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It's 9 PM, and you think to yourself, I'm almost finished with this season, so why not finish it up before I start my essay? Besides, I basically have three whole hours before it's actually due. Does that sound familiar? This mentality often leads many students (myself included) to start panicking at the last minute, which ultimately ends with us earning a mediocre grade. I, and many other people think that we're just lazy, but the science of procrastination goes way beyond that.
Why do we procrastinate and what can it mean?
People haven't just been procrastinating due to the rise and popularity of social media; rather, it's been something people have been struggling with for centuries. Procrastination even traces back to the ancient Greeks, as an ancient Greek poet named Hesiod once said, "Do not put your work off till to-morrow and the day after; for a sluggish worker does not fill his barn, nor one who puts off his work: industry makes work go well, but a man who puts off work is always at hand-grips with ruin" (Hesiod). This famous quote shows that even in Hesiod's time, people were struggling with procrastination. As I said before, people often think that procrastination is linked to laziness, but that isn't the case. People (myself included) often procrastinate because they're afraid that they aren't smart enough or good enough to complete an assignment (or any task), and that fear is what drives them away from getting their work done. Procrastination is also a result of not having a balanced life and lacking some of its basic needs.
In 2011, a research study was conducted with a sample of 212 students. The researchers first tested their procrastination levels, and then they also tested the students on nine areas of executive functioning, like impulsivity, self-monitoring, planning and organization, activity shifting, task initiation, task monitoring, emotional control, working memory, and general orderliness. The researchers initially thought that procrastination would be linked to just a few of these areas, but the 212 students ended up connecting to all nine areas. This goes to show how procrastination can be based on multiple aspects and behaviors of someone's life.
How can we stop procrastinating?
As I said before, I am someone who was addicted to procrastination, but I have come across some methods that have helped me alleviate my addiction. Here are some ways to manage your procrastination tendencies:
Create a reward system
When you create a reward system, you have something to look forward to. You can train your brain to view the task that you used to view negatively as something that can be viewed positively. For example, whenever I get a difficult assignment done, I like to reward myself with a new lip balm.
Change your environment
Your environment matters heavily. You should go to a place where you can focus, a place where you won't be too comfortable, but not too uncomfortable. For me, I can never get work done in my room because my bed is far too distracting to me. I try to go to an area where I can sit at a desk and it isn't too loud that it distracts me.
Turn off your phone completely
Our phones alone can be a huge distraction to us, and we can rise above that by simply turning them off and keeping them away. When I say "keeping it away," I mean that it should be far enough that you have to physically get up and walk to go get it.
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