Tick Tock, Tick Tock - Procrastination and Motivation

TICK TOCK TICK TOCK

by Caryl James Bateman, PhD Challenging procrastination to make the best use of your time.

Success! Pulled it off again. You submitted the assignment with a few minutes to spare before the deadline. All you needed was a small fraction of the time given to complete it right? Hmmm, is this really cause for celebration or reflection? Did that submission represent the best you could produce given the original timeline? Were you able to fully organize, give sufficient detail, and review the submission efficiently? Did you maximize your talents and schedule to get the best grade or outcome possible? How could you while working panicky, ever so often checking the clock as it ticks down towards the deadline? This consistent inability to follow through with work in a timely manner is referred to as procrastination. Even though persons who procrastinate may convince themselves that this method works, if they are honest, they will admit that it comes at a high cost, with a significant amount of stress. The habitual postponement of work to the eleventh-hour often causes persons to be filled with fears and doubts on whether they will be able to successfully accomplish the task. This approach only leaves the procrastinator with more problems than they had originally bargained for. These include having to explain missed deadlines, inaccurate and substandard work to lecturers, superiors, and clients. Additionally, prolonging the completion of work may lead to a potential loss of opportunities and income as the volume of work that can be undertaken is not maximized. Procrastinators may be unaware as to how much they are shortchanging themselves.

Admittedly, the person who uses procrastination must have been getting something from it, otherwise, they would not have invested in it, to begin with.

Persons procrastinate because their thoughts and attitudes perceive the work as being painful, therefore, in an attempt to get rid of this pain, they avoid it. They become more motivated to spend time in other areas that have nothing to do with the task at hand. Time is now spent on distractions such as other meaningless work activities, movies, video games, conversations with friends, etc. Although these distractions may allow for brief moments of pleasure, this is often shortlived and is yet to accomplish the task.

Therefore, you have less time to do your work or worse, you have missed the opportunity to complete it altogether.

So, it seems that while you may have experienced these short-term gains, long-term, you only end up with a lot more problems.

"Persons procrastinate because their thoughts and attitudes perceive the work as being painful, therefore, in an attempt to get rid of this pain, they avoid it."

When using the procrastinator’s approach, you have to evaluate the outcomes; ask yourself is it better to have the short-term pleasures or the long-term gains? Does this approach limit your professional/academic goals? Does it allow you to grow or hinder your progress? If you intend to strive for long-term pleasure, accomplish your goals in a timely manner and produce your very best work, you will find that the strategies that I am about to suggest may initially bring some amount of discomfort. In that, when there is a change from a habit (procrastination) to something new (proactive), the newness becomes uncomfortable as it is unfamiliar when compared to the old habit. The old habit can easily be the default. Remember that the habit of procrastination did not develop overnight, therefore it will take some time to undo this old habit. By adopting a new habit, you should become more conscious and intentional and be willing to take action, irrespective of how uncomfortable you may feel. This can be accomplished in several steps.

Step 1: Be clear about your values by establishing who you are and how you would like to operate as a worker or student, this can give you some direction for your actions. For instance, are your values to become effective, goal-oriented, or produce quality work? If so, then your actions should reflect this. You can harness effective actions by following the next steps.

Step 2: Create a project list, document, and organize the work you have in terms of priority.

Step 3: Break down the project into sub-tasks with a deadline attached to each.

Step 4: Create a space to tackle each of these tasks in a timely manner. No distractions! One task at a time and each should have your undivided attention. Stick to your schedule.

Step 5: Consistently observe your actions, be mindful of whether they align with or deviate from your values. Ask yourself am I thinking about the long-term or short-term? By investing in the longterm, not only are you employing actions that align with your values, but you are also creating new healthy, and more effective habits.

Step 6: Review your performance; was the schedule too easy? could it be more efficient? Be honest and improve on it.

Step 7: The reward is in the results of feeling less stress, however, it does not hurt if reward the successes of your new approach by simply acknowledging the steps that you have taken in the proactive direction.

Remember, gradually changing habits require a practical guide and practice. At the end of it all, you would have maximized your true potential and reach your goals with way less stress and more longterm benefits.