I procrastinated on writing this article for 5 months. I wanted this article to be perfect. And I mean perfect. Procrastination is a common problem for students, not only at VHS but also for kids worldwide. Especially since technology has exemplified these problems by making procrastination so easy. But first, what is procrastination? How does it affect us? More importantly, what are some causes, and how can we prevent or deal with these tendencies?
First, let’s consider what procrastination is. Procrastination is the act of unnecessarily postponing something that you know you should do, leading to short-term benefits and long-term negative consequences. Although consistent procrastination can give us a short-term escape from responsibilities, it can have detrimental effects on us, such as increased pressure, anxiety, frustration, self-doubt, and a sense of helplessness, all from simply procrastinating on tasks. This is serious. These are things that can directly affect how you sleep, eat, and do other basic daily activities. Perfectionism can make procrastination even worse. It amplifies the effects of procrastination through an extremely self-critical and unreasonably high expectations environment. So, what can cause procrastination? Some causes include decision fatigue (making too many decisions on a daily basis), difficulty with sequencing and planning, and being fatigued from working tirelessly on a project. For many, there can be a struggle in starting something that is hard. So they procrastinate on it, labeling it as “boring”. Some more potent causes of procrastination may include ADHD, perfectionism, and depression. Depression can even lead to the procrastination of basic daily tasks through despondent feelings.
Here’s the important question: What can we do about it? To start, we can make scheduling much more flexible rather than a high-intensity, specific schedule. This way, we can prevent a potent burnout. We can also utilize questions to understand why we are procrastinating, like “why?” Simple and straight to the point. In addition, we can simply start for 2 minutes, for the sake of getting started, and see how far you can go. Finally, when you work, remove distractions! This way, you can do as much work as possible in a conducive working environment. Now you know how to fight—and beat—one of the most subtle yet intimidating foes: procrastination!
