Procrastination and Time
Management
Do you find yourself avoiding specific
tasks or not getting around to things that need to get accomplished?
Guilt, though a common reaction, guilt is of little use,
and often serves to just discourage you further. If this
is an issue for you, try focusing on the following ideas.
COMMON CAUSES OF PROCRASTINATION:
- Being overextended
Is it humanly possible to meet all the obligations you
currently have? If not, can you omit or reschedule some
of these obligations?
- Low motivation
Is the task relevant to you personally? If it is another
person's goal rather than your own, try to find some
personal reward or relevance for your completing the
task. Are you really interested in the project? If not,
can you find a way to make it interesting or let go
of it?
- Lack of training
Are you unprepared or incapable of completing the task?
On a new task do you find you afraid of the unknown?
Are the expectations ambiguous? You may want to ask
for guidance, support, or a new perspective from someone
who is more familiar with the process or skilled in
the area.
- Faulty assumptions
Are you assuming that if you ignore the task long enough
it will disappear? Do you tend to underestimate how
much time and effort the job will take? Do you have
a tendency to over-estimate the difficulty of getting
the task done? Try sitting down and writing out each
step of the job, how long each step will take, and then
tackling the job one step at a time.
- Perfectionism
Are fears of doing a less than perfect job interfering
with your productivity? Remember that perfection is
unobtainable. Often it will feel worse to not do a job
at all instead of doing it in a less than perfect manner.
Try to assess how important the task is, and what level
of performance really matters in relation to the task.
Ask yourself "what level of performance on this task
would I expect from a friend/co-worker?"
- Fear of Evaluation
Are you over concerned with another individual's response
to your performance. Try to evaluate how much total
impact upon your life this one reaction will have. No
one performs highly all the time, or in every area.
Try to focus on completing the task in with a goal of
lessening your workload and anxiety, regardless of the
evaluation.
- Avoidance of negative experience
Do you just HATE DOING THIS TASK? Does it rate up there
with dental visits or cleaning out the refrigerator?
Is there any way to make it more pleasurable or enjoyable?
If not, try doing the dreaded task first, while you
still have energy. Often it can be helpful to have a
friend or co-worker nearby for encouragement (and to
keep you on task!).
TIME MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES:
- Create a work area for yourself free from distractions
(phone calls, roommates, tv), and commit to staying
there for a one to two hour period.
- Recognize that your obligations and resulting stress
are as important as other people's needs, and set limits
around being interrupted or rescheduling your work time.
- Break larger tasks, such as papers or projects, into
smaller goal steps. For example, most papers have at
least five stages: picking a topic, researching the
topic, reading and taking notes on the articles, organizing
the information, and writing the paper.
- Create a schedule for yourself, by doing the following:
- First list all projects, exams, and papers with their
due dates.
- Break larger tasks into smaller goals, such as "library
research for paper 2" and select target dates for completion
of the smaller goals.
- Identify what time of day you have the highest energy
and what time of day is your low energy period. Plan
to schedule tasks that take your greater effort (concentration,enthusiasm)
during high energy periods and plan rest breaks and
more mundane tasks (such as laundry) during low energy
periods.
- Plan out a weekly schedule hour by hour. Remember
to schedule time out every day for sleep, meals, social
time, and some exercise and/or relaxation time. It is
important to create a realistic schedule for yourself.
- If possible, have someone who knows you well look
over your tentative schedule and give you feedback.
- Try your new schedule. Remember, you're trying something
new. It's okay to fine tune it or adjust it after you
give it a try for a week.
Written by: Nancy Taylor Kemp, Ph.D./University
of Oregon Counseling Center
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