by Ashley Allen Netflix or Finals Review? The answer is usually the former, but why? Why does our mind subject itself to the vicious cycle of procrastination? You come home after school exhausted and are expected to do homework or chores but all you really want to do is sit and relax, you make the soon to be a regrettable mistake and skip the work. We know that we will eventually have to do these tasks but still procrastinate. We know procrastination will only cause a negative outcome and an inevitable one as well and yet the cycle continues. Essentially procrastination is a mixture of anxiety, insecurity, frustration, resentment, self-doubt, or boredom associated with a task that causes us to delay it as much as possible. “People engage in this irrational cycle of chronic procrastination because of an inability to manage negative moods around a task,” said Dr. Fuschia Sirois, professor of psychology at the University of Sheffield. When presented with a task so complicated or draining we come to the belief that we aren't smart enough or capable to complete it. To fix this mindset the only way we know how, we push it away for as long as possible. It's not about poor time management or laziness, its an emotional complex we’ve created to shield ourselves from negative feelings we have associated with a task. Dr. Tim Pychyl, professor of psychology at Carleton University states it as “The primacy of short-term mood repair … over the longer-term pursuit of intended actions. [Procrastination is] The immediate urgency of managing negative moods” I interpret this as meaning we “just can’t” do it and even the thought of the dreadful task creates anxiety and you place a mental wall between yourself and the task. “Procrastination is a perfect example of present bias, our hard-wired tendency to prioritize short-term needs ahead of long-term ones.” Meaning our brain is subconsciously is defending itself to actions it knows will cause you distress. Embedded into our DNA we are conditioned to put our short term need first, you aren't focused on the future because you’re focused on helping yourself in the here and now. “Dr. Hershfield’s research has shown that, on a neurological level, we perceive our “future selves” more like strangers than as parts of ourselves. When we procrastinate, parts of our brains actually think that the tasks we’re putting off and the accompanying negative feelings that await us on the other side are somebody else’s problem.” Essentially we dissociate with the truth of that future and when it comes time to face that truth we blame ourselves for the situation we’ve put ourselves through. I find myself doing this constantly with homework, and eventually, when it comes time to complete it, I’m surprised to find a huge pile of work. I push it off just for a while to escape the feelings, and frustration that comes along with it. I know it's not healthy and I know it’s not an effective way to balance school work but I still do it every day. And even for people like me who are master procrastinators, that can convince themselves to skip the work every time, there are ways to make procrastination harder for yourself. Dr. Pychyl provides the “Next Action” method, to separate your task into chunks of work so even if your only doing one whole task it could feel like five. When you feel more productive, you are. Another tactic is placing obstacles like making your temptations harder to get to induce a degree of frustration or anxiety. If social media is a common distraction try deleting your apps or placing your phone in another room. To attack procrastination at another angle Dr. Sirois found that “procrastinators tend to have high stress and low self-compassion”. When you look back on all your incomplete tasks you put yourself down and beat yourself up about the situation, but this doesn’t stop you from repeating your mistakes. Dr. Sirois suggests to practice self-compassion, because it increases motivation and decreases the psychological stress of self-blame due to procrastination. So next time you skip your homework for an easier, less challenging task remember it’s truly a vicious cycle that only hurts yourself.
Source- Lieberman, C. (2019, March 25). Why You Procrastinate (It Has Nothing to Do With Self-Control). Retrieved May 25, 2019, from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/25/smarter-living/why-you-procrastinate-it-has-nothing-to-do-with-self-control.html?rref=collection/timestopic/Psychology and Photo- pittnews.com/article/138722/news/students-and-faculty-examine procrastination-cures/
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