms of negativity and perceptions concerning the task which might lead to procrastination in the long run.
Procrastination, therefore, has little short-term benefits but much more negative effects in the long run. Some negative effects of procrastination include negativity, constant worrying and increased levels of stress. Some reasons that make people procrastinate include, less self- compassion, aping the act from role models, negativity and bias, poor time management and more focus on the resent as compared to the future. Possible ways to overcome procrastination include breaking down tasks, setting deadlines, lessening the planning period for undertaking tasks and working harder. Although procrastination is a learned behavior, one can also learn to overcome it and its negative effects.
Works cited
Arenson, Gloria. Eft for Procrastination. Santa Rosa, CA: Energy Psychology Press, 2009.
Burka, Jane B, and Lenora M. Yuen. Procrastination: Why You Do It, what to Do About It Now. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 2008. (240)
Ferrari, Joseph R. Aarp Still Procrastinating? The No-Regrets Guide to Getting It Done. New York, NY: John Wiley " Sons, 2011.
