Introduction
Everyone procrastinates. We put things off because we don’t might like to do them, or because we have too many other items on our plates. Putting things off—big or small—is element of being human. If you’re looking over this handout, however, chances are that your particular procrastination is troubling you. You suspect that you could be a better writer if only you didn’t put off writing projects through to the last minute. You discover that just when you have really gotten going on a paper, it is time to turn it in; so, you never genuinely have time and energy to carefully revise or proofread. You adore the rush of adrenaline you receive whenever you finish a paper 10 minutes you(and your body) are getting tired of pulling all-nighters before it’s due, but. You feel okay about procrastinating whilst in college, you worry that this habit will follow you to your working life.
You can tell whether or perhaps not you must do something regarding the procrastination by examining its consequences. Procrastination may have external consequences (you get a zero in the paper in) or internal consequences (you feel anxious much of the time, even when you are doing something that you enjoy) because you never turned it. In the event that you put off washing the dishes, but the dishes don’t frustrate you, who cares? If your procrastination leaves you feeling overburdened and discouraged, however, it is time to do something.
Is there hope?
You are a hopeless procrastinator, take heart if you think! No body is beyond help. The fact you procrastinate does not always mean you are inherently lazy or inefficient. Your procrastination is not an untamable beast. It is a habit who has some specific origin, which is a habit that one may overcome. This handout shall assist you to commence to realize why you procrastinate and present you some strategies for turning things around. For many procrastinators, however, there are not any fixes that are quick. You aren’t going to get up tomorrow and never procrastinate again. But you might get up tomorrow and do one or two things that are simple will help you finish that draft just a little earlier or with less stress.
You might not be surprised to find out that procrastinators are generally self-critical. So, as you think about your procrastination and struggle to develop different work habits, act as gentle with yourself. Punishing yourself every time you recognize you’ve got put something off won’t help you change. Rewarding yourself whenever you make progress shall.
If you don’t care why you procrastinate—you just want to know very well what to accomplish about it—then you may as well miss out the next element of this handout and go to the section labeled “What to do about it.” You may only end up more frustrated if you skip to the strategies, however. Making the effort to know about why you procrastinate may help you prevent the cycle whereby you swear up and down you have a paper due, you are up until 3 a.m that you will never procrastinate again, only to find that the next time. attempting to complete the initial (and only) draft—without knowing why or the manner in which you got there.
Why we get it done
To be able to stop putting off your writing assignments, you should realize why you have a tendency to do so within the place that is first. A number of the good reasons that individuals procrastinate include the annotated following:
Because our company is afraid
- Anxiety about failure: then you may avoid working on it in order to avoid feeling the fear if you are scared that a particular piece of writing isn’t going to turn out well.
- Fear of success: Some procrastinators (the writer of this handout included) fear that if they begin working at their full capacity, they will certainly develop into workaholics. That we will also write compulsively; we envision ourselves locked in a library carrel, hunched over the computer, barely eating and sleeping and never seeing friends or going out since we procrastinate compulsively, we assume. The procrastinator who fears success may also assume that around them, thus losing their capacity to be friendly and to have fun if they work too hard, they will become mean and cold to the people. Finally, this kind of procrastinator may genuinely believe that then they will start writing better, which will increase other people’s expectations, thus ultimately increasing the amount of pressure they experience if they stop procrastinating.
- Fear of losing autonomy: Some people delay writing projects as an easy way of maintaining their independence. If they receive a writing assignment, they procrastinate as a means of saying, “You can’t make me try this. I am my own person.” Procrastinating helps them feel more in control of situations (such as for instance college) by which they genuinely believe that other folks have authority.
- Anxiety about being alone: Other writers procrastinate because they desire to feel constantly attached to other folks. For instance, you may procrastinate and soon you are in such a bind that someone has got to come and rescue you. Procrastination therefore helps to ensure that other individuals would be tangled up in your life. It’s also possible to put off writing because you don’t wish to be alone, and writing is oftentimes a activity that is solitary. In its form that is worst, procrastination itself could become a companion, constantly reminding you of most that you must do.
- Fear of attachment: Rather than fearing separation, some people procrastinate to be able to create a barrier between themselves yet others. They might delay in order to create chaos inside their lives, believing that the chaos will away keep other people.
Whether these fears can be found in our conscious or subconscious minds, they paralyze us and keep us from following through, until discomfort and anxiety overwhelms us and forces us to either a) get the piece of writing done or b) https://edubirdies.org/buy-essay-online/ stop trying. (The preceding is a summary of Chapters 2-4 of Jane B. Burka and Lenora M. Yuen’s Procrastination: Why you are doing It, how to proceed About It.)
Because we expect ourselves to be perfect
Procrastination and perfectionism often go turn in hand. Perfectionists tend to procrastinate since they expect a great deal of themselves, and they’re scared about whether or not they can meet those high standards. Perfectionists sometimes genuinely believe that it is better to give a half-hearted effort and keep the belief that they could have written a good paper, than to give a full effort and risk writing a mediocre paper. Procrastinating guarantees failure, but it helps perfectionists maintain their belief if they had tried harder that they could have excelled. Another pitfall for perfectionists is the fact that they tend to ignore progress toward an objective. Provided that the writing project is incomplete, they feel as them closer to a finished product though they aren’t getting anywhere, rather than recognizing that each paragraph moves.
Because we don’t like our writing
You could procrastinate on writing in all its imperfection because you don’t like to re-read what you have written; you hate writing a first draft and then being forced to evaluate it. By procrastinating, you make sure that you don’t have time to read over your work, thus avoiding that moment that is uncomfortable.