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• Procrastination is the thief of time. - Edward Young (1683-1765)

A point I have made a number of times on this site is the need to get ahead with your work. Getting ahead enables you to plan your work and get the most out of your time. You do not have to spend hours working on a problem if you have time to ask for assistance. The later you leave your work, the fewer opportunities there will be to find things out ‘the easy way’. You will have to work harder, not smarter!

The following article taken from a Californian University site sums up procrastination:

Discussion

Procrastination is a complex psychological behavior that affects everyone to some degree or another. With some it can be a minor problem; with others it is a source of considerable stress and anxiety. Procrastination is only remotely related to time management, (procrastinators often know exactly what they should be doing, even if they cannot do it), which is why very detailed schedules usually are no help.

Characteristics

The procrastinator is often remarkably optimistic about his ability to complete a task on a tight deadline; this is usually accompanied by expressions of reassurance that everything is under control. (Therefore, there is no need to start.) For example, he may estimate that a paper will take only five days to write; he has fifteen days; there is plenty of time; no need to start. Lulled by a false sense of security, time passes. At some point, he crosses over an imaginary starting time and suddenly realizes, “Oh no! - I am not in control! There isn’t enough time!”

At this point, considerable effort is directed towards completing the task, and work progresses. This sudden spurt of energy is the source of the erroneous feeling that “I only work well under pressure.” Actually, at this point you are making progress only because you haven’t any choice. Your back is against the wall and there are no alternatives. Progress is being made, but you have lost your freedom.

Barely completed in time, the paper may actually earn a fairly good grade; whereupon the student experiences mixed feelings: pride of accomplishment (sort-of), scorn for the professor who cannot recognize substandard work, and guilt for getting an undeserved grade. But the net result is reinforcement: the procrastinator is rewarded positively for his poor behaviour. (”Look what a decent grade I got after all!”) As a result, the counter productive behaviour is repeated over and over again.

Positive reinforcement for delay (a good grade) is a principal contributor to continued procrastination.

There are a lot of explanations as to why people procrastinate, the best one liner I have heard on the subject is:

• The hardest part of getting started is getting started

There is no easy way around this, sometimes on assignments you will not know where to start. The best solution I have found is just to get on with it, start writing up your work, identifying topics for discussion and then working on those topics.

You may not make progress at first, but eventually you will get into the flow and things will start coming together.

Most of us struggle with certain topics, experiencing some kind of writers block, but as you write and think about the subject ideas will come to you.

• You will find the work a lot easier to do the work tomorrow if you make a start today!!

This popular article is also worth a read if procrastination is a problem you suffer!

• The Effectiveness of Self Imposed Deadlines on Procrastination

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